According to an analyst, Japan cannot compete for influence in Africa

According to independent researcher Jackie Shandu, Western nations and Japan have “no chance” of competing for influence on the continent in terms of changing African attitudes of China.

Shandu was responding to this week’s trips to Africa by the Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and the British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, which came after the St. Petersburg summit between Russia and Africa.

The UK foreign secretary began a three-nation tour of the continent on Monday by travelling to Ghana and Nigeria. He is scheduled to visit Zambia on Thursday to round out his trip.

Cleverly’s tour, according to the UK, was intended to fortify “future-focused, mutually beneficial” partnerships with African countries, but the BBC, the country’s national broadcaster, claimed it was also an effort to offset the rising power of Russia and China.

Cleverly charged Russia with reaching a “new low” by “deliberately burning food stocks” as millions of people around the world went without food in a speech on Tuesday in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria.

He claimed that because Britain understands the crucial part that African nations will play in defining the “future of the international order,” it is working to “renew old friendships and forge new ones.”

The Japanese counterpart to Cleverly started his trip to Africa on Tuesday, stopping in at crucial Russian allies South Africa, Uganda, and Ethiopia to expand their mutually beneficial economic, investment, and energy ties.

A recent study published on the website of the African Development Bank claims that the continent barely receives 0.003% of the $2 trillion in worldwide foreign direct investment made by Japan. Additionally, it showed that less than 2% of exports and imports are still made between Africa and Tokyo.

Shandu emphasised that Japan could not compete with China in terms of investment on the African continent in an interview with RT on Wednesday.

He continued, saying, “China has been in Africa for a very long time” and has made profitable investments, and that Japan has “[no] chance of conquering” Beijing’s economic sway or altering the way the region views China.

“Japan has, for the most part, allied itself with the enemies of Africa, the oppressors of Africa, and with the individuals and nations that are adamant about keeping Africa poor, exploited, and underdeveloped.”

The “America of Asia,” according to Shandu, has “always been on the wrong side of history in terms of people’s freedom.” He referred to Japan as such.