The international African aid conference to be held in Yokohama in late May comes at a time when Japan's official development assistance is in decline and rival China's "resource diplomacy" is rising, putting Foreign Ministry officials in a quandary.
To supplement the ODA fall, Masato Kitera, director general for African affairs at the Foreign Ministry, said the government hopes to use aid to prod Japanese companies to invest more in Africa.
"I think there should be more cooperation between the government and private sector (to reflect their needs) before implementing ODA programs," Kitera told The Japan Times in a recent interview.