India-Africa Relations "EMPOWER IAS"

News:

• Deepening India’s engagement with Africa amid pandemic

 

India’s association with African Union:

• Africa Day is observed every year on May 25 to commemorate the founding of the Organisation of African Unity, now known as the African Union.
• India has been closely associated with it on account of its shared colonial past and rich contemporary ties.
• The Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses has hosted an Africa Day Round Table annually for the last four years in order to commemorate this epochal event.

 

India’s relations with Africa

• In the last few years, India’s relations with Africa saw a revival.
• India-Africa trade reached $62 billion in 2018 compared to $39 billion during 2009-10.
• After South Asia, Africa is the second-largest recipient of Indian overseas assistance with Lines of Credit (LOC) worth nearly $10 billion (42 per cent of the total) spread over 100 projects in 41 countries.
• Ties were boosted at the India Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) in 2015.
• 40 per cent of all training and capacity building slots under the ITEC programme have traditionally been reserved for Africa.
• Approximately 6,000 Indian soldiers are deployed in UN peace-keeping missions in five conflict zones in Africa.
• Bilateral cooperation includes solar energy development, information technology, cyber security, maritime security, disaster relief, counter-terrorism and military training.
• India has also launched several initiatives to develop closer relations, including the first-ever India Africa Defence Ministers conclave in February this year on the margins of the Defence Expo 2020.
• India provides about 50,000 scholarships to African students each year.
• The huge Indian diaspora is a major asset.
• India had planned to host the Fourth India Africa Forum Summit in September this year.
• However, the COVID-19 pandemic may cause it to be delayed.

 

India’s support amid covid pandemic

• India has already dispatched medical assistance to 25 African countries.
• PM Modi has had a telephonic talk with President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa who is the current chairperson of the African Union, and separately others such as the presidents of Uganda and Ethiopia.
• India could consider structuring a series of virtual summits in zonal groups with African leaders across the continent over the next few months.
• That could both provide a platform for a cooperative response to the pandemic and also serve as a precursor to the actual summit in the future.
• The Ministry of External Affairs has already extended the e-ITEC course on “COVID-19 Pandemic: Prevention and Management Guidelines for Healthcare Professionals” to healthcare workers in Africa.
• The Aarogya Setu App and the E-Gram Swaraj App for rural areas for mapping COVID-19 are technological achievements that could be shared with Africa.
• Since the movement of African students to India for higher education has been disrupted, India may expand the e-VidyaBharti (tele education) project to establish an India-Africa Virtual University. Agriculture and food security can also be a fulcrum for deepening ties.
• With the locust scourge devastating the Horn of Africa and the pandemic worsening the food crisis, India could ramp up its collaboration in this sector.
• India could also create a new fund for Africa and adapt its grant-in-aid assistance to reflect the current priorities.
• This could include support for new investment projects by Indian entrepreneurs especially in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors in Africa.