ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire (XOL Africa) — The African Development Bank Group and Japan are strengthening their long-standing partnership to mobilize more private investment across Africa, expand quality infrastructure and help countries transform development priorities into bankable projects, the bank said Friday.
The expanded collaboration combines concessional financing, private sector co-financing, project preparation, technical assistance, human capital development and knowledge sharing to attract investment and reduce risks for investors across the continent.
The initiative builds on commitments made during the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9), held in Yokohama in August 2025, where African and Japanese leaders agreed to deepen economic cooperation through greater private capital mobilization and implementation of development projects.
Recent progress was highlighted during the Africa Investment Forum 2025 Market Days in Rabat, Morocco, where Japanese businesses, financial institutions, development partners and African Development Bank officials met in a dedicated Japan Special Room to explore investment opportunities and strengthen Africa’s integration into regional and global value chains.
The discussions showcased several Bank-supported projects involving Japanese companies, including the 35-megawatt Menengai Geothermal Plant in Kenya, developed with Toyota Tsusho and Fuji Electric, and Côte d’Ivoire’s Agricultural Growth Program, implemented by NEC Corporation.
African Development Bank Group President Dr. Sidi Ould Tah said the projects demonstrate the impact of combining African opportunities with Japanese expertise and the bank’s financing.
“These are tangible demonstrations of what is possible when we combine Africa’s opportunities with Japan’s strengths and the Bank Group’s catalytic financing,” Ould Tah said during the forum.
Long-standing partnership
Japan joined the African Development Fund in 1973 and became a member of the African Development Bank in 1982. Since then, the partnership has expanded to include capital subscriptions, concessional financing, grants, bilateral trust funds and private sector co-financing.
Japan also supports several Bank Group initiatives, including the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance for Africa (EPSA), the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA), and the Policy and Human Resource Development Grant.
The Bank collaborates closely with Japanese institutions such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).
Japan remains one of the largest contributors to the African Development Fund, the Bank Group’s concessional financing arm for low-income and vulnerable countries. During the Fund’s 17th replenishment, Tokyo pledged about $600 million in grant resources and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative compensation, along with a yen-denominated concessional loan worth approximately $583 million.
According to the Bank, Japan’s support is helping African countries strengthen governance, improve debt management, develop quality infrastructure and expand private sector participation while supporting critical minerals supply chains, health systems and procurement reforms.
Scaling private investment
A central pillar of the partnership is the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance for Africa initiative, established jointly by Japan and the African Development Bank in 2005 to increase private investment on the continent.
The sixth phase of the program, signed during TICAD 9, targets $5.5 billion in co-financing between 2026 and 2028. By December 2025, Japan had contributed a cumulative $7.4 billion to the initiative, supporting projects in energy, transportation, healthcare, digital connectivity, agriculture and nutrition.
The Fund for African Private Sector Assistance complements those efforts by financing project preparation and business development. Since its establishment in 2005, Japan has contributed $128 million to the fund, which has supported 111 projects valued at $86.8 million through grants focused on clean technology, quality standards, startups, small businesses and business incubators.
Minoru Hasegawa of Japan’s Ministry of Finance said the fund plays an important role in helping Japanese companies expand into African markets.
“For Japanese companies considering expansion into Africa, FAPA is a practical and powerful tool. Japan remains fully committed to supporting business expansion and contributing to Africa’s sustainable growth,” Hasegawa said.
Japan has also provided more than $44 million through the Policy and Human Resource Development Grant since 1994 to strengthen technical capacity in areas including agriculture, food security, climate change, debt management and healthcare.
The grant also supports the Africa-Asia Platform, launched in November 2025, to promote knowledge exchange, technology transfer and innovation between African and Asian countries.
The African Development Bank said the next phase of the partnership will emphasize implementation, enabling African countries to access long-term financing, technical expertise and private sector networks needed to deliver development projects while advancing the Bank Group’s Ten-Year Strategy 2024-2033 and President Ould Tah’s Four Cardinal Points reform agenda.
