アフリカにおける観光が持つ変革パワーを発揮させるために～科学技術イノベーション、若者＆女性の起業力を捉えて～に関する アフリカ対話シリーズのフォローアップとTICAD8に向けてのハイレベルイベントにおける石兼大使開催挨拶

Excellencies, Distinguished guests,
 
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to today’s event, looking ahead towards TICAD 8 to be held next year in Tunisia.
 
I wish to thank the UNDP Administrator, Mr. Achim Steiner for his inspiring message, and the UNDP team for helping us organize this event. My special appreciation goes to USG Duarte, Ambassador Ladeb, and Ambassador Mohamed for gracing this event, and I am also grateful to all TICAD co-organizers for their invaluable support in realizing this event.
 
Today’s meeting highlights the transformative power of tourism in Africa, in line with the African Union’s 2021 theme: “Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want.” The panel discussion will focus on the role of African tourism in boosting the economic recovery, creating jobs, spurring investments, and transforming peoples’ livelihoods towards sustainable development.
 
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic as many speakers have pointed out, the African continent had the world’s second fastest growing tourism sector. Approximately 7% of the continent’s GDP was generated by the travel and tourism industry, equivalent to 170 billion US dollars. Due to the halt caused by the pandemic however, the tourism GDP in Africa is estimated to have shrunk by about 50%.
 
Yet, such devastating disruption may or should open the widow of opportunities by reshaping the existing policies to adapt to post-COVID needs of travelers and to the new normal of the global tourism sector. Furthermore, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) gives us hope of boosting domestic and intra-regional travel.
 
Africa is home to diverse cultural and natural heritage, made up of historical sites, music, dance, art, gastronomy, film, wildlife, beaches and national parks, and accompanied with the charm and warm hospitality of its people. “How can we tap into this unlimited potential?” is what today’s event is all about.
 
Excellencies, dear friends of Africa,
 
The world has yet to overcome the human security crisis caused by COVID-19. Equitable distribution of vaccines to and within Africa is of utmost priority. However, it is never too early to start envisioning how we want the post-COVID Africa to look like. Reshaping Africa’s tourism can be a catalyst to promote more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient future. For that to happen, Africa’s ownership and international partnership is the key.
 
“Ownership and partnership” is the motto of TICAD, Tokyo International Conference on African Development. For those who have not heard about TICAD, it was first organized in Tokyo in 1993 to reinvigorate the waning international attention to Africa, in particular among the donor community lapsing into “aid fatigue” after the end of the Cold War. Since then, TICAD has been held every five years and since 2013 every three years at the level of Heads of States and Governments.
 
By providing a venue for a high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and partners, including donor countries, international organizations, private sector and civil society organizations, TICAD has become a major, open, inclusive and multilateral forum to garner international support for African-led development.
 
TICAD’s discussion has traditionally been articulated around three pillars, namely, economic growth, human-centered development, and peace and stability. Since TICAD VI held in Nairobi in 2016, TICAD is drawing increased attention of the corporate sector and the measures to boost trade and investments have become one of the major focus of the discussions.
 
Against this backdrop, the key question today is, firstly, how Africa can harness this growing interest of private sector, in particular the entrepreneurship of youths and women, to realize the potential of tourism industry and promote sustainable, inclusive and greener development. And secondly, how the partners for African development can support those African countries’ efforts.
 
Excellencies and friends,
 
This event will feed into the upcoming TICAD process, including the Joint Monitoring Committee scheduled in July and the Ministerial Meeting expected to be held in November in Tokyo, leading to TICAD 8 in Tunisia next year. I look forward to your active participation in today’s discussions and hope you will stay engaged in the upcoming TICAD process.
 
I thank you.