Japan to provide 32.1 billion yen in yen loans for Africa

TOKYO, Sept. 12 Kyodo - Japan has decided to provide up to 32.1 billion yen in yen loans to the African Development Bank, with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation signing a document recently in the Tunisian capital Tunis, government officials said Friday.
The aid is part of up to $4 billion, or about 430 billion yen, in soft loans the Japanese government pledged to provide over the next five years partly to help improve infrastructure in Africa at an African development conference in Yokohama in May.
The loans of 32.1 billion yen are aimed at providing business funds for private firms operating in Africa through the development bank.
Possible projects to be covered by the loans include the establishment of a microfinance institution for poor people in Tanzania and construction of a hydraulic power plant in Uganda, the officials said.
On May 28, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda pledged at the outset of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development that Japan will double its official development assistance to Africa by 2012.
JBIC said it expects the Japanese loan will contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction in Africa.