“If the last few decades were of Asia’s growth story, the next few are expected to be of Africa’s.” In the light of this statement, examine India’s influence in Africa in recent years.UPSC IAS Mains 2021 General Studies (Paper – 2)
The last few decades saw extraordinary growth of Asian countries mainly driven by China, South Korea, Japan, India and others. Now the paradigm is tilting towards Africa. Since 2000, at least half of the world’s fastest-growing economies have been in Africa. And by 2030, Africa will be home to 1.7 billion people, whose combined consumer and business spending will total $6.7 trillion. A surplus of workers is something which is turning the heads of everyone towards Africa.
India’s influence in Africa in recent years:
- Political Engagement: In the last few years, Africa has been the focus of India’s development assistance and also diplomatic outreach, as evident in plans to open 18 new embassies.
- Economic Engagement: India’s duty-free tariff preferential scheme for Least Developed Nation (LDCs) launched in 2008 has benefited 33 African states. India was the fourth largest importing partner and the fifth largest export destination for South Africa in 2017-18.
- Grants in Aid: After South Asia, Africa is the second-largest recipient of Indian overseas assistance with Lines of Credit (LoC) worth billions of dollars.
- Capacity Building: India is investing in capacity building providing more than $1 billion in technical assistance and training to personnel under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program.
- Security Cooperation: Approximately 6,000 Indian soldiers are deployed in UN peace-keeping missions in conflict zones in Africa.
- Cooperation on Multiple Fronts: This includes solar energy development (International Solar Alliance), information technology, cybersecurity, maritime security, disaster relief, counter-terrorism and military training.
- Medical Diplomacy: Under the e-ITEC initiative, India has shared COVID-19 management strategies, training webinars exclusively aimed at training health-care professionals from Africa by Indian health experts.
India and Africa offer a lot of opportunities for each other in coming times like addressing the food security problem, becoming the voice of the developing world, preventing global rivalries, and maintaining diplomatic ties. India-Africa (Gandhi-Mandela) friendship in a longer will benefit both mutually.
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