(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
[Summit] – India's image among educated Africans is much better than the Chinese, which many see as as exploitative as the former colonial masters from Europe.
This is how Nic Dawes, editor of South Africa's major newspaper Mail & Guardian, explains the current situation while we meet him here in New Delhi. Like hundreds of other African editors, journalists and businessmen, he has flown into India's capital to follow last week's major and historic event: the India-Africa Forum Summit, held on 8 and 9 April, where 14 African leaders were present, including from Nigeria, Ethiopia and Tanzania.
India has now taken up competition with China in Africa. New Dehli has seriously opened its eyes to the enormous potential the continent has to offer. Or as Anand Sharma, Secretary of State of the Indian Foreign Ministry, explained about a new and unique pan-African Internet project that India is about to launch in Senegal:
"This is a revolutionary leap in telecommunications education and telemedicine that connects leading universities in Africa with leading universities in India, and hospitals in Africa with super-specialized hospitals in India," says Anand.
29 African countries will be linked to the project. The Secretary of State describes India's state-of-the-art online gift to Africa as tailored to bridge the digital divide:
- It is such projects that help Africa, and therefore we appreciate them, says Bernard Mapalala, journalist from Ghana.
Historical cooperation
India's focus on Africa is noticeable based on reflection – the trail of China's growing influence on the continent. While China has increased its trade with African countries to as much as 70 billion dollars (300 billion kroner) annually, India trades for less than half.
- The Chinese trade: They buy, but they do not produce. They do not help employment, says journalist Aliou MBaye from Senegal to Ny Tid during the summit.
He says he is still happy with what China has done so far. In the election between India and China, most African journalists here say that Indians should play a more central role, but as guests of the Indian government, it may not be surprising that they praise India here at the conference.
Ironically, India could have a lead over China. When India fought its freedom struggle against British colonists in 1947, a number of African countries fought similar independence struggles. Mahatma Gandhi's role in the fight against apartheid in South Africa is now history. During the first decade of Indian independence, ties with Africa remained intact, but as India faced problems at home, interest in the continent gradually declined. It also dampened interest in the fact that thousands of Indians living in Uganda were expelled under Idi Amin's rule in the 1970s.
Some goodwill, however, survived due to the Indian help in training Africans in administration, finance and management. India runs the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program which has helped many third world countries. A large number of Africans are educated in India, although the number is steadily declining. However, because the political pressure needed to strengthen ties with African countries was never present, Africa's profile in India remained low. In the UN and other multilateral fora, India and other developing countries, including many African ones, fought together for the rights of developing countries.
Today, much of this has changed. Africa is one of the world's richest continents – both in oil, gas and minerals – and Indian industry has begun to turn its attention to Africa. Officially, it is said that over the past two years, Indian companies have invested more than $ 25 million in various projects on the continent.
India's major company Tata, which has now also acquired British status companies such as Jaguar and Rover, is well established in South Africa. Indian pharmaceutical companies such as Randbaxy produce vital medicines, including AIDS medicines, for less than half the price offered by European and American manufacturers. This has resulted in Indian pharmaceutical companies playing a key role in the fight against AIDS and other life-threatening diseases.
Many companies such as the Tata group, the IT giant Satyman and the Sahara send employees recruited in Africa to India for special training. Others, including companies in the diamond processing industry, offer on-the-job training in South Africa, while the Confederation of Indian Industry has taken a group of one hundred young South Africans to India for training in various occupations related to the construction industry.
However, India's total trade figures with Africa are only $ 30 billion against China's $ 75 billion. China's goal is to reach $ 100 billion by 2010. However, China is not only committed to trade, but also to participating in the UN peacekeeping forces in Africa and to promoting democracy.
China has built bridges, railways, roads and other infrastructure in a number of African countries, but they have imported Chinese labor for these projects. The Chinese companies make little use of local labor. The Chinese have also flooded the African market with cheap goods, which on the one hand has made it possible for poor Africans to buy goods, but at the same time it has hit the small, local producers hard. This has led to dissatisfaction among those who have lost their livelihood.
India is aware of this and does not want to make the same mistake. An Indian ambassador to a major African country, who did not want to be named, tells me:
- We are in Africa to invest long-term, and even if our businessmen come here, our project is not traced by greed as it was for the colonial powers in their time. Our goal is to assist Africa in development and encourage trade within Africa. We are not there to get African countries to export their goods to India. We are committed to assisting Africans in their development, he says.
Duty free access to India
And he continues:
- The Indian loans of 5,4 billion dollars that we launch here at the summit, will be given on good terms. 40 per cent is given as a gift, and the interest rate on the rest is 1,7 per cent. No one – not even the World Bank – can have anything to blame on us when we impose such conditions, the Indian ambassador points out.
He further admits that India has realized that with 54 countries on the African continent, New Delhi needs the goodwill of the countries to become a key international player. In addition to increasing loan allocations to Africa, India stated that it would provide preferred market access for export goods from 50 developing countries, including 34 in Africa.
Countries that export cotton, cocoa, aluminum, copper ore, cashews, cane sugar, ready-made clothing, fish fillets and diamonds for industrial use will benefit from relief in import duties. African leaders were very pleased with this statement.
- The partnership we are now trying to breathe new life into will not succeed without us – just as in the past struggle against the colonial masters – taking responsibility for changing our own reality. India is better equipped than most to be our partner in changing our reality, Ethiopian Prime Minister Ato Meles Zenawi said at the conference.
Indian politicians are keen to reinforce the image of a softer and more generous presence in Africa. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stressed that India's renewed focus on Africa has nothing to do with China's growing influence on the continent.
- We do not run races or compete with China or other countries. The desire for cooperation between India and Africa is not new, Singh said in his speech.
Oil Battle India-China
And when African journalists afterwards asked him to compare India's approach with China's, he said:
- We are not looking to set a pattern down Africa. We do not know what is good for Africa. It is up to the Africans to decide their future.
India may be trying to deny competing with China, but the simple truth is that New Delhi is as eager as China to get its hands on Africa's oil resources to meet a swell of energy needs at home. India not only wants to be engaged in oil exploration, but is willing to offer technology and technical assistance to set up refineries, pipelines and personnel training.
- It is clear that we are very interested in Africa's oil and gas resources to secure energy supply at home, India's Minister of Petroleum Murli Deora openly admitted last week.
He said Angola was the next country India would concentrate on. India is already buying oil from Nigeria. In Sudan, where the government is criticized for its contribution to the many deaths in the Darfur war, the state-run company ONGC-videsh has invested a 25 percent stake in the Upper Nile oil fields. They also plan to invest $ 200 million in pipelines there, but the Chinese are everywhere in Sudan, and the Indian competitors are far behind.
India is in the starting pit in Africa, but only time will tell if they succeed in their policy.
