When Kansai Paint bought three east African companies in 2017 in what was the largest corporate takeover in the region for two years, many analysts predicted it would be a precursor to greater Japanese investment on the continent.

In the previous year, the Japanese government held its Africa-focused investment conference, known as Ticad, in Africa for the first time, in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The move lifted the veil on a region hitherto unknown to many Japanese corporates.

“For many of the top Japanese CEOs it was the first time they had set foot in Africa,” says Moses Ikiara, managing director of the Kenya Investment Authority. “They were surprised that Africa had made so much progress and so we’re now seeing an increasing awareness and interest.”