Ministers Welcome Roll-Out Of Indian Pledge

Africa foreign ministers are hopeful of a speedy roll-out of pledges made at the inaugural India-Africa summit despite criticism that disbursement of aid and loans has been slow.

India in 2008 committed US$5.4 billion in lines of credit and an additional US$500 million in loans, but only about half of these pledges have so far been used up, ahead of the second India-Africa triennial summit.

The joint plan of action under the New Delhi summit was only finalised in the first quarter of 2010, a year behind schedule, while the African Union has just completed identifying the sites where four key training institutes—a key plank of the 2008 commitments-- will be located.

“We are quite satisfied with the pace of the implementation of the pledges made in New Delhi,” said India’s External Affairs Minister, Mr S. M. Krishna.

Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, Kenyan Trade Minister Chirau Mwakwere said that he was not aware of widespread African criticism over the speed of disbursement.

The ministers signed a memorandum of understanding to put up 14 additional training sites in various countries ahead of the heads of states meeting at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Leaders from 15 countries mostly from Africa and India at the summit co-chaired by the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, were satisfied with the implementation of Indian pledges to Africa so far.

Details of new initiatives to be announced shortly remain unclear with sources hinting that India and Africa will instead look to tighten the initiatives of the first summit in the light of the continuing roll-out of the 2008 pledges.

Among areas keenly watched was the provision that allowed least developed countries to export particular lines of goods to India duty-free. Only 19 African countries have so far taken up this window, with many of the listed goods said to be favouring primary goods.

“We have not put much emphasis in adding value to what we sell. We sell our products as primary products, which are then sold on for significantly higher prices” said Mr Mwakwere, noting that addressing this would benefit African economies significantly.

India also hopes to increase scholarships to Africa in the areas of science and agriculture as it looks to build on the historical links between the two regions to enhance trade.

“Africa will leave no stone unturned in order to meet its commitments under this partnership,” said AU Commission chair, Jean Ping in his address to the Ministers.

The “soft-power” approach towards trade with Africa has been New Delhi’s preferred mode of engagement in the face of China’s more robust pursuit of the continent’s resources.

India bristles at suggestions of a struggle for clout and dismisses as simplistic the narrative of an offensive against its neighbour, insisting its approach is based on “friendship” and “mutual” benefits – a clear dig at China which has been accused of “grabbing” the continent’s resources.

But in reality India has little option. Despite historical links with Africa, it was caught flatfooted by Beijing’s extraordinary advance on Africa and has only begun to react in the last decade, after what some in the Indian capital wistfully term as the “lost” decades.

It also does not help that China boasts a formidable war-chest in its foreign reserves, and given Beijing’s state-run entrepreneurial model, decision-making is swift. India, despite an economy that last financial year grew at 8.6 per cent, by virtue of being a democracy it has to contend with layers of officialdom to make key bilateral decisions.