India’s collaboration with Africa does not often makes news, in a media obsessed with trivia of tinsel town, or just cricket. And if they are not indulging in these two, then there are insane virals that keeps the mindspace occupied. In this backdrop, New Delhi hosted Africa Day 2024, exuding a reassuring bonhomie between the most populous country and the largest continent outside Asia.
External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar took the baton from Prime MInsiter Narendra Modi last year after the latter ensured African Union, representing 55 countries, becomes the member of G20. It was a very emotive and defining moment for whole of Africa that day, a fin de siècle.
The people of the continent who have been plundered, enslaved, humiliated and brutalised by self-serving colonisers over centuries, have enough reasons to trust India in this turmoiled world today. India was co-sufferer of monstrosities inflicted by the thugs of the West.
Unlike China, India is not there for resources, or buy votes in UN. It seems despite deep pockets, it is congenitally difficult for Beijing to win the trust of Africans, or for that matter anyone, that New Delhi enjoys. Even the people of its “deeper than oceans, and higher than mountains” friend Pakistan distrust China. Look at the protests and attacks by common people there on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which turned out to be loan trap in garb of development project.
Whenever India needed Africa, its leadership stood by its side without a bargain or quid pro quo. India too has returned the favour. Many of us are perhaps do not know that there is an IIT in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Over 23,000 African students live and study in India. India set up the National Forensic Science University in Uganda, the entrepreneurship development centres in Rwanda, and various centres of information technology in several countries across the continent that testify the genuine intentions on part of New Delhi.
India has extended e-Visa facilities to 33 African countries. Sixteen new diplomatic missions have been opened, taking the total number of Indian missions in the continent to 45. “We are proud of our long-standing educational ties with Africa. Several African leaders have studied in educational or training institutions in India. In keeping with our spirit of ‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’, that the world is a family, India has also been at the forefront to provide capacity-building and training to African candidates under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme,” Dr Jaishankar said, speaking on the occasion.
Almost 40,000 Africans have been trained in India under ITEC in the last 10 years. Since 2019, more than 15,000 youth from 22 African countries have been provided scholarships for various degree and diploma courses in disciplines such as computer application, business administration, commerce, social sciences, and humanities.
India’s contribution to infrastructure development in Africa needs special mention. The government of India has completed 206 projects in 43 African countries and 65 projects are being implemented under Indian concessional loans with a total outlay of over US$ 12.37 billion. Eighty-one more projects are in the offing. These cover drinking water and irrigation schemes, power plants and transmission lines, cement, sugar and textile plants, technology parks and railway infrastructure.
On the trade and economic front, India is the fourth largest trading partner for Africa with a bilateral trade of about US$100 billion and cumulative investments of more than US$ 75 billion. The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) opens up prospects for a deeper economic integration.
India is the first developing country to provide non-reciprocal duty-free market access to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) through its duty-free tariff preference scheme. This has benefited African LDCs by extending duty free access to 98.2 per cent of India’s total tariff lines. 33 of these beneficiary nations are in Africa.
During the Covid19 pandemic, around 150 tonnes of medical aid worth was provided to 32 countries in Africa. The bulk of the beneficiaries of India’s Vaccine Maitri were in Africa. India has also given medical equipment, ambulances, cancer treatment machines like Bhabhatron to many. India also provided relief material to countries hit by natural disasters whether it is Zambia, Malawi, Kenya or Mozambique.
In view of all the positivity that runs through the governments and people on both sides, India-Africa relations are poised define what is Global South. More and more nations are looking up to India to intervene as world order breaks down. India will inevitably be in the centrestage and the Global South will be a force multiplier.
