Abe and Abebe
In 1960, a 28-year-old Abebe Bikila, an Ethiopian legendary athlete shocked the world with his extraordinary athletics gift by becoming a champion of the Olympic marathon running the race barefoot. He became the first African athlete to win a gold medal in the Olympics. Yet again, the legendary athlete did not stop in Rome. Soon again at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, marathoner Abebe Bikila became the world’s first back-to-back Olympic marathon champion. Abebe had enough energy left in the tank at the finish line to do calisthenics on the stadium turf after crossing the finish line more than four minutes ahead of his nearest contender.
“My name is Abe, but everybody teased me at school, calling me Abebe,” Mr. Abe said. “Many Japanese marathon runners would actually collapse after the race but when I saw Mr. Abebe actually stretching afterward, it was such a surprise, even for a 10-year-old,” said during his visit to Africa in 2014. The prime minister was presented with a photo of Bikila winning Olympic gold in Tokyo, a gift from the late legend’s son, Yetnayet Abebe.
The assassination of Japan’s youngest and longest-serving prime minister has shocked the world with leaders and people alike across the globe showing an extraordinary outpouring of tributes and condolences. The sentiment is equally shared in Africa. African leaders continue to express their condolences highlighting the unique leadership role the former prime minister had demonstrated. In a statement following the sudden death of Shinzo Abe, President of the African Development Bank Group Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina eloquently stated that “Shinzo Abe had a special love and affection for Africa”. In a continent that has been marked by dramatic influence and presence of China with its mega infrastructure projects from north to south, east to west and the Sisyphean task Japanese institutional, social, and legal context posed could be said that his performance was Abebesque. Despite the constraints and competition, he faced from China, a country that has become the powerhouse of Africa’s rise and the number one investing economy. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government introduced new policies and legislations to address these issues and enhance Japan’s contributions to a policy known as “proactive contribution to peace”. Understanding this context and structural dynamics gives a sense of the seismic shift and the ambitious initiatives Shinzo Abe introduced as well as achieved.
In Abe’s efforts to recalibrate Japan’s foreign policy towards Africa, several notable features have been particularly noteworthy. One of the core strategies of Japan’s foreign policy towards Africa is TICAD. Following the end of the Cold, War Japan proposed its initiative to host the 1993 TICAD I as a “pioneer development forum on Africa” as part of its framework of the post-Cold War global order. Though TICAD has been instrumental in the bilateral relations of Japan and Africa, under Abe it has been upgraded as a semi-institutional framework empowering and leveraging the momentum for continual engagement, policy dialogue, and implementation. It was as a result of this aspiration that Abe initiated the idea of hosting it alternately in Africa and Japan every three years instead of five years.
The first major departure is his bold move to make the Japanese businesses and private sector part of the continent that he hailed as the next center of growth. Japan’s business and private sectors had not been ready. Yet, in 2016 at the TICAD VI Summit he challenged and warned Japanese businesses to not lose this tremendous opportunity. At the TICAD VI, the first to be held in Africa in Nairobi, Kenya in his speech stated that “Our hunch is that the time has come to make the best of Japan’s capabilities, Japanese companies’ capabilities, for the advancement of Africa, where you seek nothing but quality in your socio-economic development. We must not let a good opportunity slip away. I declare to you that we will launch the “Japan-Africa Public and Private Economic Forum” as a permanent forum”.
The 2019 Yokohama Declaration of TICAD VII stated that “knowing that Africa is the region with the highest rate of return on foreign direct investment inflows globally, we will work together to attract foreign investors to Africa’s priority sectors”. During the event, Abe promised to increase Japanese FDI by 20 billion doublings the existing figure.
Since coming to power Shinzo Abe has been a maverick navigator going against the grain of the Japanese foreign and security policy that aspires to see a Japan that is pivotal and an active player in global politics and the multilateral system. Following his second term in 2012, prime minister Abe outlined a foreign policy doctrine that envisions Japan’s role in shaping the global order. This is a breaking point from Japan’s tradition following the legacy of its militarist policy up until WW II. His grand strategy in the Indo-Pacific region is the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) strategy, announced at the Tokyo International Conference for Development (TICAD) VI which was held in Kenya in August 2016. Additionally, an updated, maritime version of the 2007 Arc of Freedom and Prosperity, FOIP takes stock of the economic and strategic integration of the vast area running from the eastern coast of Africa to the South Pacific. This policy was designed with a target to serve as a geopolitical narrative alternative to the region serving as a free and open “international public goods”. He argued that this would create some breathing space for countries that do not want to align with any of the great powers and empowers the middle powers that will have greater responsibility to build up synergies to allow for legitimate and concrete actions.
Perhaps one of the measures that highlight his policy towards Africa and the unprecedented attention the continent gained under his premiership is the place where the launching of this bold policy took place. Abe made a conscious decision to declare this doctrine in Africa. This is also a shift from the previous times which sees the continent as a dumping ground and a pawn of European and other major powers’ geostrategic motives. Africa was given a cornerstone and a strategic partnership role that helps to mitigate the structural impediment of the great power politics and the multipolar world order. More than any other Japanese leader Abe understood these complex dynamics and fast-changing scenarios. Emerging powers like Turkey, Iran, and other traditional powers such as Chia, Russia, and the US and EU are revising their strategies to enhance their geopolitical leverage with multipronged approaches that are increasingly becoming a highly integrated and important continent.
Unlike other major powers, Japan maintains a human security approach to its foreign and security policy It is noted that it pursues a ‘freedom from want’ approach unlike the likes of Canada which has made Japan be increasingly passive as the global security challenges have become complex. Furthermore, the separation of the dual security threats of freedom from want and freedom of fear has become intertwined and hard to differentiate. Responding to this changing reality, Shinzo Abe expanded and diversified Japan’s engagement in areas where its economic interests and Africa’s immediate security needs are aligned. In this aspect, Japan’s support in combating piracy and maritime security was significant in the Horn of Africa. It took a direct involvement in the multinational counter-piracy operation in the Indian Ocean and the maritime security/safety training and capacity building to Djibouti, Kenya, and Somalia.
Another dimension where Japan’s foreign policy and diplomatic strategy under Abe demonstrated a break away from tradition and took an element of experimenting with Japanese skills is institutional learning and capacity building in monitoring and evaluation practices. While Abe was out of office for a brief period before his second term, the AU Commission became a full partner in the TICAD process in 2010. This availed a new mechanism where TICAD is overseen by a follow-up, which comprises a three-tier structure of a joint secretariat, joint monitoring committee, and follow-up meetings. This significantly demonstrates Japan’s interest in making the bilateral relationship transform beyond the member states into a continental level led by AU. This strongly resonates with AU’s Ten Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063 which called for a “…comprehensive AU policy framework” and “…articulation of a strategic partnership policy with respect to each of the key strategic partners”. This demonstrated Japan’s aspiration to enhance bilateral cooperation, and ties with the AU and sub-regional organizations such as IGAD.
President Akinwumi of the African Development Bank remembers the remarkable contributions and strategic leadership of Shinzo Abe in partnering with the premier financial institution of the continent. Adesina underscores the dynamics upon which Abe’s policy towards Africa’s development reinvigorated. He adds “Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the African Development Bank was given prominence in the foreign policy of Japan. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the African Development Bank signed the $3 billion Enhanced Private Sector Assistance for Africa (EPSA-3) and $3.5 billion EPSA-4 agreements for co-financing in Africa, further boosting investments in Africa’s infrastructure and private sector.” He sought the Bank as an anchor of the developmental and investment endeavors of the bilateral relations in driving the continent towards a free-market economy and deepening trade liberalizations that enhances the continent’s potential of becoming a major trading partner to Japan and to the rest of the world.
In 2015, for example, Japan donated $3.2 million to support the AU’s Peace Fund to fight against Ebola.19 This progress is mainly a result of the aforementioned factors.
In the multilateral aspect, Japan has been one of the vocal proponents of UN reform, particularly of the UN Security Council. Being a member of the G4 (which includes Brazil, India and Germany) it has been vigorously campaigning for reforming the Security Council. As one of the most advanced countries, Japan has a strong interest in the UN Security Council reform. In this regard, it seeks Africa’s support, as Africans have a convincing case to be included and represented in the Security Council. With the aim of materializing this, Abe had been making proactive efforts in outreaching states and regions in Africa and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Shinzo Abe was adamant and relentless in his pursuit of UN reform. In 2016 during TICAD VI he memorably called upon African leaders that “You in Africa have a right as a matter, of course, to demand that the international community better reflect your views. Africa should send a permanent member to the United Nations Security Council by 2023 at the very latest. Reform of the United Nations Security Council is truly a goal that Japan and Africa hold in common. I call on everyone here to walk together towards achieving it.” This was a rallying message that echoed in the whole of Africa. This shared mutually benefiting desperately needed pursuit unites both as one of the most crucial agendas of global security governance of our time. In this regard, there is ample opportunity to work together and for that Abe has to be credited.
Perhaps the most enduring and emblematic mark of Shinzo Abe’s foreign policy and diplomacy resides in his unwavering commitment to empowering the youth and girls. To his credit, in 2013 TICAD V, he initiated the “African Business Education Initiative for Youth” known as the “Abe Initiative”. The Abe Initiative was initially a five-year plan to provide 1,000 African youths to study at Japanese universities as well as internships at Japanese enterprises. The initiative was designed on the belief that human resource development in both the private and public sectors of Africa is desperately needed. It also aims to cultivate a strong human and business network between Japan and Africa. So far, 1,219 participants from 54 countries enrolled. During TICAD VII was renewed as “ABE Initiative 3.0” extending the opportunity for more than 3,000 youths. This has made the scale of this human resource development program unprecedented in the history of Japan’s international cooperation.
Like the legendary athlete and the man from whom he gained his childhood nickname, Shinzo Abe had been a barefoot marathoner navigating the hitherto uncharted territory and economic terrain of Africa’s untapped potential. He was on a mission to place Japan in the rightful place he thinks his country deserves in the ever increasingly becoming 21st century’s growth hub. In a continent where a multitude of great and emerging powers have already established their presence and where Japan’s archrival neighbor, China, has made a significant stride in FDI and bilateral relationships, the weight of his policies and the manner he emerged triumphant in ascertaining his country’s ascendancy is incredible. Like the Rome and Tokyo Olympic marathons champion, history may regard Shinzo Abe as a champion of the values of friendship and solidarity broadening its human security agenda by sharing Japan’s prosperity, advanced technologies, and innovation with Africa so that both can be winners. Africa needs to make sure it has a unified robust policy, institutional capacity, and coordinated information-sharing mechanism so that it emerges the winner in its dealings. As the well-known Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami’s character succinctly conjures “It’s all a question of imagination. Our responsibility begins with the power to imagine.” And Abe audaciously imagined and delivered.
Zerihun Kinate is a graduate student at the University of Waterloo, Canada. He was the recipient of the 2015 ABE Initiative scholarship for graduate study and internship from the Japanese Government. Under the program, he did his master’s degree in international relations in Kyoto.
