A Decade of India-Africa Relation: Connect, Build and Revive

Syllabus: GS2/International Relation

Context

• India’s engagement with Africa needs to deepen through strategic partnerships that emphasize connectivity, capacity-building, and revitalization of diplomatic ties.

About India-Africa Relations

• Historical Foundations and Diplomatic Legacy: India’s engagement with Africa is rooted in shared anti-colonial struggles and solidarity through platforms like the Non-Aligned Movement.
  • Over the decades, India has supported African nations in global forums, opposed apartheid, and extended development assistance through capacity-building and education.
  • The India-Africa Forum Summits (IAFS-III), 2015 institutionalized bilateral engagement, with participation from all 54 African nations.

Strategic Shifts: A Decade of Expansion

• Diplomatic Outreach: India has opened 17 new missions across Africa since 2015.
  • India’s support played a central role in securing full African Union membership in the G20, and continues to advocate for Africa’s representation in global governance, including at the UN.
• Trade and Investment: India–Africa trade has crossed $100 billion. Key sectors include critical minerals, agriculture, technology, and manufacturing.
  • Cumulative Indian investments stand at approximately $75 billion, placing India among Africa’s top five investors. 
  • It has shifted from transactional to collaborative — with a focus on co-building infrastructure, digital tools, and health systems.
  • Development Finance: India’s Exim Bank’s $40 million credit line to EBID signals support for African-led development.
• Security Cooperation: The Africa-India Key Maritime Engagement (AIKEYME), 2025, involving nine African navies, marked a new phase of oceanic security cooperation rooted in shared Indian Ocean geography.
  • Defense cooperation is growing, with India deploying defense attachés and inaugurating strategic installations like the Mauritius naval base.
• Education & Innovation: The new IIT Madras campus in Zanzibar showcases India’s commitment to long-term academic collaboration.
  • Programs like ITEC, the ICCR, and the Pan-African e-Network continue to train thousands of African professionals.
• People-to-People Exchanges: India’s strongest export remains talent exchange:
  • Over 40,000 Africans studied in India over the past decade.
  • Many now serve in leadership roles across Africa.
  • African students, athletes, and entrepreneurs are increasingly visible in India.
  • These cross-cultural bonds form a living partnership grounded in trust.

Key Concerns & Challenges

• Strategic Challenges: China’s presence is seen as ‘empire-building’, with massive investments, military bases, and trade deals, shifting Africa’s geopolitical orientation and reducing India’s relative leverage.
  • India’s model of cooperation—focused on capacity-building and mutual respect—faces difficulty competing with China’s infrastructure-heavy, high-visibility projects.
• Diplomatic and Institutional Gaps: India has not held a follow-up summit in the past decade, despite hosting the India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-III) in 2015 leading to a loss of momentum in diplomatic engagement.
  • There is a lack of institutional mechanisms to track and evaluate the promises made during past summits, which hampers accountability and strategic planning.
• Operational and Economic Constraints: India’s trade with Africa, while growing, still lags behind China’s, and investment flows are uneven across sectors and regions.
  • Limited visibility and branding of Indian initiatives in Africa reduce their impact, especially when compared to China’s high-profile projects like railways, ports, and industrial parks.

Opportunities Ahead of India-Africa Relations

• A Rising Growth Corridor: Africa’s demographic surge and India’s economic ascent form a natural corridor for cooperation in technology, manufacturing, and services.
• Evolving Partnership Models: Indian firms remain competitive but often constrained by small balance sheets and bureaucratic delays.
  • China continues to dominate African markets, pushing India to innovate and move up the value chain.
• Future Sectors: India needs to invest in Green hydrogen, Electric mobility, and Digital infrastructure.
  • The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) requires India to align with a rapidly integrating market.

Way Forward: Roadmap 2030 and Shared Prosperity

• The proposed ‘Roadmap 2030’ outlines nearly 60 policy recommendations to deepen India-Africa ties.
  • India aims to support Africa’s African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) implementation, enhancing intra-African trade and connectivity.
• Link Finance to Outcomes: Lines of credit must lead to visible, high-impact projects. Public funds should de-risk private investment, not replace it.
• Build an India–Africa Digital Corridor: Co-develop platforms for health, education, fintech, and public services by combining India’s digital public infrastructure with Africa’s fast-growing innovation ecosystems.
• Revive Institutional Architecture: The India–Africa Forum Summit needs a timely revival.
  • The 2015 summit unlocked major diplomatic momentum, and restoring it is essential for sustained high-level engagement.

Source: TH