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Tokyo International Conference on African Development: Ministers Highlight IAEA Impact

Melissa Evans, IAEA Department of Technical Cooperation
From left: Feng Dongxin, Takashi Nakano, Alue Dohong, Amadou Dicko, El Vadil Ahmed Louly Paul Kipronoh Ronoh, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, Joe Phaahla, Samba Cor Sarr, Toshio Kaneko, May Abdel-Wahab, Gashaw Wolde and Laura Vei.

From left: FAO/IAEA Director Feng Dongxin, Takashi Nakano of the Japanese Anchor Centre for Rays of Hope, FAO Assistant Director General Alue Dohong, Burkina Faso's Minister Amadou Dicko, Mauritania's Minister El Vadil Ahmed Louly, Kenya's Principle Secretary, Paul Kipronoh Ronoh, Malawi's Minister, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, South Africa's Deputy Minster Joe Phaahla and Senengal's Drector of Cabinet, Samba Cor Sarr, IAEA Special Assistant Toshio Kaneko, IAEA Director Abdel-Wahab, IAEA Acting Director Gashaw Wolde and IAEA officer Laura Vei. (Photo: IAEA)

The IAEA brought together high-level international speakers at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) to showcase how nuclear science and technology are advancing cancer care and food security on the African continent. At the IAEA thematic event last week, participants heard from ministers and senior representatives from Burkina Faso, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, Senegal and South Africa, as well as representatives of Japan and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The speakers?gave testimonials of the tangible results achieved in Africa in cancer care and food security through the IAEA’s flagship initiatives, Rays of Hope and Atoms4Food, and on the important role of the IAEA’s technical cooperation programme in advancing Africa’s sustainable development.?

“Today’s event is about sharing successes, experiences and challenges, and building partnerships that deliver tangible, concrete projects through IAEA Rays of Hope and Atoms4Food initiatives. The IAEA is committed to ensuring that Africa benefits to the fullest from the peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi in his virtual opening remarks.

“Japan, attaching great importance to nuclear science and technology, has been proactively promoting international cooperation, including in Africa, under strong partnership with the IAEA. Japan stresses the cooperation in two important IAEA initiatives, namely Rays of Hope and Atoms4Food,” said Eri Arfiya, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan during the event.

As of June 2025, Japan had contributed more than 10 million euros to the IAEA Rays of Hope initiative, with 5 million euros specifically supporting the procurement of mammography units for 22 African countries. A network of 16 cancer institutes and facilities across the country currently serves as a Rays of Hope Anchor Centre?— a dedicated knowledge and capacity building hub which is creating regional and inter-regional opportunities for advancement. Japan has likewise supported the Atoms4Food initiative with about 6.6 million euros?to support activities in Africa, including?improving livestock production in C?te d’Ivoire and enhancing food safety in Mauritania.

Promoting Cancer Care for All

A panel discussion was held with the General Coordinator of Japanese Anchor Centre for Rays of Hope Takashi Nakano, Malawi Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, Senegal Director of Cabinet for Ministry of Health and Social Action Samba Cor Sarr, and South Africa Deputy Minister of Health Joe Phaahla, and IAEA Director of Division of Human Health May Abdel-Wahab. (Photo: IAEA)

Thematic event participants heard firsthand how African countries have improved their cancer services since Rays of Hope’s launch in 2022. More than 20 African nations lacked even a single radiotherapy machine, and under its technical cooperation and human health programmes, the IAEA is addressing this gap by expanding access to life-saving radiation medicine services and facilities.

Khumbize Chiponda, Minister of Health of Malawi, expressed her thanks to the IAEA for its help in establishing the first public radiotherapy centre in her country?which opened its doors last month, and encouraged all IAEA member countries, noting the example of Japan, to support and otherwise engage with the Rays of Hope initiative.

Twelve Rays of Hope Anchor Centres have already been established at long-serving IAEA partner institutions, with three such Centres hosted in Algeria, Morocco and South Africa. IAEA-led expert missions to these centres have not only resulted in the development of joint workplans but also identified areas where the IAEA can further boost the capabilities of these knowledge and capacity building hubs. Representing South Africa’s Anchor Centre —?the Nuclear Medicine Research Infrastructure (NuMeRI) facility at Steve Biko Academic Hospital?— South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Health Joe Phaahla underscored his country’s commitment to enhance cancer care in the region during his event intervention.

“The Steve Biko Academic Hospital has previously collaborated with the IAEA on clinical research, education, training and quality assurance. Now, following our conclusion of an Anchor Centre agreement with the IAEA through its Rays of Hope initiative, we stand ready to support the establishment and upgrade of cancer centres across the continent,” said Phaahla.

Boosting Food Security in Africa

Minister of Fisheries of Mauritania El Vadil Ahmed Louly, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Burkina Fasto Amadou Dicko, FAO Assistant Director General Alue Dohong, and Principal Secretary of Kenya’s State Department for Agriculture Paul Kipronoh Ronoh attended a subsequent, high-level discussion on improving food security in Africa. (Photo: IAEA).

In Africa, food security challenges are growing in 2024, with approximately 20 per cent of the African population — 307 million people?— experiencing hunger last year, according to the 2025 edition of the SOFI report which was published in July 2025 in Addis Ababa during the UNFSS+4 event.

The panel discussion on food and agriculture featured representatives of Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Kanya and FAO, who described the benefits of the joint FAO-IAEA Atoms4Food initiative. Launched by the two organizations in 2023 based on the longstanding partnership through the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, the Atoms4Food initiative aims to provide solutions tailored to each country’s agrifood system’s needs.?

Atoms4Food assessment missions help countries to map their food security needs and develop a plan to address identified challenges. Under the Atoms4Food initiative, the IAEA, together with FAO, supports countries to use nuclear and isotopic techniques in six key areas: crop variety improvement, soil and water management and crop nutrition, animal production and health, insect pest control, food safety and control and public health nutrition.

“In Burkina Faso, as part of the Atoms4Food initiative, eight high-yield rice varieties were developed and included in the national variety catalogue. As well, the analysis laboratories were reinforced with various materials and equipment, thus enhancing their performance,” explained Amadou Dicko, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Animal Resources and Fisheries,?Burkina Faso. He expressed appreciation to the first country assessment of Atoms4Food in Burkina Faso, which laid the foundation for a successful implementation of integrated projects.

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