On February 28, Ms. Solange Amichia, Director General of the Center for Investment Promotion of Côte d’Ivoire (CEPICI), together with His Excellency Mr. Jérôme Klôh WEYA, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Côte d’Ivoire to Japan, visited Sophia University. They exchanged views with student volunteers on investment in Côte d’Ivoire and other issues.
At the beginning of the seminar, Vice President for Student Affairs Atsuko Nagai expressed her appreciation for the special relationship between Sophia and Côte d’Ivoire, adding, “Sophia and Côte d’Ivoire have nurtured a special relationship. We maintain agreements for student and academic exchange with a number of universities in Côte d’Ivoire, and our university conducts study tours there as well. Many young people are interested in environmentally friendly business in Africa. I hope that today’s seminar will be a good opportunity for economic and cultural exchange between Japan and Côte d’Ivoire,” concluded the welcoming speech.
Then, Ms. Amichia followed with her presentation. Côte d’Ivoire is a very young country with 75% of its population under the age of 25. She introduced that the economic growth rate, which fell after the Corona disaster, is recovering, showing the resilience of its economy. As a national goal, Côte d’Ivoire is moving forward with plans to improve various aspects of its economic and social environment by 2030. She also mentioned that Côte d’Ivoire is building a distinctive university hoping that students can join to engage in projects that work together with local students to solve social issues.
After the presentations, the seminar was followed by an exchange of opinions moderated by Ms. Eri Yamazaki, lecturer of the Center for Global Education and Discovery. Three seminar participants, Ryuta Takahashi (Senior, Department of Management, Faculty of Economics), Mei Yoshida (Junior, Department of French Studies, Faculty of Foreign Studies), and Rio Nagasawa (Freshman, Department of Global Studies, Faculty of Global Studies), introduced their respective fields of specialization and raised questions in English and French to the Director. The meeting ended in cheerful atmosphere.
Ms. Nagasawa addresses, “This was a very meaningful time for me, as I am interested in supporting the foundation of growth opportunities in Africa, and I was able to consider the developments and expansion of Africa by looking at the investments and economics of Côte d’Ivoire as a gateway to these opportunities.
