UN chief calls Japan ‘trusted partner’ for African development

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks at a press conference in Yokohama, on Aug. 21, 2025. (Kyodo)

YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) — U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Thursday that Japan is “a trusted partner” for the development of Africa, where China is expanding its presence with large investment.

“Debt must not drown development,” the U.N. chief said in a speech at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, where Japan has pledged to cultivate 30,000 artificial intelligence experts in Africa over the next three years.

“We need bold debt relief, increased concessional finance, and a tripling of the lending capacity of multilateral development banks — making them bigger, bolder, and better able to leverage private finance at reasonable cost,” he said.

His remarks come as Beijing has been expanding its influence in the resource-rich continent through its economic power. However, it faces criticism for alleged “debt-trap diplomacy” toward developing countries, using loans as leverage to gain concessions from borrowers.

A joint declaration to be adopted at the conference will include the importance of appropriate debt management and the rule of law, according to a Japanese government source.

TICAD is a Japan-led international aid conference that dates back to 1993. The previous edition was held in Tunisia in 2022.

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}