Tuesday, January 10th, 2006

Policy Dialogue on Africa Held for First Time

World Bank and Japanese Government Officials Discuss Strategic Collaboration

The World Bank Group's Africa Mission to Japan, led by World Bank Regional Vice President for Africa Gobind Nankani, and Japanese government officials engaged in high-level policy talks on January 10, 2006 regarding strategic collaboration in Africa.

This is the first time that the Bank and Japan, its second largest shareholder, held consultations on policy regarding the region.

It reflects a common interest shared by the Bank and the Japanese government to accelerate development in Africa, with Bank President Paul Wolfowitz placing a clear priority on the continent and Japan pledging to double its ODA in the next three years. Over 40 participants joined discussions in Tokyo including mission members from the Bank Group and officials from Japan's MoFA, MoF, METI, JBIC and JICA.

Opening the dialogue held at the TDLC, Mr. Nankani emphasized the importance of coordination between donors to support African countries that are "on the move".

Sessions at the dialogue covered ways to increase coordination on a wide range of issues such as infrastructure and regional programs, private sector development and community driven development. Members of the Bank Mission, including Mr .Michel Wormser, Sector Director for Finance, Private Sector and Infrastructure in Africa, and Mr. John McIntire, Sector Director for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development in Africa contributed their views, and fielded questions from Japanese counterparts.

Following a presentation by Mr. John Page, chief economist for Africa, a video conference was incorporated for discussions on the Japan-World Bank partnership linking Tanzania and Tokyo, enabling Bank and Japanese country teams in Darussalam to share local perspectives on requirements for working together.

The TDLC supports communication activities to facilitate better coordination between development partners, and will continue to promote capacity enhancement in Africa.