Reinvigorating India-Africa Partnership | 19 Nov 2025

Ten years ago, New Delhi hosted the last India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-III), a landmark event gathering representatives from all 54 African states. This summit marked a high point in India’s diplomatic outreach to Africa, based on shared histories and aspirations. However, since then, engagement momentum has waned amid mounting geopolitical competition, infrastructure challenges, and Africa’s evolving needs. Revitalising this partnership is critical to addressing mutual challenges in trade, capacity building, governance, and sustainable development.

What are the Key Factors Driving the Evolving Partnership Between India and Africa?

• Economic Complementarity and Expanding Trade: India and Africa share remarkable economic complementarity.
  • Africa provides critical raw materials, while India offers manufactured goods, pharmaceuticals, engineering products and digital technology.
  • Bilateral trade has grown from USD 56 billion in 2019–20 to over USD 100 billion in 2024–25, reflecting strong economic momentum. 
    • India aims to double exports to USD 200 billion by 2030, leveraging Africa’s growing demand for affordable goods, telecom solutions and healthcare products.
  • Major trading partners include Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania, offering opportunities for deeper integration through value chains.
• Industrial and Infrastructure Development: India’s growing investments in Africa’s industrialisation demonstrate a long-term commitment to shared prosperity.
  • Indian firms have established manufacturing units—particularly in pharmaceuticals and IT—in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, creating employment and supporting regional value chains.
  • India also contributes to Africa’s infrastructure development through logistics partnerships, transport corridors aligned with PM Gati Shakti, and smart-city collaborations. 
  • Indian digital and telecom companies—such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel—are rapidly scaling operations in Africa, tapping into its fast-growing digital economy. 
    • Countries like Namibia and Ghana are partnering with India to adopt UPI-style payment systems.
    • Togo is using India’s Modular Open-Source Identity Platform (MOSIP) for its national digital ID.
  • With a projected 4% GDP growth in 2025, Africa represents a major expansion frontier for Indian businesses.
• Strategic and Security Cooperation: India’s strategic presence in Africa is expanding through defence diplomacy, counterterrorism training and maritime cooperation. 
  • With shared concerns over piracy, extremism and instability in the Indian Ocean Region, India partners with African navies on joint exercises, hydrography, surveillance and capacity building.
  • India’s strategic presence in Africa is growing through initiatives like the Africa India Key Maritime Engagement (AIKEYME) 2025, jointly conducted with nine African navies to improve anti-piracy and humanitarian operations. 
  • The Indian Navy’s deployment of INS Sunayna for surveillance and joint maritime exercises with Tanzania and Kenya further enhanced regional security. 
  • These efforts secure sea lanes vital for India’s energy imports and counterbalance geopolitical rivals in the Indian Ocean region.
• People-to-People Bonds and Development Cooperation and Human Capacity Building:  The 3 million-strong African–Indian diaspora and rising educational and cultural exchanges form the emotional foundation of the partnership. 
  • India has extended over USD 12 billion in concessional loans and USD 700 million in grants, supporting infrastructure, agriculture, energy and education projects across the continent.
  • Since its inception in 1964, the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme has been pivotal in enhancing the skills of African professionals. 
    • With an increase in training slots from 2,476 in 2015 to 3,851 in 2024, the programme has trained over 26,000 Africans in various civilian and technical domains (ITEC, 2025).
• Shared Global South Identity and Multilateral Advocacy: India and Africa often collaborate in global forums to champion the interests of developing nations. 
  • Both seek reforms in the UN Security Council, WTO, and climate finance frameworks, advocating for fairness, technology transfer and sustainable development.
  • African Union’s inclusion in the G20 during India’s Presidency reflects India’s commitment to promoting a more representative global governance structure.

What are the Major Challenges Hindering the Growth of the India-Africa Partnership?

• Strategic Inertia and Diplomatic Engagement Gaps: A significant hurdle is India’s delayed political engagement with Africa. 
  • The prolonged  gap of nearly a decade since the last India-Africa Forum Summit demonstrates a lack of continuous strategic dialogue, which weakens India’s leadership position on the continent. 
  • This strategic inertia reduces India’s ability to adapt to Africa’s rapidly evolving priorities and curtails the momentum of current cooperation efforts.
• Complex Security Landscape and Fragile Governance: Africa’s security environment is unstable, marked by multiple military coups and ongoing armed conflicts in countries like Ethiopia, Sudan, and the Central African Republic. 
  • Weak governance, insurgency, and rising radicalization hamper India’s ability to effectively engage in defense cooperation, peacekeeping, and counterterrorism efforts. 
  • The security challenges create an environment unfavorable for long-term investments and strategic partnerships.
• Structural Economic and Infrastructure Bottlenecks: Africa’s infrastructure remains a barrier to deepening trade and investment. 
  
  • The fragmented transport and logistics systems, a colonial legacy designed primarily for resource export, raise transaction costs and hinder intra-African trade crucial for building regional value chains. 
  • India-funded infrastructure projects in Africa frequently experience procedural bottlenecks, funding disbursement delays, and logistics difficulties, especially in remote or conflict-prone regions. 
  • Africa’s healthcare systems face severe resource limitations and fragmented regulatory regimes, creating challenges in medical cooperation. 
    • Though India has supplied vaccines and essential medicines to 32 African countries, expanding local production and equitable distribution is impeded by complex logistics and policy hurdles. 
• Financial Constraints and Global Systemic Biases: African economies face a worsening debt crisis, with debt-to-GDP ratios doubling from 30% to 60% in under a decade. 
  • This financial fragility, compounded by systemic biases in global financial institutions, restricts African countries’ fiscal space for development projects. 
  • While India has extended over $12 billion in concessional credit lines, these are insufficient to address Africa’s massive infrastructure and development financing needs, limiting strategic cooperation.
• Intense Multipolar Geopolitical Competition: India competes for influence with dominant players such as China, which has invested heavily through the Belt and Road Initiative and established its first overseas military base in Djibouti, alongside extensive aid and infrastructure projects. 
  • China follows a state-backed, State-Owned Enterprise (SOE)–led model that enables the rapid rollout of high-visibility mega-projects—such as ports, railways, and large power plants. This approach delivers scale, speed, and visible impact, often outpacing India’s more decentralized and commercially structured Line of Credit (LoC) model, which tends to be slower in execution.
  • Western countries maintain strong historical aid and security ties.  India’s more cautious diplomacy and slower trade footprint risk marginalisation in vital geopolitical and economic sectors.

What Key Measures can India Take to Deepen and Strengthen Its Bilateral Engagement with Africa?

• Institutionalize a Robust Multi-Stakeholder Strategic Dialogue: India should establish an annual India-Africa Strategic Partnership Forum involving governments, private sector players, academia, and civil society stakeholders to facilitate continuous, adaptive policy dialogues and joint agenda setting. 
  • This forum would ensure real-time coordination and responsive engagement on critical issues like food security, climate resilience, and digital transformation.
  • It would build on lessons from past India-Africa Forum Summits (IAFS) by emphasizing measurable outcomes, accountability, and a dedicated monitoring mechanism.
• Design Sector-Specific Roadmaps Aligned with African Priorities: India must co-develop detailed sectoral and country-specific roadmaps in consultation with African governments and Regional Economic Communities (RECs). 
  • These roadmaps should focus on infrastructure, agriculture, technology transfer, renewable energy, and capacity building, ensuring alignment with Africa’s Agenda 2063. 
  • Operationalizing the IAFS-III framework with clear timelines will enhance clarity, trust, and implementation efficiency.
• Expand Financial Cooperation through Innovative Mechanisms: Recognising Africa’s growing debt vulnerability, India should augment concessional credit lines, develop blended finance tools, and participate in multilateral debt relief efforts. 
  • India can explore development impact bonds and green financing partnerships to catalyze investments in climate-resilient infrastructure and social sectors, supporting Africa’s development while ensuring fiscal sustainability.
• Scale Capacity Building and Skill Development Programs: India should expand ITEC programs, scholarships, and vocational training centers across African nations.
  • Establishing regional centers of excellence in AI, biotechnology, and renewable energy will strengthen human capital development, youth employment, and innovation ecosystems aligned with Africa’s long-term needs.
• Modernize Trade and Payment Mechanisms: To significantly boost bilateral trade and reduce transaction costs, India must move beyond traditional dollar-based settlements and simplify trade logistics.
  • India should actively promote and expand the use of the Special Rupee Vostro Account (SRVA) mechanism with key African trading partners (like Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya) to facilitate bilateral trade settlements in Indian Rupees and local African currencies.
  • This measure reduces currency risk and dependence on the US dollar, making trade faster and cheaper for businesses in both regions, thereby creating a stronger economic anchor for the partnership.
• Deepen Digital Public Infrastructure Cooperation: India must leverage its expertise in digital public goods such as UPI, digital identity systems, and e-governance to support Africa’s digital transformation. 
  • Collaboration on digital health, financial inclusion, and e-education will reduce technology gaps and accelerate inclusive growth across the continent.
• Strengthen People-to-People and Cultural Ties: Enhancing educational exchanges, cultural diplomacy, and diaspora engagement will create strong social capital.
  • Expanding Indian cultural centers, offering more scholarships, and promoting cultural festivals can deepen long-term goodwill and cooperation beyond formal diplomacy.
• Enhance Maritime Security and Defense Partnerships: India should intensify cooperation on maritime domain awareness, joint military exercises, and anti-piracy operations to ensure stability in the Indian Ocean region. 
  • Developing military training hubs and defense production collaborations will support Africa’s regional security goals while advancing India’s strategic interests.

Conclusion: 

India-Africa relations epitomise a historic partnership built on shared values and mutual aspirations. As Dr. Shashi Tharoor eloquently stated at the UN, “India and Africa have traversed similar paths, sharing values and dreams of freedom and development.” To realise this vision, India must institutionalise strategic dialogues, align investments with African priorities, enhance capacity building, and foster enduring cultural and digital ties. Such a multidimensional approach will ensure a resilient, equitable partnership that advances sustainable development and global solidarity.