The UK and Japan have agreed a new investment partnership aimed at unlocking private finance for sustainable development projects across Africa and emerging Asian economies, reports Africa Daily News Desk
The United Kingdom and Japan have agreed a new partnership to increase investment in developing economies across Africa and emerging Asia, with both countries aiming to mobilise more private capital for projects focused on sustainable economic growth.
The agreement brings together British International Investment and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the two countries’ development finance institutions, under a new Memorandum of Cooperation designed to deepen collaboration on development finance.
The partnership was formalised during Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s visit to 10 Downing Street on 14 June, where she held talks with UK leaders on strengthening bilateral ties.
Under the agreement, British International Investment (BII) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will work together to identify investment opportunities, share expertise and engage with institutional and private investors to help finance projects in developing countries. The partners said the collaboration is intended to unlock greater flows of private capital while supporting long-term, inclusive economic development.
Officials said the initiative builds on an expanding relationship between the two organisations, which have already collaborated on several projects in recent years. These include joint investments and co-financing initiatives in Vietnam and across Africa, as well as cooperation at the ninth **Tokyo International Conference on African Development>, where both institutions promoted investment opportunities across the continent.
The new framework is expected to strengthen links between British and Japanese investors while encouraging greater participation from the private sector in infrastructure, clean energy, financial services and other industries seen as vital to long-term development.
The partnership also forms part of British International Investment’s wider strategy of building long-term relationships with Japanese businesses and financial institutions looking to expand their presence in rapidly growing markets across Africa and Southeast Asia.
The UK government welcomed the agreement, describing it as an important step towards increasing development finance and attracting more private investment into regions where access to capital remains limited.
Liz Patterson, Deputy Director in the International Finance Directorate at the **Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office>, said closer cooperation between the two development finance institutions would help attract additional private investors while accelerating sustainable economic growth and development impact across Africa and Asia.
She said the partnership reflected the UK’s commitment to working with international partners to tackle development challenges by using public finance to encourage significantly larger private sector investment.
The agreement follows commitments made by London and Tokyo to deepen their development partnership during the 2026 Japan-UK Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue. Both governments have pledged to cooperate more closely on international development, multilateral reform and third-country initiatives.
Alongside investment in developing economies, the UK and Japan have also committed to working together on energy resilience projects and coordinating support for reconstruction and stabilisation efforts in Ukraine and Palestine.
British International Investment is the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor. It supports businesses in developing countries with the aim of reducing poverty, encouraging economic growth and helping countries become less dependent on overseas aid. The organisation has also made climate finance a central part of its strategy, committing at least 40 per cent of its new investments between 2026 and 2031 to projects addressing climate change.
BII currently has investments in more than 1,600 businesses across 66 countries and manages net assets worth almost £10 billion. It is also a founding member of the global 2X Challenge, an initiative aimed at expanding economic opportunities for women through investment.
JICA, meanwhile, is one of the world’s largest bilateral development agencies and manages Japan’s official development assistance programme. It provides technical cooperation, grants, loans and private sector investment finance to support economic and social development across developing countries.
