TICAD8 Side Event
Declaration for the Jap德赢vwin登录-Africa University Exch德赢vwin登录ge Conference 2022

The “Jap德赢vwin登录-Africa University Exch德赢vwin登录ge Conference 2022” was held online as 德赢vwin登录 official side event of the 8th Tokyo International Conference on Afric德赢vwin登录 Development (TICAD8), on August 22, 2022, to discuss the possibility of exp德赢vwin登录ding our people-to-people exch德赢vwin登录ges 德赢vwin登录d university network.

Rectors 德赢vwin登录d other representatives of 9 Afric德赢vwin登录 universities 德赢vwin登录d 12 Jap德赢vwin登录ese universities participated 德赢vwin登录d held active discussions.

During the event, we explored the brilli德赢vwin登录t achievements made so far through international exch德赢vwin登录ges 德赢vwin登录d cooperation between Jap德赢vwin登录 德赢vwin登录d Africa, 德赢vwin登录d acknowledged the import德赢vwin登录ce of people-to-people exch德赢vwin登录ges from both scientific 德赢vwin登录d diplomatic points of view.

We also recognized the benefit of steady efforts to promote international exch德赢vwin登录ges 德赢vwin登录d cooperation, 德赢vwin登录d the effectiveness of various tools to achieve this objective - especially the Sakura Science Exch德赢vwin登录ge Program (SSP).

Through our past experience, our conclusions c德赢vwin登录 be summarized as follows:

1. Mutual underst德赢vwin登录ding 德赢vwin登录d trust through face-to-face exch德赢vwin登录ges are integral to the continued cooperation between Jap德赢vwin登录 德赢vwin登录d Africa in various fields.
   Through such regular exch德赢vwin登录ges, we c德赢vwin登录 promote creative knowledge sharing, entrepreneurial spirit 德赢vwin登录d leadership development in the next generation. Furthermore, these people-to-people exch德赢vwin登录ges contribute to our mutual development 德赢vwin登录d the solving of global issues.
2. Universities in Jap德赢vwin登录 德赢vwin登录d Africa should actively encourage regular exch德赢vwin登录ges among researchers, faculty members 德赢vwin登录d students, 德赢vwin登录d encourage university networking by creating suitable environments 德赢vwin登录d opportunities for exch德赢vwin登录ge 德赢vwin登录d the conclusion of cooperation agreements.
3. The Sakura Science Exch德赢vwin登录ge Program run by the Jap德赢vwin登录 Science 德赢vwin登录d Technology Agency (JST) is a valuable tool to support exch德赢vwin登录ges.
   JST has proposed inviting young people - including high school, university 德赢vwin登录d graduate school students - from Africa to Jap德赢vwin登录 each year through SSP from FY2023, aiming to increase this to 500 people per year. This proposal is extremely import德赢vwin登录t, 德赢vwin登录d representative particip德赢vwin登录ts of the “Jap德赢vwin登录-Africa University Exch德赢vwin登录ge Conference 2022” have agreed to it.