India-Africa relations evolved from historical trade and anti-colonialism to strategic partnership, focusing on economic engagement via India-Africa Forum Summits.
Africa is vital for India's geopolitical goals, defense, and securing critical minerals for green transition; India is Africa's third-largest trading partner and one of the top investors.
Emerging digital partnerships, capacity building, and non-prescriptive aid define current ties, though challenges like China's influence and project delays persist.
In Summary
Why in the news?
Prime Minister's visits to Namibia and Ghana, in July and Ethiopia in December 2025, focused the spotlight on India relations with countries of African region.
Key developments during the visits
PM was conferred with 'Great Honor Nishan of Ethiopia' country's highest honour during Addis Ababa visit.
India and Ethiopia elevated their bilateral ties to a Strategic Partnership.
MoUs for establishing a Data Centre at Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and for debt restructuring under the G20 Common Framework.
Evolution of India- Africa relationship
Maritime Commerce:The Periplus of Erythraean Sea, sailor's logbook written in the first century AD provides an early history as Indian merchants exported cloth, metal implements, etc. to Africa in exchange for gold, ivory, and other goods.
Cultural Links: By the 12th century, African communities (Siddis) migrated to India, serving as soldiers and sailors in Indian armies.
Satyagraha: Gandhi developed his principles of Satyagraha against racial discrimination, in Africa (1893-1914) which later inspired independence movements in both India and Africa.
Anti-Colonialism: Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru termed Africa a "sister continent" and linked India's freedom directly to Africa's liberation.
India played a leading role in Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to support African sovereignty during Cold War.
Institutionalizing Ties: Following India's economic liberalization in 1991, the relationship shifted from purely ideological solidarity to economic engagement. through the India-Africa Forum Summits (IAFS), initiating the first summit in 2008.
Significance of India-Africa relations
For India
Strategic and Geopolitical: Africa is natural partner of India in voicing the concerns of global south, advocating for reforms in multilateral institutions like UN and WTO, and promoting peace and security.
E.g., African Union's (AU) G20 membership, represents voice of global south.
Defence: Increasing their engagement through regional organizations like Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) and partaking in multinational maritime exercises like MILAN and Cutlass Express.
Indian Navy recently launched a large-scale multilateral maritime engagement exercise with African Countries, titled as Africa India Key Maritime Engagement (AIKEYME).
Economic: Africa offers a young, rapidly urbanising market and critical minerals (cobalt, manganese, rare earths) vital for India's manufacturing and green transition.
Africa accounts for 48.1% of cobalt and 47.7% of manganese reserves.
Energy Security: Africa has significant potential in renewable energy with 10 TW of solar capacity, 100 GW of wind capacity, and 15 GW of geothermal energy.
International Solar Alliance co-founded by India targets mini-grids and distributed solar in Africa through pilot projects and financing mechanisms (e.g., Global Solar Facility, STAR-C Initiative, Virtual Green Hydrogen Innovation Centre, etc.).
For Africa
Trade: India–Africa trade exceeded USD 100 billion in 2024–25. India is Africa's third-largest trading partner (after EU and China).
Trade Basket: Mainly includes mineral fuels, food products, pharmaceuticals, and so on from the Indian side and crude oil, diamonds, copper, etc., from the African side to India.
India is also one of the top five investors in Africa, reflecting deep economic links.
UN peace keeping operations (PKOs) in Africa: With 200,000 soldiers and police officers joining the blue helmets since independence, India is Africa's fourth-largest contributor of troops to PKO.
Diaspora: More than 3 million-strong Indian diaspora helping economic growth of Africa.
After abolition of slavery in 1830s, the British transported over a million Indians to Africa as indentured laborers to work on sugar plantations in Mauritius and Natal, and railway projects in East Africa creating strong diaspora.
Grassroots Empowerment: Initiatives like the "Solar Mamas" project train women from rural African communities as solar engineers in India.
Non-Prescriptive Aid: India's development cooperation is demand-driven and free of conditionalities, adhering to the "Kampala Principles" which state that engagement will be guided by African priorities.
Kampala Principles (2018) are 10 guiding principles outlined by Indian PM for India-Africa partnership, including developing together as equals, local partnerships, etc.
Military Training and Hardware: India provides cost-effective military hardware (interceptors, armored vehicles, helicopters) and training to African defense forces like Seychelles, Mauritius and Mozambique.
Emerging aspects of India-Africa relations: Digital partnership
Digital connectivity: Sharing of India Stack technologies with the African Nations to increase penetration and accessibility of by co-developing banking, e-commerce to rural populations.
E.g. India is assisting African nations in adopting digital-first financial models similar to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) such as the launch of UPI/ RuPay in Mauritius and Namibia.
Cyber security: India is strengthening cyber security cooperation with African nations, having signed MoUs with countries like Egypt and Morocco to share expertise on safeguarding digital infrastructure.
Telecommunications Infrastructure: Expanding undersea cable infrastructure and enhancing 4G and 5G coverage including projects like the 2Africa Pearls subsea cable system connecting India, Africa, and Europe.
Pan African e-Network (PAeN): Launched in 2004 which has significantly contributed to the advancement of tele-education and telemedicine in Africa.
Capacity Building: Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) and Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarships, along with e-VidyaBharati & e-ArogyaBharati (e-VBAB) tele-education/ tele-medicine network, provide capacity-building across several of African countries.
Governance Solutions: India offers technologies like DigiLocker to help African nations create e-governance platforms thereby streamlining service delivery.
E.g., Smart Zambia Initiative for collaborative digital governance.
Impediments in India- Africa relations
China factor: China's growing influence in Africa through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and investments poses a challenge to India's interests as it struggles to match the speed, scale, and deep-pockets of China.
Trade Concentration Risks: India's exports are heavily concentrated in a few large economies like South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, and Kenya, which account for almost half of the total exports to the continent.
Delays in project execution and delivery: Multiple India-funded infrastructure and capacity-building projects have faced delays due to procedural bottlenecks, funding disbursement issues, and logistical challenges in remote African regions.
Underrepresentation in Global Governance: African nations continue to lack permanent representation in the UN Security Council and other global decision-making forums.
Security and political instability: Political unrest, conflict, and terrorism in parts of Africa, especially the Sahel and Horn of Africa, raises safety concerns for Indian workers and investments.
Geopolitical and Strategic Paradoxes India's policy reveals a "strategic paradox" where altruistic rhetoric of South-South cooperation clashes with the pursuit of power maximization and resource extraction.
Indian initiatives for Africa
Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC):AAGC was established in 2017 by India and Japan to foster sustainable and inclusive development in Africa through enhanced connectivity and cooperation between Asia and Africa.
Duty-Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) scheme: India is the first developing country to provide non-reciprocal duty-free market access to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) through its DFTP scheme.
Pan African e-Network (PAeN): Launched in 2004 which has significantly contributed to the advancement of tele-education and telemedicine in Africa.
Indian Development and Economic Assistance Scheme (IDEAS): US$ 12 billion development assistance in the form of concessional Lines of Credit (LOCs) to 42 African countries.
"Techno-Economic Approach to Africa-India Movement" (TEAM-9): To partner with West African countries to improve healthcare, food security and telecommunication with a focus on technology.
Way forward
Economic Integration: Aligning India's trade strategy with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)by supporting Regional Value Chains.
Trade diversification: India must move beyond its traditional export markets (South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt) and diversify into other regions of Africa with target of doubling bilateral trade to USD 200 billion by 2030.
"Mineral-to-Market" Strategy: Where India invests in local beneficiation (processing) within Africa, rather than extracting raw ore allowing African nations to retain value while securing India's supply of refined inputs.
Regular Summits: The India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS), which has not been held since 2015 (with the 2020 summit postponed), needs to be convened regularly, ideally once every three years, to sustain momentum.
Triangular Cooperation: India should leverage partnerships with third parties like Japan (Asia-Africa Growth Corridor), and the UAE to pool resources for African projects, mitigating financial limitations compared to China.
Conclusion
India–Africa partnership is built on trust, capacity-building and shared development, fostering inclusive growth through South–South cooperation. As S. Jaishankar stated "Our partnership with Africa is beyond strategic concerns and economic benefits. It is based on the emotional bonds we share and the solidarity we feel."
