Your Excellencies,
I’d like to congratulate the Government of Japan and the Government of Tunisia for hosting this TICAD-8 in Tunisia. Thank you for the great honor to speak at this plenary session.
These are challenging times for Africa. African countries know the problems, they feel the pain, so I will not go into any numbers. Pain is pain.
Fiscal deficits have increased, and debt service costs are rising fast as monetary authorities in developed economies raise interest rates to tame inflation.

Your Excellency, Kais Saied, President of the Republic of Tunisia, our host.
Your Excellency, Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan.
Your Excellency, Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal and Chairman of the African Union.
Excellencies Heads of State and Government.
Mr. Nobuhiko Sasaki, Chairman and CEO of JETRO.
Eminent business leaders from Japan and Africa.
Your Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen.

Japanese businesses should invest more in Africa, where investment opportunities and returns on investment are among the highest in the world, African Development Bank President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina urged participants at the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8).
Adesina commended the Japanese government and private sector for their strong support to Africa’s development.
He told Japanese businesses to assess Africa’s investment opportunities based on facts and evidence, and not on perceptions.

The government of Japan and the African Development Bank have announced a $5 billion financial cooperation under the fifth phase of the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance for Africa initiative (EPSA) from 2023 to 2025.
The announcement was made at the Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8) held Sunday 28 August 2022 in the Tunisian capital, Tunis.

Mr. Masato Kanda, the Vice Minister for International Finance of Japan. 
Mr. Akihiko Tanaka, President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome to this special event by the African Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
At the opening session of the TICAD-8 yesterday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made major announcements, which galvanized Africa. This included $30 billion in financing in support of Africa.

The African Development Bank Group played a key role in the eighth edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), held this year in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, as Japan, a long-standing development partner of Africa, continues to lend its economic weight to the continent's progress.

What:      Africa Adaptation Dialogue: implementing the vision
When:     31 August 09:30 - 10:30 CAT
Where:    Libreville, Gabon
Who:       Global Center on Adaptation; Africa Adaptation Initiative (Chaired by Gabon); African Development Bank
 

ONGOING EVALUATION: The Annual Evaluation Review (AER) provides the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Board, Management, and other stakeholders with an independent, high-level perspective on development effectiveness based on findings and evidence from the Independent Evaluation Department’s (IED) evaluations and validations of ADB’s self-evaluation reports. 

The program consisted of two PBLs, $130 million in 2018 and $160 million in 2019. The first subprogram aimed to improve Ulaanbaatar’s air quality by implementing pollution reduction measures and improving urban infrastructure, and to provide budget support.

The technical assistance (TA) aimed to enhance operational knowledge of promoting pro-poor smart solutions with emphasis on poverty reduction and inclusiveness in five pilot cities: Bandung, Greater Suva Area, Mandalay, Tbilisi, and Ulaanbaatar. It endeavored to achieve this aim by developing knowledge and learning products; facilitating partnerships between cities; and conducting pre-feasibility studies on smart solutions to enhance and leverage city and business investments, and citizens’ potential.