Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and his South African counterpart Ronald Lamola agreed Tuesday to step up cooperation in strengthening critical mineral supply chains.
Motegi and Lamola also agreed in their talks in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, to work together to facilitate corporate investment in the country to help resuscitate its slowing economy, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
The meeting was part of Motegi’s trip from last Wednesday to four African nations, which earlier took him to Zambia, Angola and Kenya. Japan seeks to increase involvement in Africa in the face of China’s growing influence on the continent.
“We were able to deepen ties with Africa, a major region of the Global South that has been increasing its presence and voice,” Motegi told reporters as he wraps up his tour.
The Japanese minister also met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
South Africa, which is Japan’s largest trading partner in Africa, is the only African member of the Group of 20 economies and is also part of the BRICS group of emerging economies.
Many Japanese companies have established footholds in the country.
Resource-poor Japan is looking to secure stable resource supplies as the conflict in the Middle East threatens oil flows and China’s tighter export controls restrict rare earth procurement, respectively.
South Africa ranks among the leading producers of various critical minerals including platinum group metals and manganese.
According to the ministry, the two ministers affirmed joint efforts to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, an initiative first put forward in 2016 by then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe when he attended the Tokyo International Conference on African Development hosted by Kenya.
© KYODO
