Kenyan President Uhuru Ken-yatta said Sunday the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, which Japan cosponsors with the United Nations and the African Union, will be held in Nairobi on Aug. 27 and 28.
Kenyatta made the announcement at a joint news conference with Katsuyuki Kawai, a special adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
TICAD has been held in Japan every five years since 1993, but this year will mark the first time it has been held in Africa. At the request of the African Union, the summit will now be held every three years.
Kenyatta pledged to make every possible effort to ensure the success of the first TICAD to be held on the continent.
Speaking on behalf of Abe, Kawai said, "Japan will walk alongside Africa as we each continue to develop."
Tokyo is aiming to reinforce relations with each participating African country through TICAD at a time when China is making its presence felt on the continent, considered the world's last great growth market.
For their part, African countries are hoping to attract investment from diverse sources — including Japan — in order to foster sustainable growth and combat the effects of a slowdown in the Chinese economy.