A delegation including ministers and representatives of seven African governments and an African Development Bank Group team have concluded a fact-finding mission to Japan to learn from its successful experiences in urban development and investment planning.
The 23-strong team contained people from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Kenya, Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal. The mission was organized by the Bank and Japan’s Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and took in the cities of Tokyo, Tsukuba, Shizuoka and Kasukabe. It included meetings with the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the International Center for Water Hazard and Risk Management at the University of Tokyo and several metropolitan governments among other entities.
Through knowledge sharing sessions and other meetings, the visiting delegation aimed to learn strategies to build more resilient urban water and sanitation infrastructure, manage disaster risks, advance water and sanitation governance, and promote climate-resilient water and sanitation across the continent as it grapples with increasing impacts of climate change. The delegation learned from Japanese counterparts that the country has pursued flood management for centuries in response to tsunamis and other weather events.
“This is very timely at a moment when most African countries are experiencing the growing effects of climate change. The high-level attention and interest manifested by the participants is highly commendable. I look forward to many partnerships towards knowledge transfer, capacity building and deployment of proven technical solutions to address the emerging issues observed in Africa,” said Nomoto Takaaki, Executive Director for Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Austria and Saudi Arabia at the African Development Bank Group.
Japan’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs and co-chairperson of the United Nations 2023 Water Conference, Yoko Kamikawa said:
"Fifty years have passed since the heavy rain disaster on Tanabata…the national government has designated a flood control project in the basin of the Tomoegawa River in Aoi Ward, Shizuoka City. The water ministers and representatives from seven African countries, including Kenya, are visiting to learn from this initiative…Japan's contribution to flood control measures in Africa is highly anticipated." In 1974, torrential rains and flooding killed 50 people in Shizuoka.
The delegation also met with Japanese companies to learn about cutting-edge technologies and innovations in water supply and sanitation services and infrastructure development, flood regulation and management, as well as financing and development opportunities from the private sector.
Africa is rapidly urbanizing and aims to equip its cities with adequate water and sanitation infrastructure, even as climate change exacerbates the challenge. Flooding in Senegal in September 2024 destroyed more than 4,500 houses and affected at least 55,000 people in more than 24 localities, including rural areas. Cyclone Idai, one of the worst tropical cyclones on record to affect Africa, caused severe damage to cities and populations in 2019, resulting in a humanitarian crisis in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi which caused 1,500 deaths.
Mtchera Chirwa, the Bank’s Acting Director for Water Development and Sanitation said, “I am sure that the cutting-edge technologies and expertise such as early warning systems and flood control, will inform partnerships and projects in the near future.”
“The level of participation from the Bank’s Regional Member Countries speaks to the commitment from African leaders to find sustainable solutions to the emerging threats and effects of climate change across the continent,” Chirwa added.
