Top Indian diplomat heads to Tanzania as New Delhi races Beijing to woo Africa
Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar embarked on a four-day official visit to Tanzania on Wednesday, as New Delhi steps up its efforts to build ties in Africa and match China’s influence in the continent.
Jaishankar’s visit will include a trip to Zanzibar, where a water supply project funded by India is being implemented. India’s top diplomat will then co-chair the 10th Joint Commission Meeting with his counterpart in Dar es Salaam, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press release.
During the visit, Jaishankar will meet with the members of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for India and inaugurate an India-Tanzania business meeting. He will also be addressing the Indian diaspora and inaugurating a bust of Hindu teacher Swami Vivekananda in Dar es Salaam, the MEA added.
In particular, New Delhi is increasing its efforts in the education sphere, with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) opening a campus in Zanzibar in October 2023. Named IIT Madras, the facility will be one of three overseas campuses of India’s leading tech school, with the other two being in Abu Dhabi and Kuala Lumpur.
Africa has become the second-largest recipient of credit from India as New Delhi looks to catch up with China in tapping the continent’s potential. Managing director of India’s Export Import Bank, Harsha Bangari, told Bloomberg that 42 African nations have received about $32 billion or 38% of all credit extended by India in the past 10 years – which is just a few percentage points below India’s neighbors.
Describing the bank as an instrument of India’s “economic diplomacy,” Bangari said New Delhi has opened up 195 project-based lines of credit worth about $12 billion across Africa – three times the number it has in its own region in the last decade.
China accounts for 12% of Africa’s $700 billion external debt. Beijing is the continent's largest trading partner and its fourth-biggest source of investment, according to official data. Bilateral trade between Beijing and the continent stood at $282 billion in 2022. In the first five months of this year, China’s total import and export volume with Africa reached $113.5 billion, up by over 16% year-on-year.
Bilateral trade between India and 48 African countries stood at $74.86 billion in 2021-22, witnessing growth of nearly 60% year-on-year, according to data from India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Speaking at an event in New Delhi last month, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said India and Africa can go beyond doubling bilateral trade to $200 billion by 2030, considering that the regions have a combined population of 3 billion which is rising steadily.
He also called for a deep study of bilateral trade relations, country by country, that can identify further opportunities for growth.
