Delhi offers cooperation, capacity building and, of course, cash in the unspoken competition with China for African hearts, minds and resources
India plans to increase its annual trade with Africa to US$70 billion – up from current levels of $45 bn. – over the next five years. That is an exponential increase from the $5.2 bn. of 2002/03. The 28 March acquisition by Bharti Airtel of telecommunications company Zain Africa’s assets for $10.7 bn. has almost tripled the level of Indian investment in Africa, a large proportion of which has been in sectors other than hydrocarbons and minerals. The Airtel deal is a further sign of the private sector’s readiness to invest there....
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