India – Africa Relations

India – Africa Relations

Africa is always considered a foreign policy priority by India. India and Africa have been connected by ancient maritime links, and the common struggle against colonialism. India’s partnership with Africa is underpinned by geographical and cultural affinities and is comprehensive and multidimensional.

The nature of India-Africa bilateral engagement is diverse, encompassing areas pertaining to education, healthcare, science, technology, infrastructure, and capacity building.

India-Africa Relation – History

• India’s relations with Africa date back several centuries. The geographical proximity and easy navigability in Indian Ocean resulted in well-established trade network between India and the Swahili Coast predating European exploration.
• Political connection during the colonial era was linked through M.K Gandhi who began his political career in South Africa, became the leader of colonized and established Indian Natal Congress in 1894.
• After India got independence, it raised voice for African liberation taking their case to all the available international forums
• End of racial struggle and decolonization became the rallying point of India–Africa relations.
• Independent India, though extremely poor after two centuries of colonial exploitation, strived to share its limited resources with African countries under the banner of South-South cooperation.
• India was a forerunner as a champion of the interests of the developing countries from Africa, particularly through the Bandung Declaration of 1955, the Group of 77, and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
• However, due to various factors like India’s financial weakness and inward-looking economic policies India could not develop broader strategic relations with Africa
• It was later in 2000s that the ties between the continent and India remerged in importance

It is the sense of solidarity, mutual trust and confidence born in the difficult days of the Cold War which continues to drive India-Africa cooperation to this day.

India has significant political, strategic, economic, and maritime stakes in engaging with Africa.

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Prelims 2022 Detailed Answerkey 

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Significance of Africa to India

• Resource rich region – Africa is a resource rich nation dominated by commodities like crude oil, gas, pulses and lentils, leather, gold, and other metals, all of which India lack in sufficient quantities.
• Energy Security – India is seeking diversification of its oil supplies away from the Middle East and Africa can play an important role in India’s energy matrix.
• Strategic Interests – especially with regards to the Horn of Africa region, which is an essential shipping lane that connects the Indian Ocean to the Suez Canal.
• Investment Opportunities – several African countries have been providing incentives to attract foreign investors and partners in growth thus providing an opportunity for India.
• African continent has a population of over one billion with a combined GDP of 2.5 trillion dollars making it a huge potential market.
• Exports – Africa has emerged as an important market for Indian goods and services.
  • India can also unleash massive possibilities in digital penetration in the continent.
• Economic Growth – Africa is home to over half a dozen of the fastest growing countries of this decade such as Rwanda, Senegal, and Tanzania etc making it one of the growth poles of the world.
• Reform in Global institutions – India’s ambition to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council makes it imperative that it engages with all 54 countries of the continent.
• Convergence of interest – both partners are aligned on the outstanding issues at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and are in favour of multilateral trading systems.
  • Cooperation to tackle terrorism: India strongly advocated stepped-up cooperation through intelligence exchange and training with 54 African countries.

After the decolonisation of Africa, India and the African countries took a similar stand on various international issues. They expressed full faith in the policy of non-alignment and peaceful coexistence. On the wider economic issues like North-South Dialogue also they have worked in complete co-operation and have come to accept the need for closer horizontal co-operation between the undeveloped countries.India is becoming an increasingly important economic and development partner for African countries.

Areas of Cooperation

• Economic relations – India is the 5th largest investor in the African continent
  • Trade between India and Africa has increased more than eight-fold from $7.2 billion in 2001 to $63 billion in 2017-18.
  • Indian businesses are active across geographic spaces and sectors in Africa like agri-business, engineering, construction, film distribution, cement, plastics, and ceramics manufacturing, etc.
• People to people contact – large numbers of African entrepreneurs, medical tourists, trainees, and students have started coming to India and Indian experts and entrepreneurs are moving to Africa.
• Peace keeping operation – India is the largest contributor to UN-mandated peacekeeping and other operations in Africa.
  • more than 30,000 personnel are involved in 17 of 22 total missions in the region since 1960.
• Medical Field – Indian-manufactured drugs has also been essential in the fight against the HIV and AIDS pandemic in Africa.
  • Covid-19 Response – India has used its economic capacity, medical equipment, and medicine, to assist African countries.
• Asia-Africa Growth Corridor – an economic cooperation agreement between India and Japan that envisages closer engagement between Asia and Africa for “sustainable and innovative development”

Development Initiatives by India in Africa

• Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) – aims at capacity building, skill development, transfer of technology.
• Pan-African e-network – a joint effort of India and African Union with an aim to provide satellite connectivity, tele-education, and tele-medicine services to the African countries.
• Cooperation with African Development Bank (AfDB), and $10 billion line of credit to help financing the projects in African countries.
• Supporting Indian Trade and Investment for Africa (SITA) – an International Trade centre supported project which aims at increasing value of business transactions between India and selected East African countries to create jobs.
• Techno-Economic Approach for Africa–India Movement (TEAM-9) – aimed at engaging the underdeveloped, yet resource-wealthy countries of West Africa, which required both low-cost technology and investment to develop their infrastructure.
• Training institutes: India has set up over 100 training institutes in different African countries, encompassing areas ranging from agriculture, rural development, and food processing to information technology, vocational training, and entrepreneurship development.

• India Africa Forum Summit – official platform for the African Indian relations
  • Held once in every three years, beginning from 2008.
• Sub-national level diplomacy – Kerala government is trying to meet its raw cashew nuts requirement with imports from Africa to complement its production capacity.

India’s Challenges in Africa

• Political instability – the continuous civil wars, ethnic conflicts, and political instabilities in various African may impact India’s long-term investment opportunities.
• Terrorism in Africa – there has been an increase in terrorist attacks by extremists connected to al-Qaida and ISIS across Africa over the recent years.
• Attacks on Africans in India – the spate of assaults on Africans based in India generate a negative image of India in Africa and may impact on century-old ties with the continent.
• Financial limitations – In terms of cheque book diplomacy, India cannot compete with China or U.S.
  • this also causes delay in implementation of various projects, including the AAGC.
• China’s strong presence in Africa – China’s aggressive economic approach has caused it to achieve more influence in Africa than any other country
• China even built up its first overseas military base in Djibouti

Concerns on Chinese investments, Neo-Colonialism, and international competition in their soil have been raised by African civil society; also, many governments have also started looking beyond China. This offers opportunity for India to increase its involvement in the continent.

Way Forward

• India, as a Balancer – Chinese investment in Africa is seen as neo-colonial in nature.
  • India’s approach, on the other hand, is one that focuses on building local capacities and an equal partnership with Africans and not merely with African elites concerned.
  • Though Africa has been actively engaged with China, it wants India to act as a balancer and net security provider.
• Becoming Voice of Developing World – Just as India and Africa fought colonialism together, both can now collaborate together for a just, representative, and democratic global order that has a voice for around one-third of humanity that lives in Africa and India.
• Trade – Indian African synergies should be used for expanding sectors like tourism, banking, tele-communications, manufacturing, and agriculture

• • Harnessing India’s experience with the digital revolution to support Africa’s development; improve delivery of public services; extend education and health; etc.

• Renewable Energy – being a continental powerhouse of solar energy, Africa is crucial to the India fostered International Solar Alliance (ISA).

• Security – Being the littoral states in the Indian Ocean, they can work towards establishing mechanisms to deal with threats to regional security including terrorism and piracy.
  • strengthening cooperation and mutual capabilities in combating terrorism and extremism; keeping cyberspace safe and secure etc.
• Maritime Cooperation – development of blue economy and renewable energy for the continent’s growth can be realized by Indian experience and the expertise to develop and manage the maritime resources.

Because of the social capital India has in Africa, acquired through the historical, political, economic and people-to-people ties, its presence is welcomed by African countries in a way that China’s is not. Had India’s investments in Africa kept any kind of comparable pace with that of China, it could have made deeper inroads today.

As global engagement in Africa increases, India and Africa can ensure through mutual cooperation and active involvement, that Africa does not once again turn into a theatre of rival ambitions.

Previous Year Questions

Increasing interest of India in Africa has its pros and cons. Critically examine (2015)

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