Trends in India–Africa trade and investment relations

Abstract

India’s historical engagement with Africa dates to the early independence movements across the African continent. However, its current involvement represents a shift in scale and depth. Initially, India viewed Africa through the lens of emerging Afro–Asian solidarity between developing countries, with a focus on infrastructure development, including providing finance and constructing railroads in East Africa. Its support extended to setting up small-scale industries in Tanzania and Kenya, as well as joint ventures in textiles. Over the subsequent decades, India provided technical expertise, doctors, educational scholarships and various forms of aid under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme. Early in the twenty-first century, following India’s economic reforms of the 1990s, the scope of India–Africa cooperation expanded significantly. This study aims to assess the prospect of bilateral trade and investment in facilitating economic cooperation between India and Africa in the years to come.