Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday pledged $30 billion over the next three years for African development, with a focus on investing in human capital and fostering quality growth in a continent where China and Russia are exerting their influence.

In his online speech to the latest round of the international conference on African development known as TICAD in Tunisia, Kishida stressed that Japan will grow together with Africa, differentiating Tokyo's approach from that of China, which critics say has been burdening poor nations with huge debts related to infrastructure projects.

Specifically, Japan will extend loans worth around $5 billion in coordination with the African Development Bank to promote sustainable African development by restoring fiscal health, the prime minister said, as the two-day conference got under way in the Tunisian capital.