Japan unveils $32bn aid programme for Africa

Japan will provide a fresh five-year aid package for Africa worth up to 3.2 trillion yen (32 billion U.S. dollars), Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Saturday, at the outset of a three-day international conference on the continent's development. The aid includes extending about 650 billion yen in loans for infrastructure construction and a training programme for African youth, the premier said at the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD). The programme will give 1,000 young African students opportunities over the next five years to study at universities in Japan and work as interns at Japanese companies, he was quoted as saying by DPA. Developing human resources, promoting universal health coverage and nurturing the agricultural sector will be instrumental in fostering growth in Africa, Abe said. "What Africa needs is private investment and the partnership between the public and private sectors to capitalize on it," he said.