Japan unveiled a package of steps to help boost growth in Africa on Wednesday, vowing to double its aid and business investment, as it seeks closer ties with the resource-rich continent.
Following are a summary of key steps Tokyo pledged at the fourth round of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama, near Tokyo.

AID
Double Japan's official development assistance (ODA) by 2012, bringing its five-year average annual ODA to $1.8 billion from the current $900 million.
Provide up to $4 billion of soft loans to Africa over the next five years to help improve infrastructure there.

Double grant aid and technical cooperation for Africa over the next five years, bringing the five-year average to $1.4 billion from $700 million now.

INVESTMENT

Set up a $2.5 billion facility within the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), a government-backed lending agency, to help Japanese firms boost investment in Africa. The facility will directly finance businesses in African countries and guarantee the financing provided by Japanese banks for businesses in Africa.

Reinforce trade insurance to make it easier for Japanese companies to develop their businesses in Africa.

Aim to double Japanese investment in Africa through such public-private collaborative activity.

Dispatch a large-scale economic mission comprised of leaders in the public and private sector later this year.

AGRICULTURE

Work with various countries and international organisations to develop irrigation systems, improve the variety of crops raised and foster farmers in Africa, with the aim of doubling current rice production output of 14 million tons over the next 10 years.

Provide a significant portion of Japan's recently promised emergency food assistance package equivalent to $100 million to Africa.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Japan has recently outlined a mechanism called the "Cool Earth Partnership," under which it plans to engage in assistance to development countries, including Africa, which aim to achieve both greenhouse gas emissions reductions and economic growth. The scale of assistance is $10 billion over the course of five years, starting this year

Japan slipped to fifth place from third in overall overseas aid spending in 2007 at $7.7 billion, down 30 percent from the previous year, according to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development figures, as Tokyo tried to curb the country's bulging public debt.

Japan's trade with Africa is a meagre 2 percent of its overall trade, and investment in Africa has been limited. (Reporting by Yoko Nishikawa)

From uk.reuters.com