JICA President Akihiko Tanaka visited the Republic of Burundi and the Republic of South Africa from January 25 to February 2. He met with the presidents of both countries, exchanged views with officials of international organizations, and inspected JICA’s cooperative projects. He confirmed the importance of cooperation with Burundi, which contributes to the stability and development of the Great Lake Region* by hosting displaced people from neighboring countries, and the impact of JICA’s cooperation and relationship with South Africa, which is becoming more and more prominent in the current world situation.
Burundi
In Bujumbura, the economic capital of Burundi, President Tanaka met with President Ndaisimiye and other government officials and inspected JICA-supported projects. During the meeting with the President, they confirmed the progress of cooperative relations with Burundi since the end of the civil war, and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation for stability in the Great Lake region and response to the humanitarian crisis. President Tanaka also stated that JICA will continue to contribute to the sustainable development of Burundi through reconstruction assistance, human resource development, and infrastructure development.
President Ndiaye Simiye (right) and Chancellor Tanaka (left) visit to the Hospital de la Prance-Rejean-Charles
In addition, we exchanged views with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Burundi to ensure that both sides continue to work together to support peaceful coexistence and improve social services in refugee host communities in response to the unprecedented humanitarian crisis facing the Great Lakes region.
(Note) This is a region of huge lakes formed along the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. Several countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, are spread out around Lake Victoria, and the region is characterized by its rich nature and large population. The region is characterized by its rich nature and large population. It has a long history of conflicts arising from conflicts over resource interests and the intervention of neighboring countries, which has led to a complex and continuous turmoil.
Interview at UNHCR Burundi office
South Africa
Next, in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, President Tanaka met with President Ramaposa and other government officials as well as Mr. Bekele-Thomas, Director General of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), and inspected JICA’s projects.
He expressed his appreciation for JICA’s support to South Africa over the past 30 years. He also exchanged views with Minister of Finance Godongwana and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ramola on the possibility of future cooperation.
Meeting with President Cyril Ramaposa
In his meeting with AUDA-NEPAD President Bekele-Thomas, the President thanked AUDA-NEPAD for the collaboration since 2014 and said that the partnership with AUDA-NEPAD and African countries will be further deepened to contribute to the realization of Agenda 2063, the long-term goal for Africa. The MOU signed at TICAD9 expanded the areas of collaboration with AUDA-NEPAD from five to 12 new sub-themes.
At the meeting with the CEO of Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), a South African government-affiliated development finance institution, the two sides agreed to continue to deepen their collaboration based on the partnership between JICA and DBSA that has continued since 2010, and expressed their appreciation for JICA’s dispatch of experts in various fields such as regional integration, non-revenue water measures, green finance, and other areas. The meeting was attended by the CEO of the DBSA, who expressed his appreciation for JICA’s dispatch of experts in various fields such as regional integration, non-revenue water measures, and green finance, as well as for the green finance loan, and agreed to continue to deepen the partnership in the future.
In addition, in the “Sustainable Finance Promotion Project,” an overseas investment and loan for which the loan agreement was signed on January 27, 2026, we visited local small, medium, and micro enterprises (an entrepreneur in the hairdressing business who is developing a franchise and training young people, and an entrepreneur who runs a café dealing with specialty coffee in Africa) who are scheduled to receive loans through FirstRand Bank Limited (FRB), a major local private bank, which is the borrower in the “Sustainable Finance Promotion Project,” and We visited an entrepreneur in the hairdressing business who is engaged in franchise development and fostering young people, and an entrepreneur who runs a café handling specialty coffee in Africa) and confirmed that loans to local entrepreneurs are leading to job creation.
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