At the G7 Ise-Shima Summit held in May, the Japanese government spearheaded the adoption of the Leaders’ Declaration, which included “support for improving public health systems in developing countries.” At TICAD in August this year, the Japanese government plans to flesh out its contribution based on the G7 Leaders’ Declaration.

At the June 2013 TICAD held in Yokohama, Japan set forth the goal of “training about 120,000 people in the field of public health,” and Japan has provided support worth about 40 billion yen, including support for human resources development, as of September 2015. At the upcoming TICAD, Japan will further expand its support for human resources development. In addition to financial support, it is expected it will provide managerial and operational assistance for public health services.

With an eye on becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Japan is calling for the reform of the UNSC, and African nations constitute a “major voting bloc.” In recent years, however, China has used its financial resources to increase its influence in Africa.

With the recent slump in the world economy triggered by the slowdown in the Chinese economy, African nations are concerned overseas aid will stagnate and are seeking sustained support from the G7 leader of Japan.