Engaging Africa

The first India-Africa summit, though late to come, holds a lot of promise in a number of areas.

INDIA, following the example of leading economic powers such as France and China, hosted an India-Africa summit for the first time. The two-day summit, held in New Delhi in the second week of April, was attended by the leaders of 14 African countries and heads of the continents regional economic groupings. The joint declaration adopted at the end of the summit identified food security, high oil prices and climate change as the top concerns of the developing world. India and Africa pledged to work together as partners to meet the economic and political challenges facing them. The partnership will be based on the fundamental principles of equality, mutual respect and understanding, the joint statement emphasised.

Alpha Oumar Konare, Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, said that the outcome of the summit showed that India truly understood the African continents needs and aspirations. Alluding to the immediate post-colonial period, which witnessed blatant interference from outside powers in the internal affairs of African countries, he said that todays Africa did not need a guiding hand from any country. Konare and the other African leaders present at the summit said that the continent could benefit from the advances India had made in areas such as health, information technology and agriculture. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, highlighting the strong ties between India and Africa, said that the summit was held in an atmosphere of great warmth and a sense of partnership. The India-Africa summit, the Prime Minister hoped, would provide a solid foundation for a new framework of cooperation.

The African leaders present in New Delhi wanted the relationship with India to be on terms of equality. Initially, in the back-room discussions that preceded the summit, the Indian side, it seems, was keen to push its political and economic agenda on the continent. The African side thought that not too much attention was being given to its developmental needs. The cold shoulder the United States has been getting in its attempts to get permanent military bases in Africa is an illustration of the new-found confidence among African nations. The U.S. has announced the creation of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) and is eagerly looking out for military alliances on the continent. AFRICOM is reportedly a response to the growing Chinese presence in Africa.

The India-Africa summit and the meticulous preparations behind it show conclusively that India has finally woken up to the need to engage Africa in a more dynamic way. Other countries have already got a head start in the region. France, a former colonial power, was a pioneer in hosting grand summits. But many Africans viewed them as a hangover from colonialism. Radical African leaders such as the late Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso used the annual Franco-African summits as a forum to criticise colonialism and imperialism. French interventions in the internal affairs of many African countries have been routine.

Pro-Western dictators, such as Mobutu Sese Seko, could continue with their rapacious policies for decades on end because of help from former colonial powers. The latest French intervention has been in Chad, where it saved its man, Idris Deby, from certain ouster after rebel troops stormed the capital, Ndjamena.

India, on the other hand, was looked upon as a role model after it gained independence. Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi had tremendous name-recognition among the African people. India, however, lost its momentum in the 1990s when it was more preoccupied with strengthening relations with the West. China, though, never lost its focus. Starting from the early 1960s, the Chinese government has remained engaged with the African continent.

In the early 1970s, when much of sub-Saharan Africa was embroiled in liberation struggles, the Chinese built the 1,800-kilometre-long Tan-Zam railway. This allowed Zambia to export its copper through East African ports, bypassing apartheid South Africa. In many African capitals, the National Assembly building, the main conference halls and the sports stadia were invariably gifted by China.

Indias role, especially since the 1990s, has been minimal in comparison. It mostly confined itself to granting scholarships to African students and donating three-wheelers and Tata trucks to some countries. Chinese Presidents and Prime Ministers have been making annual visits to Africa. The first China-Africa summit, held in Beijing in 2006, was marked by the presence of senior government figures from 48 of the 53 African nations, whereas only 14 African leaders were invited to the India-Africa summit. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki did not attend and were represented by high-ranking Ministers.

The Chinese government, especially after the countrys economy started booming, has been liberal in offering credit and aid on generous terms. The Angolan government recently refused International Monetary Fund funding for its reconstruction projects, opting instead for a $2 billion Chinese soft loan and aid package with few strings attached. Not surprisingly, the Chinese have bagged many of the lucrative oil exploration contracts in the country. In fact, China gets 25 per cent to 30 per cent of its oil from Africa.

Africa is the second largest supplier of crude oil most of which comes from Nigeria to India. In the Congo, the Chinese government has signed an agreement to finance $6.5 billion worth of improvements to the countrys infrastructure and sanctioned $2 billion to improve its mines, using mineral reserves as collateral. Joseph Kabila, the Congolese President, described the Chinese deals as signs of exemplary cooperation.

The West has been suggesting that China is engaged in imperial exploitation of Africa. New Delhi, no doubt, would like to offer Africa deals of the magnitude of the Chinese deals but is currently in no position to keep pace with Beijing. In 2004, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporations bid for an oil block in Angola failed. The $200 million the Indian public sector company offered for infrastructure development in that country could not compete with the Chinese offer of $2 billion. India, like China, is investing in countries such as Sudan and Zimbabwe despite protests from the West. India recently completed a $200 million pipeline that links Port Sudan on the Red Sea with the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Indias trade with Africa rose from $97 million in 1991 to $20 billion last year. Chinas trade with Africa was lower than Indias in the early 1990s but today stands at $55 billion annually. Today, China is Africas third largest trading partner after the U.S. and France.

Manmohan Singh said that Indias renewed interest in Africa had nothing to do with Chinese expansion in the region. He told the media in New Delhi that India was not in a race or competition with China or any other country. He pointed out that India and Africa had a shared colonial experience and had worked together in bilateral, regional and multilateral fora.

At the India-Africa summit, Manmohan Singh pledged easier access for African exports to the Indian market. He said that the 21st century could be turned into a century of Asia and Africa. The India-Africa Framework of Cooperation agreed at the summit pledged to boost trade and investment and share expertise in agriculture, science and technology, water management and education. India pledged to provide preferential markets to the 34 least developed African nations. The Prime Minister said that in the next five to six years, India would issue grants for projects in excess of $500 million. He said that developing infrastructure in information technology, telecommunications, power and railways would be the priorities in Africa for the Indian government.

The African nations agreed to back Indias candidacy for a permanent seat in an expanded United Nations Security Council. Jakaya Kikwete, President of Tanzania and the current Chairperson of the African Union (A.U.), said that the continent was determined to take India to the citadel of power the United Nations Security Council. We have reaffirmed our commitment to India. This does not mean that all the African votes are in the Indian kitty. From available indications, the A.U. is not united on the issue of Security Council enlargement. Many leading African countries are themselves vying for a seat at the high table in the U.N.

Both sides stressed the importance of democratising international institutions and said that they would work closely to re-establish peace and security through the A.U.s policy framework for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development. Indian peacekeepers are deployed in large numbers in many conflict zones in Africa.

The African leaders indicated to the Indian government that it should not look at Africa simply as a source of raw materials but should invest in the continents human capital and share know-how and expertise with its nations.

Mahatma Gandhi succinctly observed that the commerce between India and Africa will be of ideas and services, not of manufactured goods against raw materials after the fashion of Western exploiters.