About JICA

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was established i n 1974 to i mplement the Japanese Government’s Official Development Assistance (ODA). In 2008, JICA merged with the overseas economic cooperation section of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), which enabled JICA to provide loan and grant assistance in a harmonised manner, covering areas from infrastructure to grassroots projects.

Since its establishment, JICA has become the world’s largest bilateral development agency, with its approach changing over time. It has provided various forms of technical assistance in over 150 countries globally. Furthermore, it has become more field-oriented, working more closely with partner governments, international development partners, private enterprises and, above all, communities and local people.

JICA has been implementing various projects in South Africa since 1997, three years after the country’s first democratic election. JICA aims to complement governments’ initiatives to promote sustainability through multisectoral technical assistance. Such assistance includes training in Japan and third countries, the dispatch of Japanese experts and volunteers for skills transfer to local counterparts, and projects comprising a mix of the above. Since inception, the JICA South Africa Office has contributed more than $250.9-million, sent more than 1 400 South African training participants to Japan, and dispatched more than 450 Japanese experts and more than 100 Japanese volunteers. Today, the number of South Africans empowered and enriched by “The Japan Experience”, exceeds 1 500.

JICA’s activities i n South Africa focus on primarily human resources development (HRD). In the education sector, for example, JICA has been dispatching experts for basic as well as higher education and training. For basic education, JICA is focusing on ways to demystify mathematics and science. For higher education and training, JICA is easing the transition for graduates entering the workplace through an employability improvement project involving partnerships with universities of technology and the Japanese private sector. Needless to say, the ABE Initiative is also a big contribution to the sector. In addition to the above, various Japanese volunteers have been dispatched to technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges in remote areas to assist teachers with curriculum development, and learners with better understanding of content.

JICA pursues t his holistic approach as it believes in the involvement of all stakeholders including the public and private sector, civil society, the academia and others. JICA regards development as “inclusive” and “dynamic”, implying that development is everyone’s responsibility, and that development is ever-changing amid shifting milieus.