Afro-India Relations: The Birth of a New Age

Prime Minister Narenda Modi embarked on African five day tour last week and will be coming to Kenya today. In South Africa, he was seeking to boost trade between the two countries that he said had shared values, suffering and struggles. The history shared by South Africa and India goes back as far as the late 1800's. That is where Mahatma Gandhi had his awakening and found his true calling during his 20 year stint in Africa. Living and working as a lawyer in South Africa, in the late 1800's, Gandhi faced unspeakable humiliation that made him question the British Empire. Having been thrown out of a train carriage for insisting to sit inside the cabin, it brought him to the realization that the British Empire was based on segregation and domination of others considered as lesser mortals! So incensed was he, by his experience on the train, that he made the decision to fight against the British Empire and he also considered the plight of Indians living in East Africa and began fighting for their freedom as well. His stay in South Africa birthed an epic rivalry between him and Winston Churchill that destroyed the British empire and forged the age we live in now. President Jacob Zuma stated that South Africa and India enjoy strong relations dating back to the struggle against apartheid and India was a vociferous campaigner against apartheid colonialism.

We are now on the cusp of a new age dawning on us. Both Africa and India are home to a third of the worlds population. As India has set it's sights on Africa, it is apparent that India is playing catch up with China, whose investment in Africa last year topped $200 billion. India has been making some headway, though the approach India is taking is not State-led like China, but rather a diverse business-led approach. India is keen to gain ground, led by private entrepreneurs with a growing interest in the continent's burgeoning energy sector. Afro-Indian trade grew steadily at a rate of almost 32 percent annually from 2005 to 2011. This growth was spurred by Indian private investments in ICT, energy, automobile manufacturing, and telecommunications.

While in South Africa, Prime Minister Modi noted that India’s rise is a story of rare resilience, renewed resurgence, superb speed and spectacular scale! I couldn't agree more; India's geopolitical interests has placed it at the forefront to ensure that countries with smaller economies get fair representation on the global scale. Just last year when Kenya hosted the World Trade Organization's Tenth Ministerial Conference, India supported the push for a Nairobi Declaration and has been considering the plight of the Least Developed Countries; India has also been pushing for the reform of the United Nations Security Council representation -  India's has had a long-running campaign to be made a permanent Security Council member.

He begins his tour in Kenya by meeting the large Indian community residing here. Being a third generation Indian migrant, and my family having grown a large sustainable enterprise in Kenya; the Indian diaspora in my view, is a great advantage for India, as it begins forging stronger ties with Africa. Prime Minister Modi already appreciates the fact that Kenya and India have very strong people-to-people relations. He attributes the rise of his country to HOPE — Harmony, Optimism, Potential and Energy. Africa remains a strategic partner for India; besides the poignant connection we have; being our common struggle with colonialism, similar histories and kinship; a deep reservoir of consideration and goodwill exists. The fact that we have large youth populations: their future will shape the future of the world to a great extent.

Africa's development in the last decade has been remarkable and it's development is a huge opportunity for India as Africa's resources can feed the Indian economy and Africa can create jobs for it's people in return. Besides that, our cooperation has taken different forms; in the last three years 25,000 have been trained or educated in India, more Indians are coming to Africa on tourist visits, and not to mention how many Africans seek medical attention in India. India stands as a very appropriate development partner for Africa by focusing it's development partnership  on human resource development and establishment of institutions in Africa, creating skills and capacities in agriculture, food processing, textiles, small industries, etc., to expand exports to India and other countries.

In 2014, India hosted the World Economic Forum in New Delhi. On the sidelines of the forum, African leaders and Indian industrialists  expressed their joint vision of realizing US$ 500 billion in trade between Africa and India by 2020. This is more than five times the official projected figures for 2015. This only speaks of the immense potential to develop strong Afro-Indian trade relations and the confidence we have in the fact that this vision is realizable.

I look forward to the Prime Minister's visit to Kenya and I am optimistic that Kenya and India can build mutually beneficial ties that will build on the already existing relationship we have. We are on the cusp of beginning a new age.

Karibu Kenya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi: Kenya welcomes you with open arms!