India Pledge Money to Africa
08th April 2008
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that he will invest heavily in Africa to boost India’s economic ties with the country. He pledged more than $500m for African projects while speaking at the India-Africa Forum Summit, which was arranged to strengthen both trade and diplomatic ties between India and Africa.
At the two-day summit, which was attended by 14 African leaders, Mr Singh said: “No one understands better than India and Africa the imperative need for global institutions to reflect current realities and to build a more equitable global economy and polity.” The African leaders in attendance at the summit were Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia. Mr Mbeki told his fellow leaders at the summit that India and Africa shared many challenges. He said “Our enemy is common. We both have poverty and underdevelopment.”
According to reports, India is becoming increasingly interested in developing ties with Africa, as it is looking for new energy sources and Africa has a number of natural ones available. India are thought to be offering Africa their expertise in low-cost technology, aid and funds in exchange for oil and gas, minerals and diamonds, as well as an African market to sell its manufactured goods.
Mr Singh is also thought to want to help India to counter the overpowering influence of China, which has been building ties with some African countries that have traditionally been close to India. Even though trade between India and Africa has increased recently, it is still only around half the amount between China and Africa. In addition to this, Delhi has also recently lost a number of their lucrative African oil exploration contracts to Beijing.
Source:
BBC