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Senegal president hopes for Japanese support for Africa's digital growth
DAKAR (Kyodo) -- The president of Senegal has expressed hope for Japanese support for boosting technological and digital development in Africa to help grow the continent's economy.
In a recent interview ahead of the ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Japan, Diomaye Faye said that he believes taking advantage of Japan's edge in the field will lead to providing "transformative solutions for African economies."
The remarks by Faye, who became the youngest president in Senegal's history in April last year at the age of 44, come ahead of the start of the TICAD conference on Wednesday in Yokohama near Tokyo.
Faye is hoping to tap into the region's large young population for the development of human resources.
This year's TICAD conference will tackle issues such as empowerment of youth and women.
Faye described the gathering as a "great opportunity to strengthen and diversify cooperation between Africa and Japan."
While stressing the importance of TICAD as a forum for multilateral cooperation, he said he is concerned that "multilateralism is taking a significant step backward," in an apparent reference to U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" foreign policy.
Faye called on Japan, Africa and partners around the world "to strengthen this multilateralism" and make it "fairer."
Faye won last year's presidential election as an opposition candidate, marking the third democratic regime change in the country after 2000 and 2012.
In recent years, West Africa has experienced military coups, prompting the French military to withdraw from the area. Although Senegal has never experienced a coup since its independence from France in 1960, it has requested French troops to leave, ending their permanent deployment in July.
