On Monday this week, President Ruto departed Nairobi for Japan to attend the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9), a platform that has shaped Africa’s development agenda since 1993. This summit, co-hosted by Japan, the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, and the African Union Commission, is a critical opportunity for Kenya to deepen its longstanding partnership with Japan, which has invested over Sh600 billion in the country, making Kenya the largest recipient of Japanese aid in Africa. Beyond the high-level bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and an audience with…