Ministers from Japan and African countries reiterated at a meeting in Cameroon on Monday their commitment to continuing to work together and strengthening coordination in advancing a series of plans aimed at developing Africa.
The chairman's summary issued at the conclusion of the two-day meeting on African development noted that Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida reaffirmed that Tokyo intends to "steadily implement" its commitment made last year.
At the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama last June, Japan committed up to ¥3.2 trillion ($32 billion) in aid for Africa over a five-year period from 2013.
During the follow-up ministerial meeting of the so-called TICAD process, Kishida announced that Tokyo will receive about 150 young African students from September as part of a personnel development assistance program unveiled last June by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The agenda items at the Cameroon gathering included agriculture, food security and empowering women and young people. Delegates from such international organizations as the United Nations, the African Union and the World Bank also attended the meeting.
It was the first ministerial meeting held after the summit-level TICAD meeting in Yokohama.