Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told African leaders Saturday that his country will commit $30 billion in public and private support for infrastructure development on the continent.
Resource-poor Japan has long been interested in tapping Africa's vast natural resources, even more so since dependence on oil and natural gas imports jumped after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster led to all of Japan's nuclear reactors being taken offline.
Abe, in Nairobi to attend the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), said the package will be spread over three years from this year and include $10 billion for infrastructure projects on the continent, to be executed through cooperation with the African Development Bank.