Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi returned Monday from a tour of four African nations, including a stop in Mauritius where he said Japan is considering extending 30 billion yen in emergency loans, if requested, to help the country recover from a recent oil spill by a Japanese tanker.
Motegi on Sunday afternoon visited a mangrove forest that was damaged in July by a heavy oil spill from a cargo ship operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. that ran aground off the coast of Mauritius. The foreign minister mentioned the loan offer in a meeting with Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth the same day.
Earlier in the trip, Motegi visited Tunisia, Mozambique and South Africa, meeting with each country's foreign minister to promote a "free and open Indo-Pacific" vision with China's aggressive maritime expansion in mind.
The foreign ministers also agreed to cooperate on the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development, which is scheduled to be held in Tunisia in 2022.
"The vision of a 'free and open Indo-Pacific'" is steadily advancing in Africa as well," Motegi said at a press conference on Sunday afternoon.
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