VZCZCXRO7530
RR RUEHAG RUEHBZ RUEHDF RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHIK RUEHJO RUEHLZ RUEHMA
RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHPOD RUEHRN RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHBS #0463/01 0881521
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281521Z MAR 08
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEU/EU INTEREST COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHUP/AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 000463 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USAID FOR ODP AND E&E; BUDAPEST FOR USAID/RSC; PARIS FOR 
USOECD CARNER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID EUN
SUBJECT: EU-JAPAN SYMPOSIUM HIGHLIGHTS DEVELOPMENT 
OPPORTUNITIES IN AFRICA 
 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  The Mission of Japan to the European Union 
recently joined with the European Commission, European Policy 
Center and the Berlin-based Japan-Germany Center to host a 
day-long symposium focused on development in Africa.  Senior 
officials from both Europe and Japan affirmed important links 
between development and other issues, including security, 
climate change, trade and economic growth.  Several speakers 
described Africa as a place of opportunity while also noting 
that other players-including China, India and the United 
States-are becoming increasingly involved.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) A recent EU-Japan symposium in Brussels on Development 
in Africa provided an opportunity for both Europe and Japan 
to highlight their common development interest on a continent 
where China is playing an increasing role.  The event also 
aimed at building consensus between Europe and Japan prior to 
several upcoming events that will focus on Africa. These 
include the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African 
Development (TICAD IV) in Yokohama in May; the G-8 summit in 
Hokkaido in July; and the Third High Level Forum on Aid 
Effectiveness in Accra in September. 
 
¶3. (U) European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian 
Assistance Louis Michel opened the event, which was attended 
by senior officials as well as academics from Africa, Europe 
and Japan.  Michel's remarks described Europe and Japan as 
"natural" partners. He added that while Africa presents "many 
opportunities" it is also being "actively courted" by China 
and the United States. 
 
¶4. (U) Michel's comments emphasized the importance of 
maintaining "consistency" between the EU-Africa summit in 
Lisbon in December 2007 and the TICAD IV meetings planned for 
Yokohama in late May 2008.  Priority EU areas in Africa 
include peace and stability; governance; trade and regional 
integration; energy; climate change; migration; and achieving 
the millennium development goals. 
 
¶5. (U) Michel's remarks included several references to 
broader development concerns.  For example, he stated that 
the individual EU countries are "on track" to reach the goal 
of providing 0.7 percent of GDP in the form of official 
development assistance.  He added that the EU is meeting 
"ninety percent" of the aid commitments made at the 
Gleneagles G-8 meetings and that the international community 
should be "hard" on countries that don't meet their 
commitments. Looking ahead to Accra, he made several 
references to aid effectiveness, noting that the multiplicity 
of donors as well as the large number of bilateral aid 
projects only increases the burden on host governments. 
 
¶6. (U) Throughout his speech, Michel emphasized economic 
growth as well as trade as key drivers in any truly 
sustainable development process.  He also highlighted peace 
and security as essential pillars for any development 
program.  Finally, he noted the importance of climate change, 
adding that additional funds should be designated for this 
purpose, rather than reallocating funds among existing 
programs. 
 
¶7. (U) The two Japanese ambassadors with speaking 
roles-Ambassador Kawamuru (head of the Japanese Mission to 
the European Union) and Ambassador Odana (who will have the 
lead role for the TICAD IV meetings in Yokohama in 
May)-reflected similar themes.  Both noted that while Japan 
does not have deeply rooted historical ties with Africa, it 
had convened the first TICAD conference in 1993 at a time 
when many countries were expressing "donor fatigue".  Even at 
this initial meeting, Japan championed "ownership" "self 
help" and "partnership" as central themes.  Now, fifteen 
years later, other countries such as China and India are 
showing greater interest in Africa.  In addition, economic 
growth rates are improving in a number of African countries. 
These growth rates need to be deepened, sustained and 
extended to other parts of the continent. 
 
¶8. (U) The agenda featured a panel discussion on the role of 
climate change in Africa's development.  Panelists included 
Ahmadu Babagana, Director of Rural Economy and Agriculture 
Department for the African Union; Masato Kawanishi, Senior 
Adviser at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); 
and Luis Riera Figueras, Director at the European 
 
BRUSSELS 00000463  002 OF 002 
 
 
Commission's Director General for Development and Relations 
with African, Caribbean and Pacific States. Addressing the 
panel, Mr. Babagana expanded on climate change's impact on 
drought, malaria, and agricultural productivity. He called on 
greater developed country support for capacity building 
efforts and increase 
resources to battle the bi-products of climate change. The AU 
would like to increase attention on the UN's Framework on 
Climate Change and the AU's Green World for the Sahara 
program to slow Saharan desertification across Sub-Saharan 
Africa. Mr. Babagana finds the biofuel boom troubling, 
alleging that biofuel crop production will aggravate food 
commodity problems. The AU strategy is to augment biofuel 
production in arid areas not currently utilized for food 
production. Mr. Kawanishi questioned the difference between 
traditional development programming and climate change 
specific programs. JICA is moving toward an impact based 
model, instead of programmatic categories. JICA will merge 
with the JBIC Bank to create one entity that provides 
technical assistance, grants, and soft loans. Last, Mr. Riera 
Figueras noted climate change is a political priority in the 
EU.  However, funding for climate change activities is limited 
and the EC is working to drum up greater support from EU 
member states. One EC initiative, the Global Climate Change 
Alliance, draws on broad EU member state and Council support. 
 Riera Figueras cited possible funding from a member state 
recruiting effort, issuance of bonds, revenue from future 
emission credit/buy schemes, and possible ODA support. 
 
¶9. (U) COMMENT:  The EU-Japan Symposium had been planned long 
in advance to help promote a common EU-Japan position in the 
lead-up to discussions on development in Africa planned for 
later this year, including in Yokohama and Hokkaido.  While 
the formality of the meeting did not easily lend itself to 
candid discussions on all the challenges Africa faces, it did 
provide an opportunity to put forward basic themes shared by 
development communities in both Japan and the EU.  The 
several references to the interests of other countries 
involved in Africa-including India and especially 
China-further highlighted the strategic importance of the 
continent and common concern that these emerging donors make 
a "positive" contribution to Africa's development.  At the 
same time, this interest underscores the need for effective 
coordination and cooperation among all actors, a theme that 
will undoubtedly be emphasized at the Accra meetings on aid 
effectiveness scheduled for September. 
MURRAY