Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said his disaster-hit country would boost solidarity with Africa, at a development meeting with African ministers in Dakar Saturday.
"I would like to express Japan's firm intention to strengthen solidarity with Africa even more intensely," Matsumoto told the opening ceremony as his country battles the devastating after effects of the March 11 quake and tsunami and ensuing crisis at a nuclear power plant.
The meeting is a follow-up to the five-yearly Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), last held in 2008 when Japan agreed to double development aid to Africa to $1.8 billion (1.2 billion euros) by 2012.
The Yokohama Action Plan outlined a focus on infrastructure development as well as boosting trade, foreign investment and assistance in private sector development.
Japan's government has submitted an extra budget of $49 billion to parliament to fund reconstruction after the disasters.
Senegal's Prime Minister Souleymane Ndiaye said the decision to continue the two-day TICAD meeting despite pressing issues at home showed Japan's "strong determination to abide by its commitments to Africa."
African ministers are expected to review progress made with the Yokohama Action Plan and discuss challenges to the continent's growth, peace and security issues and climate change.
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