Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just concluded a five-day, four-nation maiden visit to mainland Africa, which took him to Mozambique (July 7), South Africa (July 7-9), Tanzania (July 9-10) and Kenya (July 10-11). With this visit, Modi has managed to not only remove the perception of attention-deficit towards Africa, but it’s also imparted a strong impetus to bilateral ties with these countries and sent a robust message that India attaches immense significance to relations with the entire continent.

Although this visit came after more than two years of his assuming office, it would be fallacious to presume that Africa has been off his radar. Late last year, Modi had organised the Third India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-III) when for the first time all 54 Heads of State/Government (HOS/G) of African countries as well as the President of African Union were invited. The PM’s visit followed closely on the heels of two high-ranking visits by President Pranab Mukherjee to Ghana, Ivory Coast and Namibia in West Africa, between June 12 and June 17; and Vice-President Hamid Ansari to Morocco and Tunisia in North Africa from May 30 to June 3. Modi’s visit to South and East Africa was part of this chronology and represented an attempt to reach out to all parts of Africa. Consequently, this most recent current visit is the culmination of initiative launched last October, which can be termed ”Embrace Africa”.

Some analysts have termed Modi’s visit as an effort to catch-up with China, as far as Africa is concerned. This assessment is both patronising and ill-informed. China has invested heavily in extracting hydrocarbons and minerals. It has leased out vast tracts of land in the continent to grow food crops for being imported back to China. It has created large infrastructure projects like railways, roads, ports etc but work-force and machinery for all this have come from China without significant advantages percolating to the local population. Therefore China does not enjoy a positive image in Africa because of its exploitative investments in the mineral, energy and agriculture sector. India, on the other hand, has historically been a partner rather than an exploiter, extending support to Africa in terms of human resource development, economic growth, and people-centric projects which, as Modi said in his last address in Nairobi, result in a ”win-win” outcome.

Strategic Dimensions

All four countries that Modi visited have long coastlines and are ‘connected’ to India by the Indian Ocean. All these countries are members of Indian Ocean Rim Association and serve as gateways to land-locked countries on the continent.

Political relations with all four countries are vibrant and deep-rooted although Prime Ministerial visits have not been very frequent. Modi’s visit to Kenya occurred after 35 years, to Mozambique after 34 years, to South Africa after 10 years, and to Tanzania after 5 years.

The visit to Mozambique witnessed signing of three MOUs on drug trafficking, pulse trading and sports. Under a significant “long-term” agreement on pulses, India will buy this commodity from Mozambique to plug its shortfall and contain prices of the product. Agriculture, food processing, education, healthcare, energy security, security, defence and skill development were identified as areas with huge potential for cooperation. Mozambique accounts for USD 8 billion out of USD 32 billion Indian investment in Africa, according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. Several major Indian companies, both public and private sector — especially in oil, gas and coal sectors — have a strong presence in Mozambique.

In South Africa, four Agreements on Information and Communication Technology, Tourism, Innovation in Science and Technology, and Arts and Culture were signed after extensive bilateral talks with President Jacob Zuma. Ratcheting up their traditional ties, both countries agreed to deepen engagement in key areas of defence production, manufacturing, mining and minerals while vowing to cooperate “actively” in combating terrorism and dealing with issues at multilateral fora.

Modi projected India as an attractive destination for manufacturing of defence equipment and platforms and exhorted South Africa to join hands in not only meeting needs of each other, but also to respond to regional and global demand. South Africa, with its state of the art technology, agreed to invest in India in defence, pharmaceutical and financial sectors. Confusion over South Africa’s stand on India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was set to rest by unequivocal statement by Modi thanking South Africa for its support.

In Tanzania, Modi extended full support to meet its development needs and signed five agreements, including one for providing a Line of Credit of USD 92 million in the water resources sector.  President Magufuli of Tanzania (who did not attend IAFS-III because he assumed office after the Summit) and the Indian PM committed to deepen bilateral ties in agriculture, food security, trade, natural gas and other vital sectors. Tanzania hosts USD 3 billion Indian investment, most of it in the energy sector.

In Kenya, in addition to two Lines of Credit for social projects, agreements on defence cooperation and double taxation avoidance were signed along with three other MOUs. India agreed to share expertise with Kenya on space-based applications addressing natural resource management, weather forecasting and disaster management.

India’s relationship with Africa

Trade and economic relations as well as energy ties form the bedrock of multi-faceted links between India and these African nations. Except in case of South Africa, trade is heavily weighted in India’s favour. Trade with Mozambique has jumped five times over five years, which is an indicator of how much potential is contained in these relationships.

Reach out to Indian diaspora attracted, as has become the norm in all Modi visits to foreign destinations, exceptional focus in all four countries. The Indian community is present in considerable numbers in these countries, with the highest being about 1.5 million in South Africa (Indians representing three percent of total population).

In Modi’s addresses — he spoke to an 11,000-strong crowd in Johannesburg on July 8 and to a mammoth rally of 20,000 in Nairobi on July 10, aside from smaller engagements — he complimented the Indian diaspora for their significant contribution to their host countries and invited them to connect more actively with India in order to take advantage of the myriad economic opportunities available.

Although the issue did not come up in discussions, Modi spoke extensively about Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and the strong historical connect and affinity that Indians have for Africans. Hopefully, his statement will allay fears and the concerns that have arisen since the recent reports of alleged racist attacks against African students and nationals in India.

The African continent is home to six of the world’s ten fastest growing economies so it’s a region that Modi can ill afford to ignore. What is to India’s advantage is that there is a long tradition of trade between India and particularly the coastal African countries. Seen as a whole, India is Africa’s fourth largest trading partner, with a trade turnover of USD 72 billion. India has invested around USD 32 billion in the continent.

Africa’s active partnership is crucial for progress in global and regional issues. Support from African countries becomes critical while negotiating subjects like India’s bid for a permanent United Nations Security Council seat.

All the leaders of the countries that Modi visited seemed to go out of their way to extend a heartfelt welcome and memorable reception to Modi. This was evident from the body language of all leaders, as it was from how Tanzanian President Magufuli accompanied Modi to see him off at the airport, and Kenyan President Kenyatta accompanied Modi to the Indian diaspora rally at Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi.

Modi’s visit was timely and portentous. It will provide a momentous impulse to strengthen political, strategic, security, economic and people-to-people ties with these countries, as also with the whole continent.