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INDIA-AFRICA: Competition Does Not Exclude Cooperation

Stephanie Nieuwoudt

CAPE TOWN, Mar 28 2008 (IPS) - India, with its growing economy, has set its expansion sights on Africa. In an effort to form links and partnerships on different levels with the people of Africa, India will host an Africa-India Summit in Delhi in April.

"We have two outcomes in mind," Sandeep Chekravorpy, the deputy secretary in the Indian ministry of external affairs here, told IPS. "We want to set up an action plan as to how we can engage with the people of Africa on different levels including education, science and technology, health etc."

"It is a broad engagement," Chekravorpy said, "By the end of the Summit we want to have a declaration in hand on the way forward."

Brendan Vickers, a senior researcher at the Institute for Global Dialogue, a South Africa-based think tank, says India is interested in Africa for different reasons: economic and political, natural resources, and cultural.

"Since independence, India has been a strong proponent of development in the south and is a huge supporter of co-operation and development between countries in the southern hemisphere," Vickers said.

Vickers pointed to the huge Indian diaspora in Africa, especially in East and Southern Africa, suggesting that the country wants to maintain links with Indians here.

Vickers believes that India and its southern partners can mutually learn from each other. Africa can benefit from India&#39s technological knowledge while for India – which has millions of very poor people – there are lessons to be learnt about for example, "clean water resources and housing for the poor."

The Summit will also address agricultural productivity and food security, industrial growth, establishment of judicial systems and developing police and defence establishments.

Some of the countries that have been invited to the Summit are Algeria, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Ghanaian President John Kufuor have already accepted the invitation.

With rich oil deposits in many countries (Angola, the Sudan, Nigeria and others) and natural resources like diamonds (Sierra Leone, DRC and South Africa) and gold (DRC and South Africa) Africa is a potentially lucrative partner for an emerging economy like India. According to media reports however, India&#39s chief mentor in the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Tarun Das, recently said at a meeting that India&#39s interest in Africa is more focused on empowerment and capacity building through human resource development and affordable technologies.

India has already made huge inroads regarding the provision of cheap internet technology in Africa. In 2007, the Indian government&#39s 1.0 billion dollar Pan African e-Network-project – a joint initiative with the African Union (AU) – was kick-started in Ghana. The project aims to provide instant connectivity between all 53 African countries via satellite and fibre-optic networks. The network is also expected to contribute to development in the fields of education and health.

India and African countries are seen as competitors on many trade and economic levels. "It would be naive to say there is no competition," said Chekravorpy. "But there is room to compete and to work together. Competition does not mean that cooperation has to be excluded," Chekravorpy stressed. "We have a 200-year-old engagement with Africa."

There is huge scope for India to invest in the health sector in Africa. "India can bring training and development expertise. We also have the knowledge to set up diagnostic facilities," Chekravorpy said. "India is in the forefront of providing low cost medicine – we have made huge progress making available more affordable anti-retroviral medicines."

Pranab Mukherjee, India&#39s external affairs minister, visited South Africa in February where he signed a number of Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with the African country. These MOUs are related to agriculture, science and technology, tourism, cooperation on customs and exise and visa exemption for diplomatic passport holders.

Mukherjee and his South African counterpart, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, also agreed to establish a number of cooperation committees. Bilateral trade between the two countries is worth 2.3 billion dollars.

Muharjee also visited Brazil in February. In 2003, Brazil, India and South Africa established a Dialogue Forum with the aim of cementing existing economic and trade ties between the three countries and developing new investment opportunities.

Since last year, the Indian government has established a business centre in Durban where entrepreneurs who want to set up trade deals between the two countries can get advice and guidance. India has also broken into the car market in South Africa, with the entrance of Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra.