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"Africa is a market of the future and the investment opportunities it offers to the Japanese are enormous," President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina said at the Business Forum of the Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 8), held Saturday afternoon in Tunis.

Calling on Japanese investors to seize the investment opportunities offered by the African continent, Adesina stressed that "the African business and economic ecosystems are undergoing a transformation with the creation of a high number of startups and companies that would benefit from developing partnerships with the Japanese private sector.»

On the other hand, "Africa, with its natural gas resources, could be an alternative source for countries of the world affected by supply crises. Africa is also a major source of minerals, metals and natural resources and a large pool of labour and skills. It is also an evolving consumer market," he pointed out. He further said that Africa also offers huge opportunities for investment in renewable energy (green hydrogen, solar and wind energy ...).

"TICAD, which has always played a major role in the development of Japanese investment flows to Africa, will continue to contribute to the development of partnerships between the public and private sectors on both sides," he said, reiterating AfDB's commitment to support any initiative aimed at ensuring a prosperous future for the African continent.

The AfDB is also committed, according to its president, to monitor progress in technology, human resources, infrastructure, access to water, health and sanitation services for the countries of the continent and remains open to any cooperation in this direction.

TICAD 8 is jointly organised by Japan, the African Union Commission (AUC), the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank (WB).

Tunisia, the second African country to organise this event after Kenya in 2016, had obtained the agreement to host the "TICAD 8" after the 33rd Ordinary Session of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) held on February 9 and 10, 2020 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.