Dr Ibrahim Mayaki receives Japan’s highest distinction from Emperor Naruhito

Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, former Prime Minister of Niger and CEO of the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD), is one of the foreign recipients of the Fall 2019 Imperial Decorations, honoured by the Japanese Government during the Ceremony of Imperial Conferment of Decoration at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

Dr Mayaki was decorated today by Emperor Naruhito, with the “Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun”, the highest distinction of the State of Japan, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to promoting friendly relations and mutual understanding between Japan and Niger as well as Japan and the African Union.

Established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji, this order was the first decoration created by the Japanese government. It was established on April 10, 1875.

Dr Mayaki has a close relationship with Japan, where he actively participated in several meetings of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) as Prime Minister of Niger and CEO of AUDA-NEPAD. He made historic contributions by expanding the partnership with Japan for the development of Africa, notably through the Memorandum of Understanding signed between JICA and AUDA-NEPAD in areas of common interest, such as infrastructure and agriculture.

“It is a real privilege to receive today the Grand Cordon insignia of the Order of the Rising Sun. This distinction is indeed the first decoration created by the Japanese Government, and I thus measure the honour that is reserved for me by joining the eminent personalities, Japanese, but also from many countries around the world, who have been distinguished for almost 145 years by receiving the same distinction,” Dr Mayaki declared.

The AUDA-NEPAD CEO went on to add that, “This ceremony is all the more precious to me because it radiates the attachment I have had for many years to exchanges between Japan and Africa, having been led to invest myself happily in very concrete actions such as the Kaizen initiative, aimed at cooperation between our two regions, but also at bringing our peoples closer together.”