英米　２年
My image of Africa was not the best. I knew about the high rate of infant mortality, extreme poverty, etc…. But your presentation made me very happy! Knowing how my country can help Africa is very joyful to hear! I pray that it keeps on getting better day by day. I heard that because of the economic growth, many people are learning English and many languages are dying. I hope Africa continues to grow without losing much of the language and even culture. Thank you very much.

英米　２年
Thank you for your presentation. I was surprised that Japan’s imports exceeded exports from Africa in 2000 and it is increasing. I only know “fair trade” products are sold in Japan to help Africans who are too poor to afford tuition fees. Though I learned African countries are developing. I’ve never thought Japan has imported so much from Africa. Thanks to your presentation, I could learn that both Africa and Japan have good culture, and I thought I have to learn about Africa more.

英米　２年
Thank you for your presentation, I don’t know about Africa’s newest situation and relationship between Japan well, so the lecture was very interesting. Congo is growing now, and the developing countries all over the world are, too. The gap between rich countries and poor countries are narrowing little by little. Many Japanese still have the image that African countries are surrounded by nature and people in Africa don’t have electrical items. Changing the image is a good thing, I think, because if they know the situation in Africa , they will think they want to visit there. If the same African countries became famous tourist spots, it’s going to make new relationships between Africans and visitors.

英米　３年
I really enjoyed listening to the presentation. Nowadays, the economic development of Africa is outstanding and advanced countries try to cooperate with African countries because these have numerous possibilities of economic power and workforces. I was surprised that according to professor Otchia, there are more than 200 languages and more than 300 ethnicities in Democratic Republic of the Congo, perhaps people cannot use google translate because even if google is a huge and notable company, it cannot catch up! I am really curious how people acquire three or more languages so far.

ドイツ　２年
First, thank you for your presentation. Before I heard today’s class, my image of Africa was not so developed and it’s so far from a close relationship (with Japan). But these images were completely different from mine. Africa is now developing so fast. I was surprised, whereas last year Japanese economic growing was less than 1%, but in Africa is increasing. So, I think the consumption will increase , too, so the continent will become much richer. After I heard Dr. Otchia’s presentation, I realized that the fact the continent which has not developed yet, means it has many possibilities in the future. And I was glad to know Japan also takes part in the kind of jobs which support African countries. From now on, I want to pay attention to the development in Africa. Also, I will keep in mind to do “Kaizen and 5S”!!

ドイツ　２年
The entire presentation waws so interesting for me. Now, my friend is living in Africa (Benin, could be Porto-Novo). He told me about Africa, especially the culture, business and language. He couldn’t speak French when he went there. So he decided to go to language school (French and English) because he thought it’s good for him to work in Benin, Africa. Mr. Oitcha said his family speaks French to communicate with each other. The situation is mostly the same as my family. My dad grew up in China and my mom grew up in Russia, but all of them are Japanese. In my house, my mother and father speak in Japanese and Chinese. But me and my brother mostly speak Japanese, sometimes in Russian. So, I thought the linguistic situation is similar to Africa’s families. If it’s possible, I’m planning go to Africa (the Middle and South) next year. It was really lucky to hear your presentation.

中国　２年
I think it is very good that African people are getting better lives and it should be promised. But it is also true that our planet is becoming worse because of human behavior. Then we should communicate to make compatible both growth and environmental issues. We had a lot of errors and we studied about them . We can share our experiences and we also should not think about only business issues.

留学生
Today’s lecture was about African development and the relationship between japan and Africa, there have been three main conditions, the TILADZ, JICA and JETRO. With these connections, Japan has helped boost Africa’s economic and social development. I am really happy to hear about this because Africa is one the largest continents and yet remains a second thought in first-world countries’ minds. This is the first I’ve heard of a country other than China investing a lot into Africa. I’m also glad because China’s motives for their FDI have been heavily questioned over the last decade. So, learning that there are other forces in play makes me think positively for Africa’s future. I actually think Africa will develop further than predicted because of the current political climate. People will want to be leaders or influencers of Africa as one of the remaining areas without political backing. This may be the quiet before the storm of Africa’s development boom 2.0.

留学生
Africa in Japan, Japan in Africa... those two might be in their own way, the most fascinating places I’ve heard about. I have a friend who’s a linguist, she has been to Africa (Togo) twice if I’m not mistaken, and I took her course about African languages at summer school, which sparked a lot of curiosity. Apart from the economic potential that we spoke about today I believe that Africa has a tremendous cultural potential in a sense that people know very little about it. I for one , would love to try and immerse myself in it ( or rather, one of its many kinds), and it makes me glad seeing it find more representation in various media. In this case I hope globalization persists and not only gives Africa what it might need, but also allow us to learn things from African countries! Thank you for your presentation.

留学生
When talking about the first image that comes to mind when we think of Africa, inevitably brings some negative aspects such as poverty, lack of infrastructure, even charity. However, coming from a Brazilian background, I also get the ethnical pluralism of the continent, as well as how strong such heritage is in my own culture. Seeing such good aspects of Africa and looking at it from a different light is refreshing, it gives out a whole new view on economy and gets me wondering how the current major economies will react with the rising of Africa. Especially considering that so far it has been a large economy and now that scene is changing for Africa is inserting itself in new branches, would the giants of economy feel threatened and try to intervene?