Page 1 of
2 The Indian elephant returns to
Africa By Chietigj Bajpaee
In an address to the Nigerian National
Assembly last year Indian Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh was unequivocal in his stance on Africa's
resurgence. "India intends to be a partner in
Africa's resurgence," Singh said at the time.
Recent years have seen a surge in India's
engagement with its "sister continent", as
demonstrated most recently by India playing host
to its first India-Africa summit earlier this
month.
Unlike the Cold War period when
India's engagement with Africa was embedded in the
rhetoric of historical and cultural links, India's
current relationship with Africa has been fueled
by pragmatic concerns over resources and
development. Nonetheless, India faces numerous
challenges in its rediscovery
of Africa, notably
playing catch-up with its regional rival China and
avoiding the criticism that Beijing has incurred
for allegedly fueling the region's instabilities
and engaging in neo-colonialist Asiatic
imperialism on the African continent.
Embedded in history India's
relations with Africa are embedded in their shared
history and cultural exchanges. Trade between the
two continents dates to the 14th century. During
the period of European colonialism these links
were strengthened as both regions shared colonial
masters. For instance, Mozambique became the
staging ground for the Portuguese presence in Goa
while the British East Africa protectorate, which
comprised present-day Kenya and Uganda, was
originally administered from Bombay (Mumbai).
Following its independence in 1947,
India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru
became a leading voice of the anti-colonial
struggle in Africa, which was supplemented by the
Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War era.
Beyond history, both regions share several
cultural linkages. India's Siddi community came
from Africa in the 10th century and there are
approximately 2 million people of Indian origin in
Africa, where they form a vital link between their
motherland and adopted homeland. The Indian
government maintains diplomatic missions in 19 of
the 47 sub-Saharan countries with plans to open
others in Burkina Faso, Niger and Gabon.
Rediscovered by trade and resources
With the end of the Cold War and India
initiating its economic liberalization reforms in
1991, India's foreign policy has moved away from
being driven by ideological principles to becoming
increasingly pragmatic. Gandhian idealism and
Nehruvian non-alignment have taken a back seat to
attracting investment, expanding trade and
upgrading infrastructure to fuel growth and
development.
As part of this, India
reoriented its foreign policy toward a focus on
major power diplomacy, including improving
relations with the United States, the European
Union and Russia, as well as China, Japan and
other Asian powers as part of its "Look East"
policy. India has also looked to stabilize
relations with its periphery to maintain investor
confidence and focus on development needs. In
doing so, India neglected relations with its
brethren in the developing world.
India's
recent re-engagement with Africa has been fueled
by pragmatic concerns, namely expanding economic
interdependence and meeting resource needs.
Bilateral trade between India and Africa has grown
from US$967 million in 1991 to over $30 billion in
2007-2008 with intentions to double this to $50
billion by 2012. Africa's share of India's global
trade increased from 5.8% in 2002-2003 to 8% in
2006-2007.
Meanwhile, India's official
investment in Africa stands at $2 billion in
addition to $5 billion from the private sector.
Economic cooperation spans several sectors,
including agriculture, small and medium
enterprises, health, education, information
technology and communications, automobiles,
manufacturing and railways. In February, India
announced a 60% increase in aid to Africa over the
next financial year to 800 million rupees ($20
million).
Several bilateral and
multilateral initiatives have also been used to
forge closer economic links between India and
Africa. In March, India hosted the fourth
India-Africa Project Partnership in New Delhi,
which was attended by over 500 business delegates
from 33 African countries. Some 150 projects worth
$11 billion were discussed while the Export Import
Bank of India extended $30 million in credit to
finance Indian exports to Africa.
Meanwhile, at the first India-Africa forum
summit in April, Manmohan pledged to provide over
$500 million in development grants to Africa over
the next five to six years as part of the Aid to
Africa budget of the Ministry of External Affairs,
as well as doubling India's line of credit to the
region to $5.4 billion from $2.25 billion in the
last five years. He also announced a Duty Free
Tariff Preference Scheme for Least Developed
Countries, under which India will provide
preferential market access for exports from 50 of
the world's least-developed countries, including
34 in Africa. The plan will cover 94% of India's
total tariff lines.
African states have
sought to learn from India's development
experience given its rapid growth and success in a
number of industries such as information
technology. For instance, the India-backed
Pan-African e-Network Project seeks to digitally
connect 53 countries of the African Union by
linking universities and hospitals in India and
Africa.
Meanwhile, Mauritius has emerged
as the largest offshore investor in India while
South Africa accounts for two-thirds of Africa's
exports to India, which comprise mainly of gold.
India accounts for 90% of the world's exports of
cut and polished diamonds and as such it has also
sought an increasingly close relationship with
African states such as Angola, Botswana, Congo and
South Africa, which account for 90% of the world's
supply of rough diamonds. Ore and metals continue
to dominate India's imports from Africa although
uranium may emerge as an increasingly important
import from the region as India expands its
civilian nuclear program.
India's trade
relationship with Africa has traditionally been
skewed toward east and southern Africa although
its trade with west Africa is likely to increase
given its growing dependence on oil imports from
the region, as 70% of Africa's oil production is
concentrated in the Gulf of Guinea, which
stretches from the Ivory Coast to Angola.
India has increasingly looked to Africa to
meet its energy security needs given that Africa
possesses 8% of the world's known oil reserves and
West African crude is generally easier to refine
given its low sulfur content. India has also
sought to diversify and reduce its oil import
dependence on the Middle East, which accounts for
over two-thirds of its oil imports. Notably,
India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas
Corporation Videsh (OVL) has invested $2 billion
in eight African countries, including Nigeria,
which is the region's leading oil exporter
accounting for 10% of India's oil imports.
India's Essar Group, Gas Authority of
India Limited (GAIL), Indian Oil Corporation and
Reliance Industries have also obtained interests
in African energy assets. Imports now account for
more than two-thirds of India's oil consumption
and India's energy demands are expected to double
by 2030 making it the world's third-largest net
oil importer, after the US and China.
Cemented by security and strategic
concerns India and Africa are also seeking
a larger "voice" on the international stage
through greater representation at international
forums. Notably, the 53-nation African Union
(AU)and the Group of Four (G4)countries (India,
Brazil, Germany and Japan) are attempting to forge
a united front in the expansion of the UN Security
Council.
In previous years, the G4 and
African states had hindered each other's efforts
on the issue of UN reform given disagreements over
the structure of a reformed UN Security Council.
As the largest bloc of nations at the UN, AU
support is pivotal if India is to achieve its goal
of a permanent seat on the Security Council. India
also engages Africa through several South-South
initiatives such as the Non-Aligned Movement, the
Asia-Africa Summit, the Indian Ocean Rim
Association for Regional Cooperation, the
India-Brazil-South Africa trilateral developmental
initiative and the G33 bloc of developing nations
at the World Trade Organization.
At the
first India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi in
April, representatives from India and 14 African
countries were in attendance, including eight
African heads of state and the current and future
chair of the African Union Commission. The summit
culminated in the signing of two documents: the
Delhi Declaration and the Africa-India Framework
for Cooperation, which identified areas of common
interest and cooperation between both sides.
Speaking at the opening of the conference,
Manmohan also proposed the establishment of an
India-Africa Volunteer Corps to address
development issues in both regions, as well as
announcing the doubling of student scholarships
for African students in India.
In the
security sphere, the fact that 90% of India's
trade volume and 70% of its trade value comes by
sea has prompted India to play a more prominent
role in protecting sea-lanes of communication
along the Indian Ocean. As part of this, India
established its first overseas surveillance
facility in Madagascar in July 2007. India has
also reached defense agreements with several
African states along the Indian Ocean Rim,
including Mauritius, the Seychelles, Madagascar,
Mozambique, Kenya and Tanzania, as well as
stepping up joint military exercises with states
in the region. India will be holding joint naval
exercises with South Africa and Brazil off Cape
Town in May, as well as joint naval exercises with
Seychelles this year.
This follows joint
exercises between the air forces of India and
South Africa in 2004 and naval exercises in 2005.
India also provided joint patrols off the coast of
Mozambique during the AU summit in 2003 and World
Economic Forum meeting in 2004, as well as
providing relief to African states that were hit
by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. Finally,
India has been a major source of peacekeepers on
the African continent, with India being the
world's third-largest supplier of UN peacekeeping
troops.
The great game in
Africa Finally, India's re-engagement with
Africa has been driven by its quest for "great
power" status and desire to balance the presence
of other external powers in the region, most
notably regional rival China, which has made
considerable inroads in recent years.
For
instance, while India's trade with Africa exceeded
China-Africa
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
