The president of Somalia wants Japan to provide job-training for young people in his country to prevent them from joining the Muslim insurgency.
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud last year became the head of Somalia’s first central government since the civil war began in 1991.
He is in Japan for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD.
Speaking in an interview with NHK on Friday, the president called for Japanese aid to rebuild infrastructure in Somalia and revive farming.
He also appealed for help in vocational training.
The president said more than 20 years of civil war had robbed many young Somalis of education and the skills that would help them find jobs.
He said these young people need to be given hope, to keep them from choosing a life of terrorism or piracy.
Muslim insurgents who once controlled most of Somalia have retreated from their main strongholds, but still stage sporadic attacks.
Piracy is also rampant off the country’s coast in the Gulf of Aden.
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