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| (Courtesy CIA.gov) |
Between 2016 and 2018, Japan has pledged to invest $30 billion in Africa’s development, as it bids to join the likes of China and the US in the battle for influence on the continent.
Competition in Africa is heating up, with Japan aiming to increase its presence and influence on the continent as it looks to make up ground lost to China since the turn of the century.
Japanese players in the geothermal sector are seeking to boost geothermal capacity in East Africa from 600,000 kilowatts to more than 1 million kilowatts, as part of the Power Africa programme, an initiative launched by former U.S. president Barack Obama in 2013. Japan joined Power Africa last year, following the signing of a partnership agreement between the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Other partners of Power Africa, which has leveraged nearly $43 billion in commitments from the public and private sectors, include the African Development Bank (AfDB), the World Bank, Sweden, Canada, Norway, the United Kingdom and the European Union.