Africa Day: India’s time-tested partnership with the continent

Africa Day is celebrated on May 25. This marks the inauguration of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963. Since then, Africa has come a long way, and so has its partnership with India.

India has been among the most steadfast and consistently relevant partners of Africa. While China is often mentioned as the lead player in Africa, there is a consensus among many that India has been more relevant and an older partner. While China does more, India often does better.

What is the basis of India’s respect for Africa? It may be recalled that when the OAU emerged in 1963, it was barely seven years since the independence of Sudan in 1956, followed by Ghana in 1957. These, along with Ethiopia, Liberia, Libya, and Egypt, participated in the Bandung Afro-Asian Conference in 1955. They had steadfast Indian support.

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The first Non-Aligned Movement summit in 1961, which had an Indian imprint, also preceded the OAU and had 11 African countries present. The African identity of independence then consisted of membership of the NAM, the UN, and of the OAU. India was looked up to during this period because of its successful freedom struggle, which many African countries sought to emulate. The role of Mahatma Gandhi in this, utilising his experiences in South Africa, bound together the thought processes of India and the African movements for independence.

Soon after India’s independence, India shared its experiences with developing countries and started training programmes and scholarships, before terms like ‘South-South cooperation’ or ‘Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC)’ were enunciated. Before the OAU, India had already established, in 1957, the Harar Military Academy in Ethiopia, which was independent India’s first major project for capacity building in Africa. This project trained not only Ethiopian military personnel but also people from other African countries that were on the verge of independence. The regional approach of a project thus introduced remained important for future Indian projects in Africa. In 1964, India began providing similar support to the Nigerian Defence Academy.

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The successful India Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme was launched in 1964, a year after the OAU was born. Today, it extends to over 150 countries. This programme started an engagement with Africa, which brought African institutions, public servants, and professionals into direct touch with India. The successful low-cost model of transfers of technology and capacity building provided by the ITEC programme has stood India in good stead as one of the most consistent partnership programmes across the world. The ITEC programme adapted itself superbly during the pandemic lockdown with the e-ITEC version, where technology was used to fulfil its goals.

Besides the capacity-building approach, India is also respected for its contribution to the economic development of African countries. Initially, it was through grant programs. Under this, the Plastic Technology Centre in Namibia, the Centre for Excellence in IT (CEIT) in Tanzania, the Entrepreneurship Development Training Centre in Senegal, and the Kofi Annan CEIT in Ghana are among the early successes. Most thrive even today, showing that where local governments and institutions acquire a sense of ownership of these projects and integrate them into their development plans, they succeed and often become centres of excellence for people from their regions.

This was augmented since 2003 by the Indian Development and Economic Assistance Scheme (IDEAS), which provided low-cost long-term loans for the development of African countries, particularly the heavily indebted poor countries. Here, India was often the only country that was lending to them. They reached out to India promptly and deeply. Djibouti was the first recipient of an LOC under IDEAS. IDEAS covered 42 countries for 200 projects, injecting $12 billion into Africa’s economies.

These approaches of grants plus lines of credit under IDEAS were augmented and elaborated through a broader vision when the India-Africa summits were launched in 2008. In 2006, the African Union decided to broaden relations with emerging countries, and India was their first choice. India’s positive response led to the establishment of the India-Africa Summits, which in turn elaborated on the human resource development-led approach, focusing on grant programmes, institution building, and development through soft loans.

Another area where Africa deeply respected India was the small and medium-sized industry investments in Africa. In most African countries, Indian FDI is noticeable mainly through SMEs, which participate in local economies by transferring technology, creating local employment, and contributing to intra-regional trade. These MSMEs are unheralded champions of India’s appreciation in Africa.

This model of cooperation with Africa was successfully elaborated by the India-Africa Forum summits. Now, when India was the chair of the G20, for the first time, Africa was upgraded from a guest to a member of the G20, thanks to an Indian initiative and consensus building. This is the first time that Africa has a permanent voice at a global high table since its ambitions to be represented on the UN Security Council remain in abeyance. More importantly, even if African countries got representation in the UNSC, it would be individual countries. What India achieved was to bring the African Union as a whole into the G20, giving the continent a voice and an opportunity.

As we mark Africa Day, we look back with satisfaction at the steady progress that India has made in sharing experiences and capabilities with Africa and building a steadfast partnership. This partnership is not in competition with anybody, nor is it perfect. It is noteworthy that India is among the top three of Africa’s trading partners with trade of $100 billion, in Africa’s favour; among the top ten investment partners with investment of about $75 billion; and among the leading scholarship providers to Africa.

India’s creative approach to its Africa relationship, the 10-point policy by PM Narendra Modi for India’s Africa policy at the Uganda parliament in 2018, and the notable effort to bring the AU into the G20 show the direction in which India-Africa relations are growing.

The writer is a former ambassador to Germany, Indonesia, Ethiopia, ASEAN and the African Union. He tweets @AmbGurjitSingh. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.