India and Africa have a historic and umbilical relationship. It makes a good talking point
during speeches but will need an objective assessment of the extent and depth of our
engagement to stand scrutiny for devising better policy choices. It is also a fact that India
has consistently, even if occasionally in ad hoc manner, engaged with the African countries.
It emerged as a strong voice for their emancipation from the colonial yoke and from then on
through Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) and has stood for and advocated the core
concerns of the African countries especially the Least developed Countries (LDCs) in the
international fora be it GATT/WTO, UN/CHOGM or the Climate Change negotiations and
now in the reformed UNSC. In her G20 presidency in 2023 India made sure that African
Union (AU) becomes a permanent member of the of G20. This has been widely appreciated
and earned India an immeasurable affection quotient across Africa.
Besides India through its extensive capacity building assistance and “share and Care”
approach helped the continent a great deal in creating skilled manpower, modern
institutions and infrastructure both in the field of education and defence. Indian teachers
and professors were widely respected especially by those who studied during 1960s to
1980s. Unfortunately, this very effective mode of engagement dried out and needs to be
revived. Several African leaders fondly recall their Indian teachers even after 40-50 years.
Dozens of military officers trained in India rose to become Heads of government and Heads
of State in their countries.
Thousands of Africans have been trained under the fully funded ITEC programme and have
risen to responsible positions. Another important capacity building effort is to train about 80
women every year to work on solar panels who are fondly called as “Solar Mamas” as they,
on return, electrify the communities and at least 50 houses each. Now technological
competency initiatives in sunrise sectors through Centers of excellence and bilateral,
regional and sub regional and trilateral formats with likeminded countries like France, Japan
and UAE have been mooted across the economic spectrum.
One of the most important connectivity and capacity building programme launched by India
pursuant to the vision of former President APJ Abdul Kalam was the Pan-Africa e-network
initiative that focused on tele -medicine, tele-education and e-governance or connectivity
among Heads of State across 48 countries. It entailed five Indian ace universities offering
courses and 12 super specialty hospitals providing consultations and medical education and
was fully funded by Indian government under NEPAD. The programme has been further
upgraded and expanded under the Modi government under the rubric of e-Vidya Bharti and
e-Arogya Bharti. Reportedly over 7000 students completed their studies. Since the 1950s
India has been encouraging African students through scholarships for higher education,
training and capacity building in Indian Institutions. According to estimates currently there
are more than 55,000 students from various African countries in India.
India also has a long history of cooperation in the defence capacity building in various
African countries and participating in the UN Peace Keeping Operations starting in 1960 in
Congo. Their role has been broadly appreciated especially in preventing genocide in South
Sudan. Similarly, India women police personnel did a remarkable job in Liberia that was
rather unique and President Sirleaf was all praise for them. Currently India trains a large
number of Africans not only in its defence institutions but also in the peace keeping
operations and maneuverability in addition to conducting counter terrorism and insurgency
operations. India had set up National Defence colleges in several countries including Nigeria.
It would also be useful to align our engagement with the African Peace and Security
Architecture (APSA) devised by the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to deal with
African problems like genocide and ethnic cleansing. India has also been very active in anti –
piracy operations on the East Coast of Africa especially Somalia and Gulf of Aden to
Mozambique Channel to ensure free lines of trade and communications. Indian navy
successfully escorted around 2500 vessels. Like the US Africom, New Delhi needs to also
strategically look at Gulf of Guinea and other maritime domain awareness initiatives. In the
wake of US-Iran and Israel war and closure and blockade of choke points it has become
imperative for New Delhi reorient its energy security efforts in a mutually beneficial manner
towards the African continent and to secure Sea lanes of Communications through
collaboration and capacity building.
The Diaspora helps a great deal in building bridges at people-to-people level and in turn
contributes to the growth of bilateral relations, especially in the economic field as well as
through the leadership positions acquired by them as a result of exposure and experience in
a particular country. India has 3 million people of Indian origin people across the African
continent who are highly successful. The Indian community has begun to synthesize with
the socio-economic needs of the local communities by rendering various services like
education, medical treatment, job creation and employment. No wonder the former
President of Nigeria stated more than once that “That the Indian industrialists are the
second biggest employment providers after the federal Government in Nigeria”. Time is ripe
to also institutionalize with African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while speaking at the Parliament in Kampala in July 2018
outlined his Africa vision through his ten guiding principles which include : Africa is among
top priorities for India and momentum of cooperation will be sustained through regular
exchanges ;development partnership as per African priorities; preferential access to Indian
markets for African products; assist in harnessing digital revolution in Africa ; improve
Africa’s agriculture potential; fight climate change together; work together to keep oceans
and maritime lanes free for all; Africa instead of becoming a theatre of competition should
become nursery for its youth; and aspire and work together for a just , representative,
democratic global order. These are ideal, achievable and collaborative policies that dictate a
paradigm shift compared to other big powers who are trying to get into the ‘Gold Rush’ for
exploitation by way of neo-colonialist approaches. India–Africa relations have developed
into a multifaceted partnership encompassing political engagement, trade and investment,
development cooperation, capacity building, healthcare, education, digital connectivity, ICT,
AI, defence cooperation, space, critical minerals, food and energy security, renewables and
multilateral collaboration.
The 4th India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) was postponed due to Ebola crisis and needs to be
held at the earliest to focus on current issues, challenges and solutions. India -Africa
engagement will be decisive in the emerging world order as their combined synergies of
natural and human resources and capital and human centric approaches can be aligned for
the global good through combining the Agenda 2063 and Viksit Bharat 2047. The
partnership focuses on innovation, resilience, and inclusive transformation for sustainable
development.
