Johannesburg

Wednesday

More sun than clouds. Pleasantly warm.

12°C
28°C

7 day forecasts

Japan doubles aid to Africa

2005-06-28 14:41

Tokyo - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi re-affirmed on Tuesday that Japan would double its aid to Africa, largely in grants, by the end of 2007, a foreign ministry official said.

His comments were made during a meeting with the ambassadors to Japan of 33 African countries.

"There is no peace or prosperity in the 21st century without solving the African problems," Koizumi was quoted as saying.

"Although Japan is willing to assist your countries, it is important for each African nation to make its own effort," Koizumi added, reminding the ambassadors how Japan rebuilt with foreign financial help after World War II.

On Monday Ichiro Aizawa, Japan's vice foreign minister, pledged at a UN conference that Japan would double the amount of its official development assistance to Africa to $1bn.

To help boost the private sector in Africa, including small firms, Japan will initiate a soft-loan facility totalling $1.2bn over the next five years in partnership with the African Development Bank, Aizawa said.

Koizumi first unveiled the plan at the Asia-Africa summit held in Indonesia in April.

As host of the G8 meeting in Scotland from July 6-8, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has put fighting African poverty at the top of his agenda.

Last week UN secretary-general Kofi Annan urged leaders of the world's richest countries to use the summit to address the world poverty by increasing development aid and forgiving debt.

The Group of Eight comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

- AFP

inside news24

Cpt: 15-18°C Rain. Decreasing cloudiness. Mild. Pta: 16-32°C Morning clouds. Pleasantly warm.
Jhb: 12-28°C More sun than clouds. Pleasantly warm. Bloem: 12-29°C High level clouds. Pleasantly warm.
Dbn: 18-30°C Sprinkles early. More sun than clouds. Warm. PE: 14-24°C Drizzle. Broken clouds. Mild.
7 day forecasts...
Western Cape Eastern Cape Kwazulu Natal Gauteng

Boksburg - 17:33:55 PM Accident at the Rondebult Road exit - expect delays going towards Benoni More traffic reports...

Here are the winning Lotto numbers from the Saturday, November 7 draw.

18, 24, 25, 31, 35, 42 Bonus 38

Lotto plus: 4, 14, 17, 20, 21, 34 Bonus 3

SMS the word Lotto to 31222 to get lotto numbers sent directly to your phone. The service costs just R10 per month. 
More lotto numbers...

Jobs - Find your dream job

Bookkeeper

Gauteng - Johannesburg
Cassel & Co

Senior Training & Development Manager

Western Cape - Cape Town
Express Employment Professionals
R29,000-30,000 Per Month Plus Benefits

Senior HR Manager

Gauteng
Express Employment Professionals
R30,000-30,500 Per Month Plus Benefits

Cars - Search 1000's of new and used cars

AUDI

2008 A4 1.8T Multitronics from R 269 000

OPEL

Corsa Lite 1.4i 3-dr MY00
2004
R 55,200.00

AUDI

A4 2.0 Multitronic 7-sp MY05
2005
R 159,990.00

AUDI

RS4 4.2 V8 Quattro
2009
R 610,000.00

Property - Find a new home

MONTANA

Multiple Unit R1,150,000

BRENTON ON SEA

Single Residential R1,850,000

ORKNEY

Single Residential R1,404,000

Travel - Look, Book, Go!

Free Games - TOO MUCH NEWS? TAKE A BREAK!