Africa – India Partnership: African Perspectives

It is now the 56th anniversary of the birth of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), precursor of the African Union. The advent of the African Union in 2002 marked a significant milestone and important chapter in the history of the continent.  The vision and ‎objectives of the African Union focus very much on “people -centered development” and on a transformative agenda. The principal goal of the African Union is to accelerate progress towards an integrated, prosperous and inclusive Africa, at peace with itself, playing a dynamic role in the continental and global arena.

Many still remember that Africa was referred to as a “hopeless continent”. But today Africa is steadily becoming one of the fastest growing regions and turning into a “rising and hopeful continent”.  Today Africa is a key partner at the global stage. It is an important hub for investment and trade exchanges, and a market with a hug potential, especially in light of the challenges of the growing protectionism to global trade

Over the past decade, Africa has gained considerable ground in consolidating peace and democratic governance. Significant progresses that have brought to our continent peace and stability, economic growth, human development, reverse the trend of poverty, and promote democracy and the rule of law. According to the World Bank, six out of the top 10 fastest growing economies 2018 are in Africa (Ghana, Ethiopia, Cote D’Ivoire, Djibouti, Senegal, and Tanzania).  More than any time before, there is a growing level of confidence in the bright future of Africa.

Building on its great accomplishments to achieve its ambitious socioeconomic development goals and, thus, making Africa’s full integration a reality, African countries adopted “Africa Agenda 2063”, an impressive transformational development plan. One of the key agenda of the 2063 flagship projects is the establishment of the continental free trade area, which will be launched on July 7, 2019 in Niger during the upcoming African Union Summit.

It is important  to underscore here one of the key points of strategic importance: The Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) was signed in the Kigali extraordinary summit of 21 March 2018. One year later, it enters into effect after 22 ratifications. This is a unique accomplishment. As indicated by the chairperson of the African Union Commission H.E Moussa Faki Mahamet, “our hope is that Africa as a bloc will become a major and an indispensable partner in world trade”.

The CFTA  will establish an integrated market of more than 1 billion people, making Africa a powerful and vast market. The  CFTA is both a strategic requirement for the continent and a business imperative, as it will put Africa in a much better position to engage with partners globally, including India

Renewed International Partnerships

Africa’s international partners are forging closer strategic relations with the continent because they see unique opportunities for sustainable engagement. Africa is increasingly important to a wide range of economic, security, and political goals.  Africa’s international partners seek access to the region’s growing consumer base and mineral wealth, and clearly do not want to be shut out of a dynamic marketplace. With the region set to add another 1.3 billion people by 2050, many countries see significant potential to build partnerships and employ the region’s labour force.

A strong believer and advocate of international and the values of solidarity between nations, Africa has forged fruitful relations of partnership with Europe, Japan, USA, China, Brazil, and India not only to address the challenges the continent faces, but also to advance shared values and common interests. The strategic partnerships that Africa is building reflect Africa’s priorities. They  focus on areas that will unleash the continent potential: investment in people, industrialization, intra-African trade, regional integration, infrastructure development…etc.

We strongly believe that when more countries invest responsibly in Africa, it creates more jobs and prosperity for us all.  The African Union encourages everybody to do business with Africa; there is place for every partner. It is not a zero-sum game. It is a win- win relationship

Africa-India Relations

Since their revitalisation couple of years ago, Africa-India relationship has grown exponentially. And since the lunching of the India-Africa Forum Summit in 2008, India has become Africa’s fourth largest trading partner with around 21 percent of Indian foreign investment directed to the continent between 2008 and 2016. India has also increased its visibility in Africa through high-level visits and increased its diplomatic ties with all African countries. Recent years have witnessed tremendous increase and deepening of economic, trade and cultural exchanges between the two partners.

According to the Exim Bank, India’s exports to Africa are projected to reach an all-time high of us$ 325-330 billion in the coming years, compare to around us$ 62 billion in 2018.

But while the Africa-India partnership is impressive, the full potential has not been tapped yet. New areas need to be included where the two sides can potentially become greater partners. Thus, there is a need for further avenues of cooperation leading to real holistic partnership between the two partners. Africa has continental frameworks, policies and strategies in virtually every area of importance that can be seized

In a globally volatile political and economic environment, Africa and India need to further expand and diversify their partnership to help mitigate the impact of uncertainty and unpredictability that characterize the current world order, a partnership firmly aligned to the aspirations of Africa and India and priorities that will build on the significant advances and progresses accomplished so far. With their growing economic and shared vision for an inclusive multilateral world order, Africa and India have the opportunity for complementing their economic ties with vibrant strategic orientation.

A strategic, inclusive, cross-sectorial partnership between Africa and India is today crucial for achieving the wider Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) guaranteeing grassroots development in the long term

Sustainable Partnership with Africa

To steadfastly cement a win-win Africa-India sustainable economic partnership, we must make sure that our partnership is innovative and strategic and founded on a sustainable equation that preserves Africa’s natural resources which are  vital to the continent’s own industrialisation, infrastructure development and urbanisation.  Such a partnership will be strategic if:

• it  promotes more Indian investment in Africa through expanding value-added processing plants to reduce dependence on imports of finished goods, boost employment and promote a stronger business culture.
• it advances a smart combination between ensuring India’s access to Africa’s key minerals and soft loans for infrastructure projects such as railways, highways, telecommunications, and renewable energies in order to boost inter-Africa connectivity, and also  gradually decrease the continent’s vulnerability to climate change.
• it promotes low cost loans for agriculture projects, food security, health, rural development projects, industrial parks and  focuses on training and scholarship programs with a high impact on the ground.
• it enhances a deep collaboration between African and Indian research institutions, particularly with regards to sharing knowledge on technology, research and innovations.

Research and innovation have been the vital engines for development in USA, in Europe, in Asia and in India itself. We need a partnership that strategically prioritises Africa’s and India’s medium and long-term aspirations and objectives for peace, security, and socioeconomic development.

A strategic partnership  should also include a constructive political and security dialogue between Africa and India. The Indian government decision to open 18 new African embassies and take the total to 47 embassies is a step in the right direction

The successful implementation of such an ambitious strategic innovative partnership will not be possible without a vibrant private sector whose role is more than crucial as a global development player and a driving force for Africa economic growth. And finally, we should recognize the important role of the civil society in ensuring ownership of the development process in Africa.

The deepening of economic ties between India and Africa through a strategic and innovative partnership needs a common vision, a strong and sustained commitment based on our longstanding historic relations, our shared values of solidarity and co-development, and the enhancement of  people-to-people interaction. Such a visionary vision would allow us to position Africa and India as indispensable actors and partners in the 21st century landscape and beyond.

Looking ahead, the common future looks very bright for Africa and India  given that our ultimate objective remains to build a sustainable strategic partnership for the advancement of the shared aspirations of African and Indian people for a better future.