Indo-Japanese cooperation within Africa-Asia Growth Corridor

Africa due to natural resources and demographic potential is a region of expansion for world powers - not only USA, EU and China, but also equally ambitious India and Japan. As part of bilateral cooperation, India and Japan established the concept of the Africa-Asia Growth Corridor (AAGC). The Growth Corridor is certainly an interesting and tempting proposition for African countries. The main goal is to build an effective and sustainable intercontinental mechanism, integrating economies, institutions and people. As an ambitious global concept, AAGC will not avoid comparisons with the Chinese One Belt, One Road Initiative. Africa and the Indian Ocean are an integral part of both initiatives. Nevertheless, there are differences. AAGC, unlike OBOR, which is a unilateral initiative of China, is a bilateral initiative of Japan and India. AAGC has also consultative nature, which means Africa’s participation in the decision-making process. In addition, the funding for the promotion of OBOR projects comes mainly from Chinese banks or Chinese government sources. In the case of AAGC, the funds come both from government and commercial sources as well as from international institutions, including the African Development Bank. Ultimately, the Chinese proposal is more expansive, more ambitious and global, embracing other continents not only Africa and Asia. The aim of the article is to describe and analyze the Indo-Japanese cooperation within the Africa-Asia Growth Corridor initiative.