quote: In the March 27th, 2008 Pambazuka issue, Firoze Manji argued that in comparison to Europe and the US, China in Africa is still a small player and that while keeping an eye out on China, Africans should not be distracted from paying attention to the West's continued exploitation of the continent [http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/46990]. In this essay, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta adds yet another layer by looking at India's growing role in Africa
The world's two most populous countries, China and India, are now seriously competing with each other to engage resource-rich Africa, thereby imparting a new dimension to South-South relations.
From Apr. 7-9 New Delhi will host heads of government of 12 African nation-states and a similar number of regional economic groupings. Many see this as a modest answer by India to the grand Africa summit that Beijing hosted in 2006.
Among heads of government expected are Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria, Joseph Kabila Kabange of Congo, Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, John Kufuor of Ghana, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda, Maitre Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, Tertius Zongo of Burkina Faso and Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete of Tanzania.
The New Delhi meeting will be attended by leading functionaries of the African Union, various regional economic communities and the New Partnership for Africa's Development. Notable absentees will be Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.
While this is the first time India is organising such a large summit of African leaders, this country has had long links with the continent. "Indian traders once sold glass beads to an eager African market (and) now its expertise centres on science and technology," observes a media release of the Johannesburg-based South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA).
The release added: "China's inroads into Africa are well known; India's approach has been much quieter. The India-Africa Forum meets for the first time?offering a fresh insight into this modern-day scramble for Africa."
A government of India official told IPS, who may not be named according to briefing rules, that unlike "China's greed for Africa's oil, copper and other minerals", India is more interested in longer-term economic partnerships that are mutually beneficial and do not replicate colonial systems of exploitation of African wealth.
This official pointed out that India had for long supported South Africa's anti-apartheid movement because of the personal involvement of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the 'father' of the Indian nation, who had cut his political teeth in that country. More recently, India was the first country to send United Nations-sponsored troops to Congo.
The Indian government has, in addition, supported technical exchange and training programmes in most African countries. For more than four decades now, 1,000 individuals from sub-Saharan countries have been provided technical training in India each year. Besides, there are an estimated 15,000 students of African origin currently studying in Indian universities and educational institutions, many of them on government scholarships.
Pointing out that the "waters of the Indian Ocean united us" and that India and Africa had a "common civilisational heritage and shared experience of colonialism", India's Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee recently said "our commitment to solutions based on common but differentiated responsibility and respective capability remains steadfast".
Ethiopia's Minister of State for Trade and Industry Tadesse Haile, on a visit to India, last year, said this country should be a ''shareholder and not just a stakeholder in Africa's development process''.
India has participated in projects relating to rural electrification in Mozambique and Ethiopia, railways in Senegal and Mali, cement in Congo and computer training in Lesotho. Indian companies are involved in building Ghana's National Assembly and military barracks in Sierra Leone.
Private corporate groups in India have had long-standing ties with African countries. For instance, the Tata group has a presence in 14 countries in areas such as hotels, telecommunications, hydro power and transportation. The word 'Tata' is synonymous with 'bus' in a country like Uganda, writes Seema Sirohi, Indian journalist for the 'Outlook' magazine who was recently in Johannesburg.
Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer Cipla has led the way in supplying inexpensive generic anti-AIDS drugs to African countries in the teeth of opposition from Western multinational corporations. Other Indian business groups have made major investments in Africa in the areas of information technology, hospitality, electrical equipment, and hospitals.
Senior journalist Neerja Chowdhury told IPS: "India had ignored its natural allies in Africa for a long time and in fact, many in this country had a rather patronising attitude towards Africa that was seen as a backward continent. Thankfully, that attitude is changing somewhat and the Indian government is re-focussing on Africa." Nevertheless, she said relations between India and Africa are "still nowhere what they should be".
While annual two-way trade between India and Africa has gone up fivefold from five billion US dollars to 25 billion dollars over the last five years, this volume is half that of Africa's export-import trade with China. Indian officials, speaking off-the-record, say China's economic strategy is more aggressive than that of India's and basically aimed at capturing Africa's mineral resources like oil, copper and manganese.
In a paper, Navdeep Suri, India's consul-general in Johannesburg has written: "We cannot match China dollar-for-dollar nor do we have the command economy where state-owned companies can be ordered to pursue the government's directive regardless of their own bottomline."
India's Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma, while stating that the New Delhi summit would "help the pace and spirit of historic and time-tested ties between India and Africa gather momentum", has argued that it "would not be correct" to see India-Africa relations as "competition with any other country".
Sirohi, who spoke to influential South African minister Essop Pahad, quoted him saying that while he wanted to engage with both India and China, the two countries would have to compete. "Let the best man win," he remarked.
Arun Kumar, professor of economics at New Delhi's prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University, told IPS in an interview that there is "considerable potential between India and Africa in the areas of agriculture, energy and sustainable exploitation of minerals". He added that the fact that persons of Indian origin had settled in large numbers in East African countries besides Libya, Sudan and Darfur, could help strengthen economic ties.
In Durban, South Africa's foreign affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa told the Press Trust of India news agency that the New Delhi summit could not only consolidate and drive the position of developing countries in the World Trade Organisation but also lead to the "writing off (of) the debt owed to India by the poorest countries of the world, a large number of which are African countries."
What may indirectly help India, Sirohi wrote in her article in the 'Outlook', is that the Chinese presence in Congo and Zambia has sparked off local resentment. Trade unions have protested against China's policy of 'dumping' cheap goods. Congo reportedly recently expelled 600 Chinese nationals and shut down three firms.
*Paranjoy Guha Thakurta is a journalist with over 20 years experience in print, radio and television, the last two years of which have been with Television Eighteen. Paranjoy anchors the India Talks discussion and interview show on ABNI. This article first appeared in Inter Press Service.
Posts: 3423 | From: the jungle - when y'all stop playing games, call me. | Registered: Jul 2006
| IP: Logged |
Now lets just wait untill the next Asian nation snaps it fingers (maybe mongolia or kambodja) and see how many of these fools will stand in line for negotiations concerning their resources.
quote:Notable absentees will be Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.
We can atleast rule out the notion of no brains among *all* leaders in Africa.
quote:Ethiopia's Minister of State for Trade and Industry Tadesse Haile, on a visit to India, last year, said this country should be a ''shareholder and not just a stakeholder in Africa's development process''.
posted
Most of the countries cited have not much natural resources...unless someone can prove otherwise...
Posts: 461 | From: Kilimanjaro | Registered: Jan 2008
| IP: Logged |
Now lets just wait untill the next Asian nation snaps it fingers (maybe mongolia or kambodja) and see how many of these fools will stand in line for negotiations concerning their resources.
Tall Teef, this is what is called business. I know that Somalia is the Devil's Toilet but that's no excuse for not knowing basic definitions.
We all know that Somalia has absolutely nothing and thus is at a considerable disadvantage to all of the other nations of Africa, but as they say.....thats the way the khaaaaaaat grows. : )
PS. Before you get any ideas Tall Teef, the Indians don't like khat, they use opium. LOL : )
Posts: 3085 | Registered: Jan 2008
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by argyle104: Don't think that it hasn't been forgotten that you never answered this question:
Are Somalis smart?
LOL, LOL, Double LOL
Nope, we are dumb, hope it answered your question.
btw your obsession of somalis became pathetic ages ago now it's on the verge of obsession. There is more than enough of arsenal for me to ask juvenile questions about your fufu people, (anyone can play your game) but i'll be the mature one out of respect of other forum members.
Now go and do what you do best, spy on teen hangouts like somalilife.com, loser.
Posts: 1554 | Registered: Jul 2006
| IP: Logged |
Now lets just wait untill the next Asian nation snaps it fingers (maybe mongolia or kambodja) and see how many of these fools will stand in line for negotiations concerning their resources.
quote:Notable absentees will be Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.
We can atleast rule out the notion of no brains among *all* leaders in Africa.
quote:Ethiopia's Minister of State for Trade and Industry Tadesse Haile, on a visit to India, last year, said this country should be a ''shareholder and not just a stakeholder in Africa's development process''.
A certifide punk.
I actually agree with Yonis here.
But another side of me says "my enemy's enemy is my friend". You can't change overnight the reality that Europe, and China are in Africa stealing our stuff because we have been quite literally disabled by our very own despotic leaders. But India getting involved in the stealing, puts perhaps a different dynamic to it. Perhaps.
quote:Originally posted by argyle104: Don't think that it hasn't been forgotten that you never answered this question:
Are Somalis smart?
LOL, LOL, Double LOL
Nope, we are dumb, hope it answered your question.
btw your obsession of somalis became pathetic ages ago now it's on the verge of obsession. There is more than enough of arsenal for me to ask juvenile questions about your fufu people, (anyone can play your game) but i'll be the mature one out of respect of other forum members.
Now go and do what you do best, spy on teen hangouts like somalilife.com, loser.
Yonis,
I don't like you very much and you don't like me either. These are facts.
However, I've always had the feeling you have good intentions despite your bizarre methods.
One thing I cannot comprehend about you is how you seem to think that fufu, which is just ... food is somehow an insult to those who eat it??? Can you not tell that argyle is not an African but a racist European who comes to this forum to antagonise Africans???
Smarten up brother.
Posts: 3423 | From: the jungle - when y'all stop playing games, call me. | Registered: Jul 2006
| IP: Logged |
How do you know, every single Somali in this forum disowned him...he's Swedish for sure...with some issues with skin color...
Posts: 461 | From: Kilimanjaro | Registered: Jan 2008
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by argyle104: Yonis aka Raaaaaaaaiiiiid wrote:
quote: Pathetic!!
Now lets just wait untill the next Asian nation snaps it fingers (maybe mongolia or kambodja) and see how many of these fools will stand in line for negotiations concerning their resources.
Tall Teef, this is what is called business. I know that Somalia is the Devil's Toilet but that's no excuse for not knowing basic definitions.
We all know that Somalia has absolutely nothing and thus is at a considerable disadvantage to all of the other nations of Africa, but as they say.....thats the way the khaaaaaaat grows. : )
PS. Before you get any ideas Tall Teef, the Indians don't like khat, they use opium. LOL : )
LOL This dude is making me laugh hysterically and I am uncomfortable with that Posts: 343 | Registered: Feb 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
I see the topic is not of interest anymore, maybe you should rest your minds and reclaim your concentration.
Posts: 1554 | Registered: Jul 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
And I question yours as well...I mean it's all on the internet... you are Nigerian? I have no proof...are you African or a fake British posing for a Nigerian going around with his fantasy about AE and I don't know many Nigerian like that...maybe you are maybe you are not...HORUS! your user name is the only thing verifiable, it's yours and it's real...
Posts: 461 | From: Kilimanjaro | Registered: Jan 2008
| IP: Logged |
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic