African Studies Center - TUFS (ASC-TUFS) will host the 62nd ASC Seminar in collaboration with Kanto branch of Japan Association for African Studies. Prof. Kweku Ampiah, our visiting professor, will assess the trajectory of Japan's economic relations with Africa in the context of decolonization and Japan's pronouncements at the Bandung Conference of 1955. Using the case-study of a public-private venture he will also examine policymaking in economic collaboration between Japan and Ghana in the 1960s.

◆Speaker: Prof. Kweku Ampiah (Associate Professor, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Leeds / Visiting Professor, African Studies Center - TUFS)

◆Title: The Dynamics of Economic Events between Japan and Africa from the 1930s to the 1960s

◆Abstract: As early as 1965 the Political Scientist James R. Soukup wrote that, 'there are, of course, certain obstacles in the path of rapid expansion of Japan's efforts to assist African development.' The talk chronicles the evolution of Japan's economic engagements with the African countries from the 1930s to the 1960s to assess the trajectory of Japan's economic relations with post-colonial Africa. The analysis will evoke Japan's pronouncements at the 1955 Bandung Conference about its commitment to the socio-economic development of Asia and Africa. It is in that context that the interest of the Japanese private sector in the economic prospects of early post-colonial Africa is explored. A discussion of the composition and framework of a Japanese public-private venture in Ghana in the 1960s is used (as a case study) to examine policymaking in economic collaboration in both Japan and Ghana, which might give us an insight into Soukup's comment.

◆Date & Time: Monday, November 15, 2021 5:40 - 7:10 pm (JST) / 8:40 - 10:10 (GMT)

◆Venue: Online (Zoom Meeting)

◆Language: English

◆Admission: Free

◆Pre-registration is required. Please visit here for registration by November 13, 2021. The application will be closed as soon as the capacity reaches 300. We will send the Zoom Meeting information to the registered email address on November 14, 2021.

◆Jointly Organized by African Studies Center - TUFS and Kanto branch of Japan Association for African Studies