Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Saturday that Japan will focus on ways to improve Africa's health system and curb extremism there during next year's Tokyo-led African development summit, which will be held on the continent for the first time.
In a meeting with African leaders and officials in New York, Abe said next year's Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Kenya would be Japan's chance to show off its contribution to restructuring Africa's health system and battling terrorism, including the fight against Boko Haram extremists.
Since the last TICAD summit, in 2013 in Yokohama, challenges such as the Ebola virus outbreak, the expansion of extremism and terrorism, and falling commodity prices threatened Africa's economic foundations, as well as its peace and stability.