[Atlantic Council] At a time when China, the United States, and Russia are competing in Africa in ways reminiscent of Cold War rivalries on the continent, Japan, whose eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) has just ended in Tunis, is entering the arena too. Some see Japan and other major Asian countries as potential alternatives to China for Africa to explore as partners. By launching the TICAD in 1993, Japan was the second country, after France, to set up a formal mechanism for cooperation wit