In the port city of Yokohama at the end of May, Japan went through what was in many ways a test run for the G8 summit: it welcomed more than 40 African leaders to a mammoth conference on African development, an issue it has put high on the agenda for heads of state in Hokkaido.

Japan’s interest in Africa is not new – the meeting was the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad) held since 1993 – but the government has become more strident in promoting its ideas and its leadership in development.