Yomiuri wrote that at their annual summit in France in late August the G7 leaders will likely  issue a communique expressing support for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), a decades-long Japanese initiative to assist economic development on the continent.  The G7 partners reportedly hope to push back against China’s “Belt and Road” program by underscoring their commitment to supporting African development in a “transparent” manner.  

Meanwhile, Sankei wrote that in the upcoming TICAD confab to be held in Yokohama in late August, Prime Minister Abe is set to underscore Japan’s efforts to support human resources development and promote private investment so that African countries can eventually become economically self-sustainable. Instead of focusing on government-led official development aid (ODA) and other economic support programs, the GOJ is reportedly set to place priority on human resources development to counter China’s “debt-trap” economic assistance initiatives in Africa and elsewhere.