In his address on Saturday at the opening session of the Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8), which is taking place in Tunisia 27-28 August, the Egyptian premier urged the international community to support African national agricultural policy goals to achieve self-sufficiency and sustainable development, cautioning against the impact that the food crisis could have on peace and security in the continent.

The Egyptian premier delivered the address on behalf of Egypt President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, in the presence of Tunisian President Kais Saied; Senegalese President Macky Sall; Moussa Fakih, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission; and a number of African heads of state and government.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is taking part in the two-day summit virtually.

The TICAD conference aims to enhance strategic partnership between Japan and African countries and strengthen the Asian economic powerhouse contributions to the continent's development, including in the fields of agriculture, industry, economy, and health.

The summit, which has been led by the Japanese government since 1993, is co-hosted by United Nations (UN), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank (WB), and the African Union Commission.

TICAD8 is being held as the Russian- Ukrainian war poses a major challenge to the continent since African countries are heavily dependent on food imports from Russia and Ukraine.

Indeed, Africa has been disproportionately impacted by the global hikes in the prices of wheat, sunflower, and crude oil as a result of the global food crisis.

"This matter requires supporting African countries via providing stimulus packages to their economies," Madbouly added.

He called on African countries to diversify their sources of food imports and secure supply chains.

He also stressed the need to find ways to control global hikes in commodity prices.

Debt relief

Madbouly also reiterated Egypt's call for debt relief to the continent in light of the current severe global challenges.

In parallel, he highlighted the importance of supporting small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa, as part of the Yokohama Action Plan, which was launched by Egyptian President El-Sisi and late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2019 during the TICAD7 summit that was held in Yokohama, Japan.

The Yokohama plan aims to advance Africa’s development through investing in people, technology and innovation; accelerate economic transformation; and improve business environment through innovation and private sector engagement.

Additionally, the Egyptian premier stressed the need to activate the African Continental Free Trade Area, describing it "the cornerstone" of achieving the desired economic integration on Africa in order to improve the investment climate and optimise the use of available resources.

Climate issues

Madbouly said combating climate change is a vital issue that requires international solidarity, highlighting, in this regard, Egypt's own action plan as president of the UN summit on climate change (COP27) - set to be held in Sharm El-Sheikh from 6-18 November - in meeting climate issues head-on.

Egypt will work on focusing international discussions on combating climate change in favour of activating the principle of shared responsibility, enhancing adaptation efforts and mitigating climate impacts, and increasing international financing available to African countries, Madbouly stressed.

COP27, Madbouly said, will focus on the agenda of green recovery and an equitable green transformation to enhance Africa's capability to withstand issues related to climate change.

Egypt has made a public commitment to address African interests in addressing the impact of climate change on the continent in the conference in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Madbouly added that Egypt also looks forward to continue coordination with the Japanese partner to support the efforts and aspirations of Africa in order to turn climate action pledges into reality, and provide the necessary financing, especially in the field of adaptation.

Africa: Security and development

Madbouly also emphasised that real economic development requires reinforcing peace and security within the continent, and adopting a comprehensive approach that prevents the recurrence of conflicts.

The question of reconstruction and development is a top priority for the Egyptian political leadership, he added.

President El-Sisi sees that sustaining peace and preventing the renewal of armed conflicts cannot be achieved without unifying all international, continental and national efforts to support post-armed-conflict countries, Madbouly conveyed to the summit in Tunisia.

He added that Egypt, as the current host of the African Union Centre for Reconstruction and Development – an African body for post-conflict development – will work to communicate with international and regional partners to support the plans of the continent in this track to achieve the desired economic development.

Madbouly stressed that integrating regional and continental action is crucial to support the national efforts to implement the goals of "Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want" to achieve the desired economic integration, sustain peace, and achieve the aspirations of the African countries.

"This can only be achieved by concerted international efforts and directing them to support the institutions of African countries that are concerned with achieving security and development in Africa," he concluded.

TICAD

In 2019, Egypt, as the then-president of the African Union (AU), and Japan co-chaired the TICAD7 summit that was held in Japan from 28-30 August.

During TICAD7, Japan pledged to boost investments in Africa to help advance the continent's development.

The Japanese private sector has invested a total of $25.6 billion in the continent since 2016.

Tunisia is the second African nation to hold the summeit after Kenya in 2016.