Mnangagwa Criticised For Praising Japan’s TICAD At China’s Expense

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 03:27 pm

MDC supporter and constitutional law expert, Alex Magaisa, has criticised Mnangagwa for not understanding geopolitical and economic dynamics when he described the just ended Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) as the “first common platform to discuss African development”.

According to Magaisa, this would fly in the face of China whose Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is a similar effort. FOCAC has been running since 2000. Magaisa says the two countries are in ‘scramble’ for a piece of Africa.

Said Magaisa:

Our all-weather friends won’t be amused by this: “The TICAD process initiated by Japan is the first common platform to discuss African development” Maybe ED was excited by #TICAD & wanted to flatter the Japanese thinking the meeting was private or he had forgotten China’s #FOCAC

The brief should have advised him of the geopolitical & economic dynamics in the Far East where the two giants, China & Japan are in a scramble for a piece of Africa. China’s FOCAC & Japan’s TICAD are rival processes in this contestation. You have to choose your words carefully.