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India Boosts Ties with Africa, AU

India Boosts Ties with Africa, AU

This week the second ever Africa-India Summit took place, with New Delhi signaling that it was committed to doing business with the continent and supporting both national and regional development.

Trade between India and Africa amounted to roughly $46 billion in 2010, but the partners aim to increase that number to $70 billion by 2015.

The growing economic relationship between Africa and India, however, is not without its politics.  Some suspect that India’s engagement is tied, at least in some ways, to its quest for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, a move that many African countries have expressed support for.   India also joined AU leaders in calling for an end to NATO airstrikes against Libya.

Others speculate that India is seeking to emulate China, which has a much larger presence on the continent, in securing Africa’s natural resources to fuel a rapidly growing economy.  India is expected to be the world’s third largest net importer of oil by 2030, and some suggest its engaged in a game of catch-up in Africa.

 

Author

Robert Nolan

Robert Nolan is Editor-in-Chief of New Media at the Foreign Policy Association and a writer and producer of the Great Decisions Television Series on PBS. A former Peace Corps volunteer in Zimbabwe and graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, he has interviewed numerous heads of state, Nobel Prize winners, artists and musicians, and policymakers.