Using 2004 constant prices Japan has fulfilled a very weak commitment to double bilateral ODA to sub-Saharan Africa from a 2003 baseline, but in 2007 it cut ODA to the region compared with 2006 levels and has also reduced global ODA in the past two years. Though it is not assessed in this Report, Japan made a new commitment to double bilateral ODA to Africa by 2012 at TICAD, but once again, omitted multilateral assistance from its pledge. Japan has not extended its expertise on water to Africa and although it co-chairs the FTI, it has not pushed global education goals. On trade, it has done little to integrate its trade policy with development to create opportunities for African countries.
In 2007, Japan reduced its ODA net of bilateral debt relief to sub-Saharan Africa by ¥21,269 million ($197 million), or 8% in 2004 prices. This decrease was due to a 48% drop in multilateral assistance. Japan's bilateral ODA to the region increased to ¥125,495 billion ($1,161 billion), thus surpassing the modest 2007 target for bilateral assistance made in 2005 when evaluated in 2004 prices. However, in current prices, Japan fell just short of the target.
DATA estimates that approximately 24% of Japan's global ODA will be allocated to Africa in 2008. DATA therefore estimates that its ODA for sub-Saharan Africa will be approximately ¥220.974 billion ($2.098 billion in 2004 prices) in 2008. This is a decrease of ¥6.223 billion ($59 million in 2004 prices).