TICAD 9 host Yokohama strengthens Africa ties

What is Yokohama doing to attract business?

Yokohama City has always played an important role as a business centre. Many Japanese global enterprises including Nissan Motor, Isuzu Motors, JGC Holdings Corporation, and Chiyoda Corporation have their headquarters in the city.

Our proactive efforts to attract businesses have also paid off with a large presence of international corporations, including names like Bosch, Samsung Electronics, and Caterpillar. Over the past two and a half years our city has received 266.2 billion yen worth of investments, which is more than 70 billion yen above the amount in the preceding four years.

Yokohama’s advantages include its close proximity to the Greater Tokyo Area, with its large market of approximately 42m people; easy access to domestic and international destinations; and an abundance of talented human resources thanks to numerous universities and research institutes.

Last November we tapped into our wealth of corporate research labs and engineers by establishing Tech Hub Yokohama as a centre for supporting tech startups.

This initiative seeks to develop an ecosystem that will facilitate the creation of unicorn startups by providing diverse assistance, such as matching with venture capitalists and major corporations in Japan and abroad and support for demonstration testing and overseas business development.

I would also like to note that the foundation of Yokohama’s economy is bolstered by some 73,000 small and medium-sized enterprises that offer many unique technologies and products.

Our city government is partnering with these companies to proactively take on the challenge of advancing carbon-neutral decarbonisation business practices.

In conjunction with TICAD 9, we are providing local companies with information on business opportunities in Africa and helping to match them with African companies, with the goal of contributing to the economic growth of both Africa and Yokohama.

What is the city doing to ensure sustainability?

Yokohama is now working to help bring forth a green society through diverse efforts that have earned international acclaim.

We are seeking to make a difference in our capacity as the “Green Hub of Asia”. One of our contributions in this regard is annually hosting the Asia Smart City Conference, an international forum aimed at realising sustainable green communities, for more than ten years.

Minato Mirai 21, Yokohama’s central business district, has been selected by the Japanese government as one of the country’s Decarbonisation Leading Areas. We are collaborating with the private sector to decarbonise the entire district completely and to visualise the district’s resource circularity rate. Projects such as these are rare not only in Japan but also around the world.

Our diverse actions for realising green communities have gained international recognition. This can be seen in my appointment in April 2023 as a board member of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM; I concurrently serve as representative for East Asia), and as one of the OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth in October of the same year.

Another major project for our city is hosting Green×Expo 2027. This environmentally-themed international exposition will be held at a venue that will radiate subtle refinement, created by a fusion of seasonal flowers, the greenery of trees and Japanese culture. It will be an opportunity to share with people from around the world an understanding of the challenges of climate change and the importance of preserving the global environment for future generations – and in so doing encourage everyone to take action to address the issues faced.

The international community, including many local and foreign businesses, recognises the importance of what Green×Expo 2027 seeks to accomplish. We look forward to having many African countries take part in this event and help develop it into a force for achieving the SDGs [UN Sustainable Development Goals] by 2030 and bringing forth a green society.

How is Yokohama sharing its expertise on city planning with Africa and Asia?

Yokohama actively engages in international technical cooperation aimed at solving various urban challenges. To accomplish this we leverage the urban development insights we have amassed over the years and our network with other cities around the globe. We also work together with diverse partners such as international organisations, the Japanese government, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and businesses that provide infrastructural and environmental services.

As part of our environmental cooperation, for over ten years we have assisted major Southeast Asian cities in their formulation of climate change action plans and urban development master plans. These cities include Bangkok in Thailand, Metro Cebu in the Philippines, and Da Nang in Vietnam, among others.

We also assist rapidly growing cities across Africa by sharing Yokohama’s technologies and expertise with them. This involves providing technical cooperation mainly in areas such as waste management, waterworks, and port operations. We have organised technical tours and training in our city for more than 1,400 participants from Africa.

Our experience in waterworks-related technical cooperation has a particularly long history, going back nearly half a century to when we first dispatched a city employee to Kenya in 1977.

How are you strengthening ties with Africa in the run-up to TICAD 9?

Along with such cooperation, we have used our role as a thrice-TICAD host to strengthen our bonds with African countries in many different ways. For example, our activities include organising exchanges between African and Yokohama youths who will lead their communities in the near future, helping Yokohama-based companies to develop business opportunities in Africa and supporting African women entrepreneurs.

As mayor I have hosted a number of African ambassadors at the mayor’s official residence and at city hall to directly share thoughts and ideas on opportunities for collaboration ahead of the upcoming TICAD 9. Last September, I was invited to a meeting of the African Diplomatic Corps in Tokyo, where I briefed the participants on various policies and initiatives that our city is implementing.

The ambassadors I spoke with expressed their hope that TICAD 9 will open the door to even stronger cooperation between their countries and Yokohama, particularly in the area of business.

We warmly invite our friends in Africa and around the world to join us for TICAD 9 in August and Green×Expo 2027 in two years from now. As mayor, I will do everything in my power to further strengthen our partnerships with organisations and communities around the world, support Africa’s sustainable growth, and increase the global presence of Yokohama.