About TICAD
TICAD stands for “Tokyo International Conference on African Development.” It was launched in 1993 to promote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners. Meetings are led by Japan and co-organized by the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, and the African Union Commission (AUC). With the inception of TICAD, Japan became the first country to have pioneered a pan-African external development partner forum.
TICAD’s innovative approaches include advocating African ownership and the international community’s partnership; promoting the participation of international organizations, donor countries, the private sector and nongovernmental organizations in Japan-led aid initiatives; and creating followup and review mechanisms to ensure the progress of each project.
Hopes for TICAD VI
The next and sixth TICAD (TICAD VI) will be held in Africa for the first time, with Kenya as the host nation, on August 27 and 28, 2016. About 6,000 delegates, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, are expected to attend.
At TICAD VI, taking note of the new challenges that have arisen since TICAD V, such as the collapse in prices of natural resources, the Ebola crisis, and the rise of violent extremism and terrorism, the delegates will discuss Africa’s economic diversification and industrialization, resilient health care systems, and social stability, among other topics, to further advance Africa to be a growth center of the world by the middle of the twenty-first century.