India-Africa dynamic: Achievements and possibilities | Hindustan Times (original) (raw)

For centuries, Africa has attracted the attention of Indians – traders, travellers, adventurers, and scholars – due to its size, proximity, and fabled resources. On the other hand, Africa finds in India “a partner with whom it has a past, a present and a future,” as external affairs minister S Jaishankar observed at a book launch in May 2022.

India - Africa Diplomacy (Online Source)

Conscious and well-conceived endeavours to revitalise, deepen, and diversify India-Africa relations began in the first decade of this century. Twenty-five years later, it is now time to impart fresh momentum. This is precisely what the Fourth India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-IV), to be held in Delhi from May 28–31, aims to do.

The task is not easy, nor is the timing perfect. Avoiding both false romanticism and needless pessimism, one should recognise that Africa today is on the path of progress, but it faces a long journey. India, engaged in a similar mission for itself, is driven to help expedite the transformation of fellow developing countries in the Global South family. The trick is to strengthen commonalities and synergies between Africa’s Agenda 2063 and India’s vision of Vikasit Bharat 2047. This partnership requires a strong political commitment, sustained action, and huge financial resources. The Delhi Summit needs to live up to the expectations raised.

The reference above to timing considers the prevailing toxic mix of turbulence, tensions, and the disastrous consequences of the US-Israel war against Iran. Africa and India are among the sufferers due to no fault of their own, but they must march on.

A close study of the cluster of agreements and documents that resulted from the first three summits between India and Africa, held in 2008, 2011, and 2015, indicates that this strategic partnership, covering a substantive and diverse agenda, has made progress over the past one-and-a-half decades. But it also suggests that the scope and speed of progress need to be increased, and, more importantly, the past agenda needs to be updated and redesigned because the world has changed quite dramatically since the last summit in 2015.

Among the various pillars of India-Africa partnership, two are especially important: economic cooperation and development cooperation.

Trade, investment, and technology flows determine the growth of economic cooperation. At the end of the FY 2024–25, bilateral trade, fairly balanced, stood at 82billion.Acloserscrutinyrevealsthatthetotalvaluehasfluctuatedwidelyoverthepastfiveyears.Theannouncedgoaltoraisetradeto82 billion. A closer scrutiny reveals that the total value has fluctuated widely over the past five years. The announced goal to raise trade to 82billion.Acloserscrutinyrevealsthatthetotalvaluehasfluctuatedwidelyoverthepastfiveyears.Theannouncedgoaltoraisetradeto200 billion by 2030 is welcome, but it will require challenging work and addressing on-the-ground grievances and suggestions from entrepreneurs and business actors. Besides, formal mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation between India and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), as well as with select Regional Economic Communities (RECs) such as EAC, COMESA, SADC, and ECOWAS, have now become essential.

Besides, India’s cumulative investment in Africa, valued at $80 billion, needs to be augmented. A continent of 54 countries and a market with 1.4 billion people needs more investment to grow. Surely Indian companies have the capacity to do better in the future.

Finally, the authorities concerned, both in Africa and India, will do well to consider a set of valuable recommendations from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in its thoughtful paper, titled India-Africa Momentum: A Purpose-Driven Partnership, published in August 2025.

On development cooperation, India’s record has been quite good. In the past decade, Lines of Credit (LOCs) amounting to $10 billion have been extended to 41 African countries. About 220 projects covering roads, power, connectivity, water, and agriculture have been completed. But now there is no appetite for LOCs in Africa, given the rising risk of non-repayment. Therefore, dependence on projects backed by India’s grant assistance has been increasing.

At a joint review in 2019, it was revealed that India had pledged or committed $700 million to a variety of projects, including a new hospital in Mauritius, a Mandela centre for artisan skills in South Africa, and a technical development centre in Senegal. With a 10-year break in the summit cycle, expectations are now running high that India could make a generous new grant available for development projects in Africa.

Technological cooperation is yet another platform where the India-Africa partnership shows progress, but it is not enough to effect a sea change across the continent. Digital public infrastructure (DPI) is an area of remarkable success for India, which wishes to share it generously with its African friends. Still, only seven IndiaStack MOUs have been signed so far. National rollouts of the modular open-source identity platform are taking place in five countries – Morocco, Ethiopia, Togo, Uganda, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Pilot projects have been established in eight other countries.

Assistance for capacity building, however, has been quite impressive. The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, funded by India, provided training for over 40,000 African officials. The demand for ITEC training slots and scholarships granted by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) has reportedly been growing rapidly. The challenge is to secure financial resources to strengthen human resource development in Africa as a pathway to faster development.

In a fair, two-way partnership, India has some reasonable expectations. They range from improvements in the ease of doing business in Africa, clear encouragement for investments from India, a reliable supply of oil and gas, to possibly a new accord on cooperation in critical minerals. Such an accord should meet the demand of the Indian industry while also supporting African manufacturing, employment, and green growth. Broad principles should be devised at the summit, while leaving case-by-case implementation to the national governments.

Africa has many other suitors. India has many other pressing priorities, as demonstrated by the Government’s diplomatic overdrive in the weeks leading up to the India-Africa Summit. Therefore, the two sides must optimise the opportunity of the forthcoming summit to produce a forward-looking and comprehensive roadmap for future cooperation.

And they must decide to meet again in three years, not after a decade.

(The views expressed are personal)

This article is authored by Rajiv Bhatia, Distinguished Fellow, Gateway House, former high commissioner of India to Kenya, South Africa, and Lesotho, and author of India-Africa Relations: Changing Horizons.