TICAD VI has officially kicked off and was opened officially by the president Uhuru Kenyatta and the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. The conference is expected to run through to Sunday, 28th August.
Over 10,000 delegates are expected to attend the conference. The conference is the first ever to be held in Africa in its 20 years of history. The coming of TICAD to Nairobi, Kenya is considered a good gesture and demonstrates growing African ownership in the TICAD process and has been attracting much attention from African states.
The decision to hold the TICAD VI in Kenya was reached at during the last conference held in Yokohama and it was agreed that the venue of subsequent events would alternate between Japan and Africa.
TICAD was launched in 1993 by the government of Japan to promote Africa’s development, peace and security through the strengthening of relations in multilateral cooperation and partnership, particularly with the country.
In showing their commitment on security matters, Japan committed $26 million to support peace and stability in Africa at the last conference that was held in Yokohama in 2013.
Over the years the conference has evolved into a major global and open forum under the principles of ownership and international partnership.
The priority areas to be discussed are industrialisation and diversification, women empowerment, ICT, youth empowerment and health.
Side events to be held at the conference include seminars/symposiums, exhibitions, and business forums.
To facilitate the movement of delegates attending the conference, roads around the Kenyatta International Convention Centre have been closed and motorists urged to use alternative routes.