India unveils $5b credit to Africa

The Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh announced a fresh $5 billion line of credit to Africa over the next three years to meet its development goals, India’s official website says.

According to the website, Dr Singh who was addressing the plenary session of the Second India Africa Summit at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia on May 24, 2011, said an additional $700 million will be offered to establish new institutions and training programmes in consultation with the African Union (AU).

The Prime Minister said a number of infrastructural projects and capacity building programmes will kick start to help the people on the continent.

India will also support Africa’s educational sector which Dr Singh said. He revealed that an India- Africa Virtual university will be set up and 10,000 scholarships will be available for African students.

It also have plans to expand  the India-Africa Institute of Information Technology (IITA), known as the Kofi Annan ICT Centre in Ghana.

Two industrial clusters in food processing and textile will come up to ramp up the industrial sector in the region, the Prime Minister said.

To ensure peace and security in the region, India will contribute $2 million for the African union’s mission in Somalia, the India’s state official website said .

According to the BBC, India’s commerce with Africa is worth $40billion a year.

Last year, India’s imports from Africa were worth $20.7 billion, compared with $18.7 billion the previous year, and its exports stood at $10.3 billion the same year, the AFP newswire says.

The AFP noted that India’s investment in Africa is mainly in the private sector, notably in telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.

By Ekow Quandzie