MEDIA ALERT: Third India Africa Forum Summit

Dear Editors

The Third India Africa Forum Summit is taking place from 26-29 October 2015 in New Delhi, India this week. SAIIA has put together a package of articles, videos, and papers on India-Africa relations. The experts and resources below can assist journalists and editors as they prepare to cover the event.

SAIIA Analysis

Read a scene-setting new SAIIA working paper and summary, ‘Indian foreign policy and India-Africa Relations‘.

SAIIA Expertise available

Please note that SAIIA has limited media interviews available on this topic, but our communications division will endeavour to assist the media as much as possible.

Background to the Summit

The 2015 Summit is the first time all 54 African heads of state have been invited. Previously, according to the Banjul Formula, agreed to by the African Union (AU) and India, only the five founding members of NEPAD, and the chairs and executive secretaries of the eight regional communities, the current and previous chair of the AU and the AU commission chair participated.

This year India has also extended special invitations to the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, the president of the African Development Bank, the UN co-ordinator for Africa and the UN head of global HIV/AIDS.

The Summit is regarded as the biggest summit held in India since the country’s hosting of the Non-Aligned and Commonwealth summits in 1983. The leaders’ meeting takes place on Thursday 29 October, while the foreign ministers meet on Tuesday 27 October. The Business Forum will take place on Wednesday 28 October. More than 400 business delegates from Africa have registered to participate in the business exhibition, which will cover diverse sectors from energy and health to infrastructure and innovation. The ministers of trade met earlier on Friday 23 October.

India and Africa trade statistics

Trade between India and Africa has grown from US$5.3 billion in 2001 to US$70 billion in 2015. Indian investments in Africa amount to some US$30-35 billion. About US$7.4 billion in concessional lines of credit have been offered, of which US$6.8 billion has been approved.

Since its first meeting the Forum has focused on trade, technology and training as its major pillars. However, India historically has also been a significant troop contributor to UN peace missions and currently has 4,500 soldiers on the ground in Africa, including the only all-female police unit, in Liberia. Maritime security and the blue economy are also potential areas of future engagement.