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Addressing a Japan-Africa summit in Tunisia, Prime Minister
Fumio Kishida said Tokyo would work to ensure grain shipments to
Africa amid a global shortage.
"If we give up on a rules-based society and permit unilateral
changes of the status quo by force, the impact of that will
extend not only through Africa, but all the world," Kishida said
by videolink after testing positive for COVID-19.
Kishida said the $30 billion would be delivered over three
years, promising smaller sums for food security in coordination
with the African Development Bank.
Tunisia's state news agency cited Japanese Foreign Minister
Yoshimasa Hayashi as saying Japan was granting Tunisia $100
million to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic.
The summit has given Tunisian President Kais Saied his biggest
international platform since his 2019 election and comes after
he seized broad powers, formally enshrined through a
constitutional referendum, a move his critics call a coup.
Speaking on Friday at a joint press conference with his Japanese
counterpart, Tunisian Foreign Minister Othman Jerandi repeatedly
emphasised Tunisia's commitment to democracy, which has been
questioned by Saied's critics.
The summit has triggered a row between Tunisia and Morocco,
which was angered by Saied's decision to invite the Polisario
movement that seeks independence for Western Sahara, a territory
Rabat regards as its own.
Morocco and Tunisia have recalled their ambassadors from each
other's countries for consultations. Rabat said the decision to
invite Polisario leader Brahim Ghali was made against Japan's
wishes. Tokyo has yet to comment.
Tunisia is itself in need of financial support as it faces a
looming crisis in public finances that has been worsened by the
global squeeze on commodities. This week long queues have formed
at petrol stations amid a fuel shortage, while shops have
started rationing some goods.
(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah in Cairo, Elaine Lies and Kentaro
Sugiyama in Tokyo and Angus McDowall in Tunis; Editing by
Frances Kerry and William Mallard)
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