UNIDO HQs organized a study tour in Japan for 11 African business representatives from food processing industry, Resource Efficient Cleaner Production (RECP), and National Cleaner Production Centers (NCPCs) in four countries (Egypt, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa) from June 12 to 16, 2017.

During the study tour, the participants visited the International Food Machinery and Technology Exhibition (FOOMA) held at Tokyo Big Sight, Japanese retails for market research and factories for seeking potential partnerships. They also had several meetings with Japanese companies, which were facilitated by UNIDO ITPO Tokyo with an aim to transfer Japanese manufacturing and environmental technology. The series of activities implemented under this study tour promoted business opportunities between Japan and Africa.

The project “Low Carbon and Climate Resilient Industrial Development”, funded by the Government of Japan, has assessed the vulnerability of the industry value chain to climate change, particularly in food processing industry of the four African countries. The project aims to transfer low-carbon technologies which contribute to enhancing the resilience to climate change in the industrial processes and deepening the understanding of mitigation and adaptation for the African industry.

The African business representatives were selected based on several factors such as the evaluations of the experts, their strong commitments to the low-carbon and climate resilient production, and the sufficient investment capital for improvement.

The industrial sectors and adaptation technologies of the study tour participants are as follows:

Country	Industrial sector	Adaptation technologies for climate change
Kenya	Tea procession	Efficient airblower with control function for withering process
	Sugar production	Closed belt dryer for bagasse drying
	Milk processing	Biomass boiler
Senegal	Fish processing	Ice maker
South Africa	Fruits processing, Juice production	Chiller with heat recovery function
Egypt

 

Technological proposals made by Japanese companies will be assessed by the business representatives with the help of technical experts. Afterwards, the most appropriate technology providers will be decided in the bidding process.

The regional workshop is planned to take place in October in Nairobi, Kenya, where public and private stakeholders from Japan as well as four African countries will be invited. It is expected that the upcoming event in autumn will provide valuable opportunities not only to promote business opportunities between Japan and Africa but also to share success stories among African counterparts, thereby encouraging the　South-South Cooperation (SSC).

Please refer to the HQ website for more details.