The EU-Japan Centre successfully co-organised a hybrid event on 19 October 2023 with the Delegation of the European Union to Japan and the EU-Japan Connectivity Partnership Programme. Over 100 participants joined the event either onsite or online. The objective was to explore how EU and Japanese financing instruments can be used to support the private sector's initiatives in Africa. The event mainly covered three business areas - energy, transport and critical raw materials - which are key for EU-Japan cooperation with African partners.

The event started with the presentation of a practical guide prepared by the EU-Japan Connectivity Partnership Programme. The document aims at providing an overview of EU and Japanese financing opportunities available to the private sector for projects related to connectivity. The event continued with presentations from financing organisations about financing instruments that could support EU-Japan business cooperation in and with Africa.

On the Japanese side, the event hosted speakers from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). On the EU side, speakers from the Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW), the Directorate General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) were present.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) also presented its instruments and a few projects in Africa involving EU and Japanese companies that benefitted from these instruments.

The event showcased several existing success stories between EU and Japanese companies in Africa and with African partners. The French company EDF presented its own energy projects in Africa and the Middle-East with Japanese companies such as Mitsui & Co. and Kyushu Electric Power. The EU-Japan Centre provided additional examples of EU-Japan projects in Africa in the fields of transport infrastructure and energy. Finally, during the second part of the event, the EU-Japan Centre organised a matchmaking session for onsite participants. In total, 10 meetings were arranged between companies and financing organisations such as JICA, JBIC, JOGMEC and EIB.

Published: December 2023