Kick-off Meeting “The Japan–Africa Nexus: Co-Building a Sustainable Global Future Together “Held

On the afternoon of February 19, Sophia University held the event “The Japan–Africa Nexus: Co-Building a Sustainable Global Future Together” at the International Conference Hall (17th Floor, Building No. 2), in a hybrid format.

This event served as the kick-off meeting for Sophia University’s student exchange initiative with African partner universities, titled “Developing Leaders Who Contribute to Solving Global Environmental Challenges through International Collaboration.” The initiative has been selected for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)’s FY2025 “Inter-University Exchange Project (Global South Countries: Africa Region).” Representatives from seven African partner universities, as well as cooperating organizations, were invited to attend.

In Part I, an overview of the project was presented, followed by keynote addresses from both Japanese and African representatives. MEXT shared Japan’s international initiatives and challenges in higher education, while representatives from the African partner universities spoke about the potential for collaboration between the two regions and their expectations for the project.

In Part II, two panel discussions were held. The first panel focused on “Challenges and Opportunities in Industry-Government-Academia Collaboration,” and the second addressed “Approaches to Global Environmental Challenges.” In addition to speakers from the African partner universities, representatives from the African Development Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Toda Corporation―organizations supporting this project―also participated. The discussions explored environmental challenges and human resource development initiatives that Japan and African countries can tackle collaboratively, generating lively and multifaceted exchanges of views.

The event was open to the public and provided a broad introduction to Sophia University’s education and research activities related to Africa, as well as its collaborative initiatives with international organizations. More than 120 participants attended, both in person and online.

Building on the strong track record of collaboration between Sophia University and African countries, this event marked an important first step in sharing common challenges and future directions for Japan and African nations, and in laying the foundation for a cooperative framework to achieve the goals of the project.