Facts Regarding the Special Visas Related to JICA's “JICA Africa Hometown” Program
2025/8/26
Regarding the “JICA Africa Hometown” announced by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) at the TICAD 9, there have been reports and SNS posts both domestically and abroad that contain information contrary to the facts. The facts regarding this matter are as follows.
(1) At the TICAD 9, JICA announced the launch of the “JICA Africa Hometown”, which aims to strengthen exchanges between African countries, including Nigeria, and Japanese local governments based on the experience gained through its previous projects. Under this program, four cities in Japan are designated as “hometowns” for four African countries.
(2) Under this program, JICA plans to promote exchanges between the four Japanese cities and the four African countries through various activities, including the organization of exchange events involving JICA overseas cooperation volunteers.
(3) On the other hand, there are no plans to take measures to promote the acceptance of immigrants or issue special visas for residents of African countries, and the series of reports and announcements concerning such measures are not true.
(4) The visa application centers opened in Lagos and Abuja this March were established to strengthen the framework for visa processing in accordance with laws and regulations, and have no connection whatsoever to the “JICA Africa Hometown” project.
(1) At the TICAD 9, JICA announced the launch of the “JICA Africa Hometown”, which aims to strengthen exchanges between African countries, including Nigeria, and Japanese local governments based on the experience gained through its previous projects. Under this program, four cities in Japan are designated as “hometowns” for four African countries.
(2) Under this program, JICA plans to promote exchanges between the four Japanese cities and the four African countries through various activities, including the organization of exchange events involving JICA overseas cooperation volunteers.
(3) On the other hand, there are no plans to take measures to promote the acceptance of immigrants or issue special visas for residents of African countries, and the series of reports and announcements concerning such measures are not true.
(4) The visa application centers opened in Lagos and Abuja this March were established to strengthen the framework for visa processing in accordance with laws and regulations, and have no connection whatsoever to the “JICA Africa Hometown” project.