The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
East Africa’s external engagement has long been dominated by China and Europe. Japan offers a third option
COMMENT | CHRISTOPHER BURKE | President Museveni’s recent comments on Uganda’s right to access the Indian Ocean underscore just how central the waterway is to East Africa’s economic and strategic future. The Indian Ocean has linked East Africa to Asia for centuries. Dhows once carried ivory, gold and spices across the monsoon winds from Mombasa to Muscat long before modern nation-states existed. The ocean that shaped the Swahili world is becoming the backbone of economic and strategic connectivity.
Japan’s approach to East Africa has always been defined by patience and credibility. The long-term work led by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) rarely makes headlines, quietly strengthening technical capacity, improving infrastructure planning and supporting public institutions. Japanese development assistance focuses on building systems, not dependency.
The East Asian nation has delivered technical cooperation training engineers, port managers and vocational instructors across East Africa. Concessional loans have upgraded ports, roads and power grids while grant aid has improved education, healthcare and water management. Japan’s emphasis on knowledge transfer, rather than turnkey construction, has created a partnership rooted in local expertise.
East Africa has become a focal point of Japan’s engagement with Africa. The region’s coastline, relative stability and role as a gateway to African markets render it central to Tokyo’s vision of a connected and prosperous continent. Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia anchor Japan’s strategy to link Africa’s growth corridors with Asian industry; reinforced through the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) process and expanding partnerships in West and Southern Africa.
During the opening ceremony of TICAD 9 in Yokohama in August this year, Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba proposed the establishment of an Asia–Africa economic zone to facilitate free trade across the Indian Ocean. The initiative envisions shared logistics corridors, digital infrastructure and industrial cooperation linking African producers to Asian markets. It aligns closely with East Africa’s priorities comprising regional integration through the East African Community (EAC), the continent-wide African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and major infrastructure initiatives such as the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor connecting Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan.
Leaders and representatives from around 50 African states participated in the three-day meeting where Japan announced up to US$5.5 billion in loans coordinated with the African Development Bank and committed to training 30,000 African specialists in artificial intelligence over the next three years—an investment in people as much as in infrastructure.
East Africa’s external engagement has long been dominated by China and Europe. Japan offers a third option. A partnership rooted in reliability, quality and respect for sovereignty. Tokyo’s focus on “quality infrastructure” supports projects that are designed to last with ports that meet international environmental standards, roads built for resilience and energy investments aligned with climate goals.
Japan’s development philosophy focused on discipline, order and pragmatic cooperation resonates with East African aspirations for stability and growth. Japanese aid is apolitical, anchored in self-reliance and gradual capacity-building. This quiet consistency has earned Tokyo considerable goodwill among East African governments and strengthened Japan’s moral authority as a middle power able with the capacity to navigate global competition without imposing political pressure.
Goodwill alone is not enough. East Africa’s rapidly growing economies are driven by technology, green energy and a young, entrepreneurial population. The region not only requires infrastructure, but markets and industrial collaboration comprising joint ventures in renewable energy, battery minerals, blue economy industries and digital manufacturing. Japan’s credibility and technology offer a unique opportunity to help East Africa move up the value chain and shift from traditional aid to co-creation.
Tanzania’s port-led logistics, Kenya’s ambitions in green manufacturing and Uganda’s energy transition create clear entry points for Japanese investors. New partnerships could focus on processing cobalt and graphite for electric vehicles, expanding renewable energy grids, supporting sustainable fisheries or building smart logistics systems connecting inland economies to global supply chains. This is not only about securing markets for Japan, but identifying trusted partners in an increasingly volatile global environment.
Japan’s focus on trade and technology offers East Africa something rarer than capital–predictability. Leaders in the region seek relationships that respect sovereignty and reward competence. Japan’s model of institution-based cooperation, long-term financing and training aligns with this vision.
The challenge is to scale trust into transformation. The Indian Ocean binds these ambitions together. No longer just a shipping lane, it has become a shared strategic and ecological space involving everything from maritime security and climate resilience to sustainable fisheries and digital connectivity.
The Indian Ocean is no longer a frontier, but a bridge. As East Africa strengthens its Indian Ocean identity, Japan can help turn that horizon into a shared future defined not by competition, but cooperation across the water that has always linked them.
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Christopher Burke is a senior advisor at WMC Africa, a communications and advisory agency located in Kampala, Uganda. With over 30 years of experience, he has worked extensively on social, political and economic development issues focused on governance, environment issues, policy formulation, communications, advocacy, extractives, conflict transformation, international relations and peace-building in Asia and Africa.
