India Africa relations

BRIDGING THE GAP: India and Africa in association with African Development Bank

Context

• The recent annual meeting of African Development Bank (AfDB) from May 22^nd to 26^th, 2017, ­at Gandhinagar, Gujarat, witnessed a powerful Indo-African political and business relation. The gathering confirmed Africa’s growing interest in connecting more extensively with India Inc.
• The President’s, the Vice President’s and the Prime Minister’s visit to 16 African countries in the east, west, north and south in the past two years justifies the faith and confidence between the two federations.
• This conference came against the backdrop of the historic third India-Africa Forum Summit in October 2015 when all 54 African nations had sent their representatives, 41 of them at the level of head of state or government.
• The central theme of AfDB’s 2017 Annual Meetings was, “Transforming Agriculture for Wealth Creation in Africa.”

Asia Africa Growth Corridor

• The recent talk of the town was the release by Mr. Modi of a vision document on the “Asia Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC)”. This study was jointly produced by three research institutions of India and Japan — Research band Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi; the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Jakarta, and the Institute of Developing Economies Japan External Trade Organization (IDE-JETRO), Japan — in consultation with other Asian and African great minds.
• AAGC’s fundamental goal is “sustainable and innovative development”, and will be exposed to four pillars:
  • Development and cooperation projects;
  • Quality infrastructure and institutional connectivity;
  • Enhancing capacities and skills; and
  • People-to- people partnership.
• The AAGC will accord priority to development projects in health and pharmaceuticals, agriculture and agro-processing, disaster management, and skill enhancement.
• It will have special focus on the following geographies: Africa, India and South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania.

How this project would be different from China?

• In comparison, China concentrates on infrastructure and cheque-book diplomacy, whereas India promotes a broader spectrum of cooperation projects and programs focused on the development of Africa’s human resources.
• China goes solo while India makes an attempt to align with other nations in order to forward its helping hand to Africa.
• It should be reckoned that India and Japan do not have the luxury of time in view of China’s rapidly expanding footprint in Africa.
• China’s substantial success needs to be matched by sustained India-Japan cooperation in Africa.

That’s what they said

• Narendra Modi said that ever since he took in charge in 2014, Africa has always been his A-line priority as far as India’s foreign and economic policies are concerned.
• AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina called India, “a developing beacon for the rest of the world” and further added that the time was right for India and Africa to forge “winning partnerships”.

Notes

• It is to be noted that the meetings of AfDB outside Africa were held in Valencia, Spain in 2001, Shanghai, China in 2007, Lisbon, Portugal in 2011 and Ganghinagar, Gujarat, 2017. The next meeting is scheduled to be held in Busan, South Korea in 2008.
• India as a non-regional member got engaged with African Development Fund in 1982 and eventually became a member of the bank in 1983.
• China’s One Belt One Road: The OBOR initiative is a Chinese economic and strategic agenda by which the two ends of Eurasia, Africa and Oceania are being
• Tied into a single thread (two routes-one overland and one maritime).