About TICAD
TICAD stands for “Tokyo International Conference on African Development.” It was launched in 1993 to promote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners.
Meetings are led by Japan and co-organized by the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, and the African Union Commission (AUC). With the inception of TICAD, Japan became the first country to have pioneered a pan-African external development partner forum. TICAD’s innovative approaches include advocating African ownership and the international community’s partnership; promoting the participation of international organizations, donor countries, the private sector and nongovernmental organizations in Japan-led aid initiatives; and creating followup and review mechanisms to ensure the progress of each project.
TICAD VI
The sixth TICAD (TICAD VI) was held in Africa for the first time, with Kenya as the host nation, on August 27 and 28, 2016. In addition to delegates from 53 African countries, over 11,000 people attended, including participants in side events held at the conference site. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, and President Idriss Déby Itno of Chad co-chaired the conference.
At TICAD VI, taking note of the new challenges that have arisen since TICAD V, such as the collapse in prices of natural resources, the Ebola crisis, and the rise of violent extremism and terrorism, the delegates adopted the TICAD VI Nairobi Declaration, which addressed such topics as Africa’s economic diversification and industrialization, resilient health care systems, and social stability, aiming to further advance Africa to be a growth center of the world by the middle of the twenty-first century.