In an attempt to counter the deep inroads made by China in the African continent since 2004-05, India is all set to join hands with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Japan, for the implementation of two projects in Africa. In partnership with Japan, India will build a cancer hospital in Kenya. In Ethiopia, India will partner up for the establishment of an information and communication technology (ICT) centre with UAE.
Once upon a time, India was a major influence in Africa, given the support accorded to the African freedom struggle. However, since the 1990s, the popularity of India has dwindled in Africa. For the last one decade, India has been striving to reshape its relations with Africa, through numerous high-level official visits and participation in international summits.
According to estimates by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a Washington-based think tank, Chinese investments in Africa have been valued at more than $220 billion between 2005 and 2018. Other major destinations for Chinese investments include Nigeria, Angola, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia and South Africa. Ethiopia has especially become a big focal point for Chinese investments.
Indian expertise in skilling and manpower, supported by the financial resources and technical expertise available in Japan and UAE has the potential to build projects in Africa, making it a mutually beneficial partnership on all fronts, especially as Japan and UAE leverage the political goodwill that India enjoys in Africa.
The G-to-G project of building a health care centre, possibly a cancer hospital, in Kenya with Japan is an example of North-South cooperation in Africa. This is an exemplification of their mutual agreement to cooperate in the areas of human development, capacity-building, healthcare, water, sanitation, livelihood, digital etc. for the extension of health, education and other services.
Ethiopia is the highest recipient of concessional loans from India, outside South Asia. Also, UAE enjoys political goodwill there for its role in mediating between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Thus, with Indian and UAE ties warming up, beyond finance and energy, and the UAE seeking opportunities of investment in Indian infrastructure, both countries will sign an MoU (memorandum of understanding) to set up projects in third countries like Africa, starting with Ethiopia. This is the first instance of a South-South Government-to-Government (G-to-G) bilateral cooperation for a specific project in Africa.
India Outbound
April 16, 2019
source https://indiaoutbound.org/indian-partnerships-in-africa/
No comments:
Post a Comment