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 Japan |  Botswana |
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Botswana and Japan established bilateral relations upon Botswana's independence in 1966. Botswana established its diplomatic mission in Tokyo in 1997, and Japan opened an embassy in Gaborone in 2008. The two nations have been regular trading partners, and Japan has provided aid to Botswana to fund education and infrastructure.
Although Japan had developed relations with most territories in southern Africa by the 1920s, it did not do so with colonial Botswana. [2] Botswana and Japan established relations upon Botswana's independence in September 1966, and Japan was one of many nations to send aid to the newly founded nation. [3] Leadership in Botswana saw a potential model in Japan, which had grown to become the second largest economy in the world despite geographic isolation. [4] Japan established a non-resident ambassador to Botswana in 1971 through the ambassador to Zambia, where it was one of several countries to do so. [2]
1981 marked the first development program between the two nations when Japan funded laboratory equipment for schools in Botswana, and the first Japanese loan to Botswana was issued in 1986 to fund the Morupule Thermal Power Station. Further loans were issued in the following years for the Railway Rolling Stock Increase Project in 1988, the Trans-Kgalagadi Road Project in 1991, and the North-South Carrier pipeline in 1995. [5]
Botswana had a non-resident ambassador for Japan through China until it established a diplomatic mission in Tokyo in 1997, which in turn facilitated non-resident service for the Philippines and Thailand. Oteng Jenamo Tebape was appointed as the first ambassador to Japan. [2] Japan had a non-resident ambassador for Botswana through South Africa until it established an embassy in Gaborone in 2008, which doubled as Japan's embassy for the Southern African Development Community. [2] Ryoichi Matsuyama was appointed as the first ambassador to Botswana. After the embassy opened, a group of 50 Japanese politicians and businessmen arrived to meet and negotiate with their Batswana counterparts. [6] That July, the state-owned Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation opened a Geological Remote Sensing Centre in Lobatse. [7]
While visiting Botswana as part of a delegation in 2009, former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda used his status to propose aid from Japan for the primary hospital in Thamaga. Japan provided US$80,000 the following year so the hospital could build a tuberculosis centre. [8] Botswana gave one million pula (US$148,000) in aid to victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, [9] and Japan issued a loan to Botswana to fund the Kazungula Bridge in 2012. [5] In 2013, Botswana became the first country to adopt Japan's ISDB broadcasting standard. [9] Japan provided US$92,709 to Botswana in 2015 to provide special education at Masupe Primary School in Maunatlala. [10]
Trade between Botswana and Japan focuses on natural resources. Japan has no significant natural resources while Botswana has a large supply, and Botswana's economy is dependent on their sale. [2] As of 2015, Japan's exports to Botswana totalled US$3.3 billion, with automobiles and semiconductors being the most common products. Botswana's exports to Japan totalled US$1.8 billion, largely consisting of diamonds. [11] According to Japanese ambassador Hoshiyama Takashi, Japan sent 35.7 billion yen in aid to Botswana between 1966 and 2021. [5] Several Japanese companies have operated in Botswana, including Komatsu Limited, which provided trucks for Debswana. [11]
Botswana has been a regular ally of Japan in the United Nations and has supported Japan's bid for permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council. [10] Because of Botswana's political stability, Japan has expressed a preference for it over other nations in the region. [6] Several students from Botswana have been admitted to Japan through the Monbukagakusho Scholarship. One student was selected each year until 2009, when the number was increased to two students annually. [12]
Motsamai Mpho, an anti-Apartheid activist and founder of the Botswana People's Party, visited Japan in 1964 to attend a World Peace Council conference. He said that he was the first person from Botswana to visit Japan and that he "acted as a goodwill ambassador for the nation". [4] Botswana's first president, Seretse Khama, never made an official visit to Japan. [3] Quett Masire, president of Botswana, made several visits to Japan in the 1990s. These included his attendance at the Taiso-no-Rei funeral ceremony for Japanese Emperor Hirohito in 1990 and as one of five African heads of state at the launch of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in 1993. [13] The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Shozo Azuma visited Botswana in 1994, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Botswana Mompati Merafhe visited Japan in 1996. [2]
As he had previously worked as an executive director for the International Monetary Fund, President Festus Mogae of Botswana was chosen to chair an economic session of the second TICAD in 1998. He returned to Japan in 2003 to meet with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. [13] Four members of the National Diet of Japan visited Botswana in 2004, led by Japan–Botswana Parliamentary Friendship League president Tadahiro Matsushita. [14] Vice President of Botswana Ian Khama was invited to Japan in 2005, where he met with Emperor Akihito and the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, among others. In 2006, Mogae attended the Botswana Week celebration organised by the Botswana Embassy in Tokyo to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Botswana's independence. This coincided with a meeting between Mogae and Koizumi as well as the launch of a tourism campaign in Botswana with the Japanese actress Rei Kikukawa as a spokeswoman. Akira Amari, the Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, visited Botswana in 2007. Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Hirofumi Nakasone led a delegation to Botswana when the nation hosted a conference evaluating Japan's fourth TICAD in 2009. Ian Khama visited Japan in 2010 as president of Botswana. [8]
2013 saw many visits between Botswana and Japan, which the Japanese ambassador to Botswana called "unprecedented". Japanese visitors to Botswana included Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Masaji Matsuyama and Vice Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Keiichiro Tachibana. [8] Ian Khama met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the fifth TICAD, with a delegation that included ministers Dorcas Makgato-Malesu, Mokgweetsi Masisi, and Kitso Mokaila. [15] Botswana's Minister of Transport and Communications, Nonofo Molefhi, visited that November to discuss broadcasting regulation. [9]
The history of Botswana encompasses the region's ancient and tribal history, its colonisation as the Bechuanaland Protectorate, and the present-day Republic of Botswana. The first modern humans to inhabit Botswana were the San people, and agriculture first developed approximately 2,300 years ago. The first Bantu peoples arrived c. 200 CE, and the first Tswana people arrived about 200 years later. The Tswana people split into various tribes over the following thousand years as migrations within the region continued, culminating in the Difaqane in the late 18th century. European contact first occurred in 1816, which led to the Christianization of the region.
Botswana is a parliamentary republic in which the President of Botswana is both head of state and head of government. The nation's politics are based heavily on British parliamentary politics and on traditional Batswana chiefdom. The legislature is made up of the unicameral National Assembly and the advisory body of tribal chiefs, the Ntlo ya Dikgosi. The National Assembly chooses the president, but once in office the president has significant authority over the legislature with only limited separation of powers. The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) rules as a dominant party; while elections are considered free and fair by observers, the BDP has controlled the National Assembly since independence. Political opposition often exists between factions in the BDP rather than through separate parties, though several opposition parties exist and regularly hold a small number of seats in the National Assembly.
Botswana has put a premium on economic and political integration in southern Africa. It has sought to make the Southern African Development Community (SADC) a working vehicle for economic development, and it has promoted efforts to make the region self-policing in terms of preventive diplomacy, conflict resolution, and good governance.
The foreign relations of Japan are handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
Though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is the government agency which is responsible for conducting the foreign relations of Nepal, historically, it is the Office of the Prime Minister (PMO) which has exercised the authority to formulate the country's foreign policies. As a landlocked country wedged between two larger and far stronger powers, Nepal has tried to maintain good relations with both of its neighbors, People's Republic of China and Republic of India. However, the relationship between Nepal and India was significantly hampered by the 2015 Nepal blockade when the Government of Nepal accused India of mimicking "Russia-Ukraine" tactics by using ethnically Indian residents of Nepal to cause unrest along Nepal's southern border. India denied the allegation and said the unrest were an internal affair. For the most part though, Nepal has traditionally maintained a non-aligned policy and enjoys friendly relations with its neighboring countries and almost all the major countries of the world.
Zimbabwe maintains relations with various countries around the world, and maintains close diplomatic relations with neighboring nations.
Festus Gontebanye Mogae is a Botswana politician and economist who served as the third President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008. He succeeded Quett Masire as President in 1998 and was re-elected in October 2004; after ten years in office. He stepped down in 2008 and was succeeded by Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama.
Sir Seretse Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama, GCB, KBE was a Botswana politician who served as the first President of Botswana, a post he held from 1966 to his death in 1980.
In a referendum on 21 May 2006, the people of Montenegro opted to leave the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. This result was confirmed with a declaration of independence by the Montenegrin parliament on 3 June 2006. It simultaneously requested international recognition and outlined foreign policy goals.
Mozambique – United States relations are bilateral relations between Mozambique and the United States.
Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) is a conference held regularly with the objective "to promote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners." Japan is a co-host of these conferences. Other co-organizers of TICAD are the United Nations Office of the Special Advisor on Africa (UN-OSAA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The series has included: TICAD I (1993); TICAD II (1998); TICAD III (2003); TICAD IV (2008); TICAD V (2013). The next conference is scheduled for Kenya in August 2016. It will be the first time the event will be held in Africa, previous conferences were all held in Japan.
The Bahamas has a strong bilateral relationship with the United Kingdom, represented by a High Commissioner in London. The Bahamas also associates closely with other nations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Botswana–South Africa relations refers to the historical and current relationship of Botswana and South Africa. Botswana has a high commission in Pretoria, and South Africa has a high commission in Gaborone. Both countries are former British colonies and members of the African Union, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Diplomatic relations between China and the Federated States of Micronesia were established on September 11, 1989. The Chinese government first established an embassy in the capital of Palikir in 1990, and dispatched its first ambassador in 1991. Initially, the Micronesian ambassador to Tokyo, Japan also served as Micronesia's ambassador to China, before Micronesia established an embassy in Beijing in 2007. President John Haglelgam was the first senior government agent from Micronesia to visit China, doing so in 1990. The current Chinese ambassador to Micronesia is Zhang Weidong, while the Micronesian ambassador to Beijing is Akillino H. Susaia.
Diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and Japan were officially established in 1931, although early contacts date back to 1907 when the Afghan general Ayub Khan, who defeated the British in the Battle of Maiwand, visited Japan.
There is a small community of Japanese expatriate people living in or people who were born in South Africa with Japanese ancestry. Most of them live in Johannesburg and other major cities.
Japan–Somalia relations are bilateral relations between Japan and Somalia. Japan has a non resident ambassador in Nairobi.
Botswana–North Korea relations refers to the current and historical relationship between Botswana and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea. The two countries never maintained an embassy in their respective capitals since the suspension of diplomatic relations in February 2014.
India recognized Botswana shortly after the latter's independence in 1966, and opened an embassy in Gaborone in 1987. Botswana opened its embassy in New Delhi in 2006.
Japan–Nigeria relations are the bilateral relations between Japan and Nigeria. The State of Japan has an embassy in Abuja and the Federal Republic of Nigeria has an embassy in Tokyo.
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