African Agency in the Formation of Summit Diplomacy: An Analysis of Diplomatic Documents on TICAD I

Abstract “Africa + 1 summits” have emerged as a prominent prototype of contemporary African diplomacy. But it is important to examine how such summits were initially formed and how African states engaged in their institutional design. Earlier studies have yet to explain the preference of aid recipient countries for the summitry model over traditional bilateral schemes. Further, there is a limited understanding of how donors adjusted to the voices of aid recipients during negotiations to create such forums. This article examines the formative negotiations surrounding the launch of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in the early 1990s. As the first Africa + 1 summit, TICAD constituted a pioneering case that shaped the development of summit diplomacy between Africa and external actors. Drawing on documents recently declassified by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, obtained through information disclosure procedures, this article analyses how African states engaged with the inception of TICAD and influenced its institutional configuration. The analysis demonstrates that African states were not merely passive participants; they actively shaped Japan’s Africa policy during the 1990s by embedding their preferences in the conference’s design. Core features of TICAD and the broader Africa + 1 summit framework, such as the inclusive participation of all African states, including North Africa, and the establishment of follow-up mechanisms, emanated from African proposals during the preparatory process. By revealing how African agency operated at the formative stage of Africa + 1 summitry, this article contributes to scholarship on African diplomacy and the institutional evolution of summit diplomacy with external powers.