India-Africa News and Discussion

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rsingh
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by rsingh »

You need a clear enemy...........not dogs behind the bushes. It is not question of balls.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by Keshav »

vavinash wrote:India does not have the balls to start a war when its parliament is attacked and you want them to start a war in africa??
One should not be so quick to vouch for war. That seems to be the problem with many short tempered on BR.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by Avinash R »

Insurgents seize port city in Somalia
13 Nov 2008
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Worl ... 705956.cms
Gerard
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by Gerard »

India virtually rules out sending more troops to Congo
After defence minister A K Antony recently expressed "serious concern'' over the developments in Congo, sources said his ministry has now told the external affairs ministry that there is no need to rush additional troops to Congo unless it is felt that it would "serve some major strategic or politico-economic interest'' of India.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by Philip »

It is past time for a concerted UN naval force to kick pirate ass in Somalian and African waters.The pirate attacks are becoming a joke right now,with this latest supertanker hijack!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/
Pirates seize giant oil tanker
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by Lalmohan »

Gerard wrote:India virtually rules out sending more troops to Congo
After defence minister A K Antony recently expressed "serious concern'' over the developments in Congo, sources said his ministry has now told the external affairs ministry that there is no need to rush additional troops to Congo unless it is felt that it would "serve some major strategic or politico-economic interest'' of India.
however the RM needs to ensure that Indian troops on the ground do not get overwhelmed by superior rebel numbers and weapons and are not hampered by ineffective UN rules of engagement
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by Gerard »

shaardula
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by shaardula »

No consensus on Africa unity plan

African leaders meeting in Ethiopia have failed to reach a consensus on a proposal by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for a United States of Africa.

Wouldn't this be a good thing and pull the african center of gravity more towards the equator and away from troubled waters of the north?

I thought it was cool that Gadaffi chose to look south instead of north, unlike Turkey which looks west.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by ashish raval »

On a strategic perspective, India needs to collaborate highly with Mauritius to develop sea-port in the region. It is essential for India's strategic defense needs in Indian ocean to counter any chinese influence.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by Pathma »

I don't know where else to put it, so it's here.

We are africans.


Common genetic traits - Aryan theory demolished
BY KUMAR CHELLAPPAN
CHENNAI

An international team of genetic scientists has ruled out the theory of Aryan invasion of the Indian sub-continent.

“The age old argument that there was an Aryan invasion of the sub-continent is simply bunkum.

Scientific studies prove that there is no such thing as Aryan Indian or Dravidian Indian. Genetic high resolution studies carried out by us prove that all Indians are derived from same grand grand parents who arrived here 60,000-70,000 years ago from Africa,” Dr Gyaneshwer Chaubey, a scientist of the team, told Deccan Chronicle.

Dr Chaubey, a member of the scientific community at the Institute of Molecular an d Cell Biology, University of Tartu, Estonia, said the research also proved that all Indians had common genetic traits irrespective of the regions to which they belonged.

“It took us four years to complete the study and we analysed 12,200 samples to reach this conclusion,” said Dr Chaubey.

“Genetic studies help us to establish relations between populations. We focussed on the paternal (Y chromosomes) and maternal DNA genealogies. The data which we generated does not support any major influx to the subcontinent other than the earlier arrival of migrants from Africa,” he said.

“The present day caste/creed/religion is of indigenous origin,” said Dr Chaubey.

http://www.dc-epaper.com/DC/DCC/2009/03 ... tml?Mode=0#
Gerard
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

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Author stumbles on G-Bissau drama
The writer was at pains to point out: "I can assure you I had nothing to do with the coup d'etat." Forsyth has previously admitted helping to finance a 1973 coup attempt in another West African state, Equatorial Guinea. Those events were the inspiration for his 1974 book The Dogs of War, which chronicles a failed plan by a group of European mercenaries to topple the government of a fictional African country.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by JaiS »

India to join Marine Highway project in Africa

http://www.ptinews.com/pti\ptisite.nsf/ ... enDocument
Ameet
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by Ameet »

PIO, Pravin Gordhan expected to be next South African finance minister

http://www.india-server.com/news/pravin ... -7058.html

Indian-origin Pravin Gordhan is expected to become the next finance minister of South Africa. According to a statement from African National Congress (ANC), the decision to appoint Gordhan as the finance minister will be made in early May, when ANC leader Jacob Zuma will hold the office of president. The ANC party and its allies have won the recently held presidential election in South Africa.

The appointment of Gordhan surfaced because the allies of ANC party, African Communist Party and the South African Congress of Trade Unions, demanded the removal of present finance minister Trevor Manuel. According to the treasurer of the ANC, Mathews Phoswa, the fate of the present finance minister will be decided within two weeks.


The 57-year-old revenue commissioner, Pravin Gordhan enjoys the credit of being one of the most successful government officials over the past 10 years. Gordhan was associated with currently disband Natal Indian Congress and other anti-apartheid organizations. The present South African finance minister, Trevor Manuel has often applauded Gordhan for his work in Revenue Services.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by Gerard »

Nigeria: Indeed, Incredible India
It was obvious that the trip was intended to create a particular image of India in African minds; an image of an emergent global super-power that African countries cannot afford to ignore and we are the vehicles through which this all-important message is to be conveyed.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by Gerard »

India to take part in Egypt NAM summit
MoS External Affairs Shashi Tharoor will be handling the Gulf countries, which has a large Indian expatriate population. Tharoor also gets to handle the divisions of West Asia and North Africa; Latin America and the Caribbean; East and Southern Africa; West Africa; consular, passport and visa; Special Kuwait cell; and policy planning and research.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by putnanja »

Gerard wrote:India to take part in Egypt NAM summit
MoS External Affairs Shashi Tharoor will be handling the Gulf countries, which has a large Indian expatriate population. Tharoor also gets to handle the divisions of West Asia and North Africa; Latin America and the Caribbean; East and Southern Africa; West Africa; consular, passport and visa; Special Kuwait cell; and policy planning and research.
So he gets charge of North Africa, East and Southern Africa, and West Africa. Is there any part of Africa remaining :D
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by AnimeshP »

RaviBg wrote: So he gets charge of North Africa, East and Southern Africa, and West Africa. Is there any part of Africa remaining :D
Central ... :rotfl:
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by ramana »

From the Telegraph op-ed on South Africa's new President Jacob Zuma.
STAGGERINGLY IGNORANT OR UNUSUALLY SMART?
Can a new president with half-a-dozen first ladies and a dubious past revive South Africa’s political future? asks Jyotirmoy Pal Chaudhuri


Charismatic and canny

On Saturday, May 9, Jacob Zuma, the president of South Africa’s largest political party, the African National Congress, was sworn in as the president of Africa’s most significant and powerful state. In an election held towards the end of 2007, Thabo Mbeki, the then president of South Africa and of the ANC, lost to Zuma in the ANC presidential elections. In accordance with ANC tradition, the president of the party also becomes the president of the country. Zuma’s assumption of power, therefore, would correct the aberration.

This was made possible because in South Africa’s fourth general elections, held on April 22, ANC won 264 seats in the 400-member national assembly. The party secured about 66 per cent of the votes cast. Twelve more parties were in the fray. The Democratic Alliance and Congress of the People (Cope) were two other parties of any significance. The DA, a party of liberal whites headed by the feisty leader, Hellen Zille, a former anti-apartheid campaigner, got about 17 per cent of the votes and Cope, a new party set up by ANC rebels after the ouster of Mbeki, secured little over 7 per cent of the popular votes. Because of the system of proportional representation, DA and Cope have 67 and 30 seats respectively in the legislative assembly.

Zuma’s parents were Zulu peasants. He herded his grandfather’s goats when other children, coming from more affluent families, went to school. He joined the ANC in his mid-teens. From then, until he was 50, he devoted his life to the liberation struggle; first as a prisoner on Robben Island for 10 years with Nelson Mandela, then as an activist in the armed underground, and finally as ANC’s head of intelligence. When the white minority rule ended in 1994, Zuma became the minister for economic affairs and tourism in his native Kwazulu-Natal. He worked as a minister till 1999, when he was made the vice-president of ANC, a position he held for about 10 years.

According to former cellmates at Robben Island, when Zuma first came to prison, he could speak only Zulu. By the time he left Robben Island, he was reading the English versions of Leo Tolstoy’s novels. With no formal education, flamboyant polygamy, numerous children, silk ties, lavish lifestyle, luxury homes and expensive cars, Jacob Zuma remains an enigma. Now Zuma is 67, and recently he married his sixth wife — a wife 30 years his junior. South Africa now becomes the only country in the world with half-a-dozen first ladies.

These, however, can be dismissed as trivial personal matters. But there are quite a few other issues pertaining to the new president of South Africa which cannot be ignored at all. Zuma was accused of accepting more than 4 million rand ($5,96,000) between 1995 and 2005 from his friend and former financial advisor, Schabir Shaik, in exchange for using his influence to help secure government contracts for Shaik’s companies. Sentencing Shaik to 15 years imprisonment in 2005, the presiding judge said that the payments to Zuma “can only have generated a sense of obligation in the recipient”. Zuma denied any wrong-doing, and both men maintain that the money was intended as a loan, part of which Zuma has already repaid.

A month ago, the supposedly independent National Prosecution Authority announced that it was withdrawing all charges of corruption, racketeering, tax evasion, money laundering and fraud against Zuma. Immediately after that Shaik was released from jail on ‘medical-parole’ after serving two years and four months of his 15-year sentence. Zuma made a public announcement stating that if elected president, he would consider granting a ‘pardon’ to Shaik. Not a bright picture at all.

But Zuma has his bright side as well. He is undoubtedly a man of remarkable qualities. He connects easily with black slum-dwellers and white tycoons alike. He is charismatic and canny. He has been a wily negotiator who majesterially ended the strife between his fellow Zulus in early post-apartheid era. Zuma is a good listener and a skilled conciliator. He works hard and has impressive energy for a man of his age. After the heroic, aristocratic Mandela and the aloof, technocratic Mbeki, South Africans seem to be ready to welcome a man of the people as the president. Zuma can charm the birds out of the trees.

But the question is: can Zuma take South Africa out of the mess it is now in? With vast mineral resources, well-run industries and excellent infrastructure, South Africa is the biggest African economy. But it is sinking into recession after 16 years of expansion. Business confidence is low, and after growth averaging around 5 per cent a year between 2004 and 2007, the economy is expected to contract by around 0.8 per cent this year. Mining and manufacturing have been hard hit; so have been export and retail trade. Preparations for next year’s football World Cup, which South Africa is hosting, and a stimulus package of 690 billion rand over the next three years have not succeeded in preventing job- cuts and increase in poverty. South African cities have high rates in all sorts of crimes — murder, mugging, rape, and so on. The country has a population of over 47 million, of whom a staggering 5.7 million are AIDS victims. Unemployment is over 20 per cent and rising.

The ANC government under Mandela and Mbeki has set up a broad-based welfare state which provides cash benefits to 12.5 million people. To help people get out of the squalid shanty towns, it has built 2.7 million low-cost homes, housing around 10 million people. Some 80 per cent of all households are now connected to electricity and clean water. More than half of the state schools no longer charge fees. A large number of free health-clinics have been set up. Some 60 per cent of the AIDS-infected are receiving antiretrovirals. South Africans, especially poor black South Africans, have got used to seeing the government perform. The economic downturn will cripple the new incumbent. For sheer economic reasons, it will be virtually impossible for him to match the track record of his predecessors.

However, this is not the only challenge Zuma will face. With a huge cloud of scandal hovering over him, Zuma faces a serious credibility crisis. In 1998, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission accused the ANC in the 1970s and 1980s of “gross violation of human rights” and routine use of torture for extracting information. Zuma was the head of ANC intelligence at that time. He loathes the press, which, in his opinion, has started a “vicious media campaign designed to find me guilty in the court of public opinion”. Zuma wants to review the status of the constitutional court, which has spoken against him several times. “I do not think we should have people who are almost like god in a democracy”. Zuma expresses his strong dislike of the authority and power that the constitutional court enjoys. Many are convinced that it is because of the behind-the-scene machination and manipulation of Zuma that the NPA was forced to drop the case against him. They are also sure that the day when the new president grants pardon to his benefactor, Shaik, is not far off.

These problems are unlikely to intimidate Zuma. His support base is vast and very effective. His victory over Mbeki in the ANC presidential elections was stunning. Zuma has total control over the Congress of South African Trade Union (Cosatu), the country’s largest trade-union federation, and is very close to the communists — the two partners of the ANC in the tripartite alliance to run the government. Julius Malema, the undisputed leader of the powerful Youth League, is one of Zuma’s staunchest supporters. In fact, Malema is known as the powerful ‘bullyboy’ who does all the dirty work for Zuma. With the support of the ANC, Cosatu and the Youth League, Zuma faces no serious threat to his authority.

There is no reason to believe that in the near future the DA and Cope will be able to expand their support base and be strong enough to challenge the ANC or Zuma. On the contrary, Zuma, with his unscrupulous political style, may succeed in making inroads into these parties, and weaken them. “It is cold out there if you are out of the ANC”, he warned them. “Very cold”.

In Black Orpheus, Jean-Paul Sartre asked, “What do you expect to find when the muzzle that has silenced the voice of blackman is removed? That they would thunder your praise?” The non-whites of South Africa were subjected to the ugliest form of social and economic discrimination in the most pervert political system installed by the white minority. The muzzle was finally removed when Mandela was elected the president of South Africa in 1994. Belying Sartre’s apprehensions, under Mandela’s most dignified and majestic leadership, South Africa had an unbelievably smooth, bloodless transition. There was no political reprisal, no act of collective vengeance, no vendetta. The whole world adored Mandela for his magnanimity, statesmanship and vision. Mbeki did all he possibly could to retain the image his illustrious predecessors had projected. Can Jacob Zuma match it? Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the winner of Nobel Prize for Peace, is not very sure. “We have let down our guard and quickly forgotten the struggles of our past…. Please allow us old people to go to the grave smiling, not with our hearts broken”.

Some years ago, Jacob Zuma was tried on a rape charge. The female involved belonged to an HIV-infected family. When asked about the danger of HIV infection, Zuma explained that after having sex he had showered to stave off the disease. Staggering ignorance or extraordinary smartness! The world would soon find out.



The author is former professor and head, department of history,
University of Liberia, Monrovia, West Africa
I think the writer is showing her angst because Zuma doesnt belong to the sophisticated in crowd. And criticising him even before he can take charge? Wonder whats her agende and connection to South Africa? To me it lokks like the South Africans have elected a self educated native and thats causing anxiety that he might go tribal.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by ramana »

X-posted...
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by SwamyG »

India: A Developing Country With Great Expertise In IT
This is a feel-good article, So I post in full. All credits to the owners of the content: Daily Graphic and Modern Ghana
India, a developing and incredible country is known for its ancient monuments and unlimited natural resources. The rivers, mountains and vegetation and its exotic spices, make the country wonderful.

It covers an area of 3,287,263 square kilometre with its political capital as New Delhi and Mumbai formally known as Bombay the economic capital.

It is the second largest populated country in the world after China with a total population of 1.2 billion. India, a land of diverse culture and religion shows unity in diversity.

This country which has its roots deep in the past also has its long branches in the future and one needs to know more about India, especially in its recent developmental status on the globe and learn from it.

India’s economy has been ascending for the past two decades with drastic increase in foreign exchange reserves. Globally, India is recognised for its success in managerial and entrepreneurial talents as well as technological competence.

The country has really contributed immensely in various disciplines to make the advanced countries what they are today. Yet, India is termed a developing country. In my opinion, this is due to the population density but I hope with good policies in place, India will become a developed nation by 2020.

The face of India's undying commitment to South-South co-operation, the Indian Technical and Economic Co-operation (ITEC) programme and its corollary SCAAP has disseminated expertise and the country's developmental experience acquired over six decades of existence as a free nation to generations of students from 156 countries in Asia, East Europe, Central Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation, popularly known as 'ITEC', was launched in 1964 as a bilateral programme of assistance of the Indian Government. The ITEC programme, including its corollary SCAAP (Special Commonwealth Assistance for Africa Programme), has expanded to include some 220 courses ranging from Journalism, IT, Rural Electrification, Textile Designing to Commerce and Science.

Most of these courses that students pursue under the ITEC/SCAAP programme are of short-duration lasting between three and 12 weeks.

The rationale behind imparting technical training to young men and women from developing countries is based on India's strengths and expertise in different sectors of the knowledge economy.

India is not a rich country and cannot offer grants-in-aid to match those of the developed countries. It does, however, possess skills of manpower and technology more appropriate to the geographical and ecological conditions and the stage of technological development of several developing countries and empowering them with life-sustaining skills.

The ITEC programme also gives students from different countries a taste of multiculturalism and pluralistic secular ethos of India.

Each year, India spends about Rs.500 million ($10.8 million) on ITEC activities and over 35,000 candidates from across the globe have been trained since its inception.

Since 1964, India has provided nearly $2.5 billion worth of technical assistance to developing countries, including neighbouring countries (assistance to whom is administered separately).

Last year, 80 Ghanaians were given the chance to participate in the ITEC/SCAAP and over the years, the number of slots for Ghana and other eligible countries have increased .

Participants are given well-furnished, well-equipped, air-conditioned residential facilities as well as a monthly allowance of Rs. 10,000 which is about $250. Participants are also provided with economy class tickets from the Indian Mission of their respective countries.

India has a rich cultural heritage and the ITEC/SCAAP participants have the opportunity to visit the world’s renowned monuments and heritage structures in the cities of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.

In Delhi, the participants normally visit monuments like the Red Fort, India Gate, Lotus Temple, Humayun’s Tomb, Akshardham Temple, Qutab Minar and the Raj Ghat.

In Agra, the participants get to see the glorious Taj Mahal, Sikandra and Agra Fort. The Pink City of Jaipur houses monuments and architectural wonders such as Hawa Mahal, Amber Fort, Jantar Mantar, Maharaja Palace, Birla Mandir and Albert Hall.

Today, Afro-Asian Rural Reconstruction Organisation (AARRO) and the G-15 are being helped by ITEC with training and project support and a small beginning has also been made with cooperation with the SADC (Southern African Development Community).

Project assistance like training accounts for 40 per cent of the annual ITEC budget. India has financed an entire range of infrastructure-related projects across Asia, Africa and Latin America and in recent years in the Central Asian Republics (CARs).

Thanks to ITEC, Cuba and Costa Rica have got solar energy plants. Other key projects executed under the ITEC programme included computerisation of the office of the Prime Minister of Senegal, assistance in the transformation of the educational system of South Africa and fitting of artificial limbs in Cambodia and Uzbekistan

Agriculture, however, remains a major focus of ITEC's project assistance. The programme has provided Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali and Surinam with equipment and expertise for agricultural use and generated tremendous goodwill among African countries.

Vocational training in small-scale industry and entrepreneurship development are important areas of co-operation with Senegal, Zimbabwe, Vietnam and Mongolia under ITEC. Such training enables young people to gain useful employment at comparatively low levels of capital intensity.

It is not just students from foreign countries that have benefited from ITEC programmes, but several public sector undertaking have acquired a distinctive niche in developing countries, especially in Africa.

The National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), Hindustan Machine Tools International Limited HMT (I), Water and Power Consultancy Services Limited (WAPCOS), Rail India Technical & Economic Services (RITES) and Central Economic Limited (CEL) have capitalised on their ITEC association and are now bidding for development projects in these countries on their own.

The ITEC division of the External Affairs Ministry also takes up feasibility studies and consultancy services on request. Results of these studies are handed over to the governments concerned, who are at liberty to use them in the manner they like.

Not surprisingly, the ITEC programme that encompasses an eclectic range of activities ranging from building and manning of a hospital in Afghanistan, restoration of the Angkor Vat temple in Cambodia, to sharing experience in dry-farming technique with Iraq and teaching Vietnamese students to converse in English, has created huge reservoirs of goodwill the world over.

Networking and bonding is incredible among students. Many of them have tears in their eyes when the course ends and most of them retain their bonds forged during this short programme.

With India emerging as a potential global power, its knowledge economy that is epitomised in the ITEC programme will shine as an example of the country's ethos of creating a more equitable world based on a transfer of technology and skills from the powerful to those who are still struggling to find their voice.
Go soft power !!!!
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by SwamyG »

India Yes Bank sees 1st Africa farm project start 2011
India's Yes Bank expects a $150 million Tanzanian rice and wheat project to reach full production by 2011, the first of several large African farms it is funding, a senior bank official said on Monday. Listed on the Bombay stock exchange, the bank is providing finance to Indian companies eager to invest in farming projects in the world's poorest continent.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by arun »

X Posted:
India’s ‘boycott’ costs Denel

Mpumelelo Mkhabela
Published:Jun 20, 2009

Arms parastatal says relations frosty since questions arose over procedure during contract procurement

South Africa’s state-owned arms manufacturer, Denel, has lost R2-billion in revenue after it was “blacklisted” from selling weapons to India. The company plans to seek diplomatic assistance from the SA government to recapture the Indian market.

On Wednesday, the para-statal’s group executive for business development, Zwelakhe Ntshepe, told the parliamentary portfolio committee on public enterprises: “We have been blacklisted, not officially, but the behaviour shows. They don’t invite us to tender, they cancel existing contracts. It’s been going on for the past four years.”

Denel has not received invitations to tender for any Indian government armament contracts since 2005, after allegations surfaced that it had earlier paid “commissions” for a deal to supply rifles………………..........

The Times, South Africa
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by ramana »

One of the grand strategy projects should be an African Union initially comprised of Anglophone states and then with the Francopone states. This current small states lead to fractured society and reduced gravitas for Africa in world trade and politics.

A EU type of setup or SAARC type network are good models to begin with.

Can interested people sum up the economies of such an initial setup and we can wrtie an article on that?
ramana
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by ramana »

shravan wrote:Manmohan Singh reminds the world not to forget Africa in the race for development
.
.
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Nowhere are the challenges that humankind faces more pressing than in the continent of Africa. NAM should work to give Africa’s problems and equally its prospects, preeminence in the global development agenda.”Many African nations have looked upon India to voice their concerns in the global polity, and the Non-Aligned Nations platform has been one such forum.

“Making Africa an active participant in global economic processes is a moral imperative”, he said. And like a marketing guru, throwing a bait, he added: “It also makes good economic sense.” Dr. Singh also spoke about India’s role in furthering the African continent’s concerns about being neglected by International bodies.

He said: “India is committed to develop a comprehensive partnership with Africa. As a first step, we held the first India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi in 2008. We are ready to work with other NAM countries to enhance our partnership in areas that are of priority to Africa.”

RamaY can you do a radar plot on basis of my above post.
One of the grand strategy projects should be an African Union initially comprised of Anglophone states and then with the Francopone states. This current small states lead to fractured society and reduced gravitas for Africa in world trade and politics.

A EU type of setup or SAARC type network are good models to begin with.

Can interested people sum up the economies of such an initial setup and we can wrtie an article on that?
RamaY
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by RamaY »

^^^ Ramanaji,

I have the data. What do you want to see on the map?

I think Population, Natural Resources, Water, GDP (Per Capita?), Poverty, Education, Gini Index could be a good start.

But I think it will be more useful if I can get some trade data between India (and China for comparison?) and African Nations. Let me dig for it.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by RamaY »

I think India can help Africa in terms of barter trade, with minimum financial imputs ($1-2B a year) -

1. Raw-materials Vs food grains (for short term)
2. Trade Vs Education
3. Health Care
4. E-Governance

For example:
1. Setup 2-3 IIT type institutions (1-2000 crore rupees)
2. Setup 2-3 Medical colleges + large medical centers (1-2000 core rupees)
3. Seutp 1st level industry - such as steel/cement/fertilizer/solar+hydel projects. These industries offer good employment. Indian companies own 25-50% of equity. 25% equity goes to the African govts. remaining equity goes to African employees.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by RamaY »

deleted...
Last edited by RamaY on 17 Jul 2009 04:10, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by ramana »

Thanks we dont need UK and France in that formualtion. Can you total the two phone Africas as another line.

And where would the total be alongside G8?
RamaY
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by RamaY »

Observe the RIGHT and LEFT hemispheres.

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ramana
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by ramana »

X-posted...
John Snow wrote:
But India being a moral super power vision, being nice to pakistan even if they have evil intentions were cornerstones of Gandhiji and his approach towards partition and pakistan. He lived by that ideology and died for it. You may not agree with that vision or with Gandhiji. MMS probably does.

Folks I just returned to Massa land after 5 weeks of touring SA, Zimbabwae, Mozambique, Namibia, Kenya.

I want admins persmission to post a comprehensive report covering Political, Cultural, strategic, economic and geo political goings in the Southern African continent part . A continent rich with resources and thanks to Indian diaspora who have been there since 1800s where India does resonate in a positive way still.

Now this picture from Kwazulu Natal province where Gandhiji started his mission to uplift the down trodden.
His original ashram was burnt down during 1984 roits and was reconstructed by her grand daughter (i am told).

Note on the left bottom of the picture ADT 24 hour Armed response, this is how Ahimsa is to be protetcted.

Please dont compare the pigmies like MMS SG and Co to the giant called Mahatama. I have been humbled with what I have seen and read and been told. I have lots of pictures of everything.


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*******
SwamyG garu
All the pictures are with Minolta Dynax 7 Digital SLR. onlee 6 Meg Pixels :(

This one was with 70-300 zoom lens on the Minolta camera made by Quantray (Ritz Camera folks get it manufactured by Sigma I am told)

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Spinster you can use this thread...
Gerard
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by Gerard »

Namibia: Country Joins Fibre-Optic Connection
The project will connect two universities in India and five in Africa to 53 learning centres as well as between ten specialty hospitals (three in India and seven in Africa) and 53 remote hospitals.

It will establish VVIP connectivity between 53 African Heads of State for voice, Internet and video-conferencing, as well as continental and national tele-medicine and tele-education infrastructure.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by vera_k »

India joins 'neocolonial' rush for Africa's land and labour
Indian farming companies have bought hundreds of thousands of hectares in Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Senegal and Mozambique, where they are growing rice, sugar cane, maize and lentils for their own domestic market back in India.
More than 80 Indian companies have invested an estimated £1.5 billion in buying huge plantations in Ethiopia. The largest among them is Karuturi Global, one of the world's largest producers of cut roses. It has signed deals for just under 350,000 hectares to create what it claims is the world's largest agricultural land-bank.
Gerard
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by Gerard »

Presumably all those white farmers in Zimbabwe and Kenya growing food for export were not neo-colonial.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by Ameet »

India China battle it out over Africa

http://www.forbesindiamagazine.com/latest.php

Prejudice dies hard. In 1972, Manubhai Madhvani was arrested in Uganda for being of Indian origin and jailed in a dungeon nicknamed the "Singapore Block".

Dictator Idi Amin snatched all his wealth and expelled him from the country. To this day, the 79-year-old businessman counts himself lucky for not having been killed then.

It is events like this — and the all-too-familiar images of disease, poverty and squalor — that have shaped the stereotype of Africa in the minds of Indians. Somehow, we may have been a bit late to note when the continent began to change for the better.

In fact, Madhvani returned to Uganda in 1985 and rebuilt his family business in sugar and hospitality to a $200 million empire. Uganda, and many other African countries, reformed their economies and opened up to foreign investment.

But before we responded to the new Africa, someone else did. In a well-planned and executed strategy, China has been thrusting itself in all spheres of economic activity in the continent.

The Chinese "invasion" of Africa is veritably the biggest state-run investment in the last decade. They are everywhere. State-run Chinese firms are building bridges, roads, telecom networks, airports, and generally boosting the infrastructure all around. In return, they are getting access to natural resources.

China is now Africa’s biggest trading partner, ahead of the US. More than a million Chinese workers are now based there. After the European colonists left Africa, the Chinese have been dubbed the "neo-colonists".


But recently, a new picture is emerging in our image of Africa. And happily, its tone is Indian. Unlike China’s push driven by its government, the Indian march to Africa has been led by the private sector.

After proving themselves in fields as varied as automobiles, telecom and education in recent years, Indian businesses are gradually upping the ante.

Big ticket investments and acquisitions are emerging. In other words, Africa has become the new frontier for Indian companies to break into.


Steadily, the profile and the scale of Indian investments in Africa is going up.

In early August, the Essar group bought a refinery in Mombasa, Kenya. Essar is no stranger there. Its $450 million investment in the country’s mobile telephony market is yielding results — Essar’s brand ‘Yu’ has 400,000 subscribers.

There’s considerable excitement around Bharti group’s on-going talks for a merger with MTN, Africa’s biggest telecom company, which could create the world’s third largest telecom company.

NIIT has grown to be one of the continent’s biggest firms in information technology training, having taught 150,000 students across 55 centres.

The Tata group, the Mahindras and Ashok Leyland have been selling vehicles for more than five years now with increasing success. Indica cars are a common sight in Johannesburg. Sales have moved up from 5,000 to 20,000 a year.

Consumer products company Marico is already in Egypt and South Africa through a carefully orchestrated strategy of buying out local hair care brands. This is just a snapshot of the 42-odd frontline firms from India that have answered the call to Africa.


Why Africa

What have all these companies sensed in the form of the African opportunity? When asked why Africa, Raman Dhawan, managing director of Tata Africa Holdings, asks why not.

"We are expecting Africa to grow substantially over the next two decades. We are here like any other international company. We are no different from the rest of the world.

They are looking at growth here, so why shouldn’t we? If you can be a good international company, you will find growth in Africa."

After decades of living on the fringes when the West dominated and Asia rose, the African continent is finally coming on its own.

"Since the early 1990s, African countries went through serious structural reforms, improvement of economic management, incentives to develop the private sector, important changes in governance legislation in doing business," says Jose Gijon, head of Africa and Middle East desk, OECD Development Centre.

One slice of the opportunity is a middle class numbering anywhere between 350 million and 500 million, larger than India’s. And per capita income is growing.

The continent clocked an impressive growth rate of 5.2 per cent in 2008. Of course, with recession and a crash in commodity prices, the growth may taper to 2 per cent.

But its trade links with China and India hold out hope that it could recover in tandem with these countries, says a recent article in the Harvard Business Review (HBR).

Besides, as Professor Vijay Mahajan of McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin and author of the book Africa Rising says, "When you look at (opportunities in) the world, and take out India and China, so where do you go next? The logical answer is Africa."

But it isn’t as if the risks have disappeared. In fact, sudden regime changes, violence and logistical nightmares continue to slow down businesses. But for the most part, it remains a high-risk, high return game.

"In Africa, any country depends on the leadership of the right person. Uganda, for instance, is becoming more open to foreign investment due to President Musevani who is all for an open economy and free trade," says Madhvani.

Today, the global economic crisis has opened up newer opportunities for Asian investors.

"Several big projects in Africa are on hold. Western investors are losing interest in some places," says Andrew Mold, senior economist and head of the Finance for Development Unit, OECD Development Centre. The Chinese and now, the Indian investors, are filling in that breach.

The one advantage Indians can push home is the presence of the diaspora. The ties are age-old. Madhvani’s family migrated to Uganda in 1893. There are several other business families — from the Mehtas to the ComCraft Group — that are particularly active in East Africa.

Keeping Up with the Chinese

As in everything else, the Chinese are playing a game of scale in Africa. The Indian surge may not yet match that.

While India put in $2 billion in the continent last year, the Chinese committed investments of about $8 billion dollars in 2009, according to the HBR article.

"For one, almost all of China’s investments tend to be state-led, while India’s investment is private," says Mold. Chinese leaders are also engaging with their African counterparts much more than the Indians do.

Indian businessmen agree that reducing the gap with the Chinese will be tough.

"We are nearly five to seven years late," admits Prashant Ruia, group CEO of Essar. Competing with the Chinese is impossible, to be honest. They are building roads, airports and projects as a grant. They are taking a 20 year investment risk — something private companies like us cannot do. We do not have the kind of backing that the Chinese have, they are present on a much larger scale too. They have had a head start and have been there for the past 10 years," adds Ruia.


This state-driven strategy to give infrastructure and take natural resources is the hallmark of China’s African policy. Take the $9-billion deal it struck in Congo.

China will build roads, rail networks, hospitals and schools in return for access to cobalt and copper. (It’s a different matter that the IMF has raised a red flag over Congo’s indebtedness from this deal and threatened to cancel its debt relief to that country.)

Indian businesses that have made a beachhead in South Africa and to an extent Nigeria, are still coming to grips with the rest of Africa. Indians are much more comfortable in the English speaking countries.

They have not yet fully ventured in the French or Portuguese speaking areas.

"But the Chinese do go everywhere – they don’t speak English. Yet they do business everywhere," says Somdeep Banerjee, head of Tata Steel KZN.


Apart from the first wave of companies, much of corporate India is still Africa-shy. The problem is of perceptions, and of lack of information," says Navdeep Suri, Indian consul-general in Johannesburg. "There’s a lot of opportunity, and we have nothing to fear but our ignorance."

It’s not that China’s progress has been without any problems. For instance, in Congo valley, Chinese state-run enterprises had reneged on significant deals to source copper from the mines in Kantago district, after their prices fell.

China has been accused of propping up dictatorships and other repressive regimes with direct military aid and favours.

That has generated considerable ill-will and wariness towards China across Africa. Already, China’s growing presence in Zambia has met with internal resistance.


India is doing better.

"The Indian companies here, from Tata to Mahindra & Mahindra, are doing a phenomenally good job," says Martyn Davies, CEO of South African research group Frontier Advisory and director of the Asia Business Centre at the Gordon Institute of Business Science in Johannesburg.

"They are extremely well accepted in South Africa, running very, very good business. And this is FDI that is welcomed by almost all African countries."

It’s the same story with Indian managers, who are usually at ease with Africans in those clubs where local managers hang out. Indian managers talk to local African managers in ways the Chinese never do.

Rules of the Game

More than a century ago, Mohandas Gandhi find his calling there and today, many Indian companies find South Africa the perfect gateway to the rest of the continent. The Tatas are present in 11 countries, but the biggest presence is in South Africa.

The Tatas plan a presence in all of Africa, and with all of Tata. Tata investments in Africa are closing in on the half billion dollar mark. The Tatas plan on taking that close to a billion dollars over the next few years, basing themselves in South Africa.

"We do feel that the benchmark will be South Africa for the whole of Africa," says Dhawan. "We can reach the continent much better if we are established in South Africa."

Tatas are also learning the rules of the game along the way. Banerjee of Tata Steel KZN, while trying to set up a ferrochrome plant, realised that environment is a big concern in South Africa, unlike other countries.

The company had to wait for three years to get environmental clearance. Tatas won’t miss this nuance again, he says.

There are other nuances that Indian companies must understand. "In South Africa if you want to expand and do well, you need to have ‘empowerment partners’. The government is ensuring that there are reservations and the black community get jobs now. In mineral resources development… they have to have an equity stake in your business. This might become a norm in manufacturing as well. We have known this for a long time. Zimbabwe and Namibia also have similar laws,"

says Banerjee.

Venturing into a new country requires local knowledge. And NIIT chose to work with local partners in all the eight countries that it operates in.

"This way we will have more access points — somebody who has been in the country, knows the job and skills requirements, and also knows the student’s capabilities," says G. Raghavan, president of global individual learnings solutions at NIIT.

Rather than run smack into Chinese competition in Africa, one tactic to tap Africa is to go to countries where China isn’t as active. That’s what the Essar group did. It focussed on East Africa. It figured that the region was largely English speaking and had lower political risks.

Yet even that proved to be a tough ask. It took Essar Oil nearly two and a half years to negotiate and get a 50 per cent stake in the Mombasa refinery where a set of investors led by Shell were offloading (the other half was owned by the Kenyan government).

In the middle of its negotiations with Kenya, Essar discovered an MoU between the Kenyan and Libyan governments that called for preference to Libyan companies. When the Libyans made an offer for the same stake, Essar was almost out of the reckoning. Essar even tried for a deal with the Libyans but did not succeed.

Only when the Libyans eventually pulled out for their own reasons, did Essar get back in the reckoning. "The feeling was earlier that the Indians have come as opportunists, to take away resources. The Kenyan government had to be convinced that we aren’t traders, but long-term investors," says a senior executive with knowledge of the talks.

The Healing Opportunity

A bigger Indian presence is in the Africa no one wants to know, the Africa one dreads.

The scourge of HIV is widespread and it is the cheap antiretroviral drugs from Indian companies that are the mainstay of treatment in most parts.


"Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 10 per cent of the world population but has 75 per cent of the HIV burden," says Skhumbuzo Ngozwana, chairman of South Africa’s National Association of Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers.

The number of people in need of immediate treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa is four million, he says.

While Indian generic drugs are far cheaper than their branded counterparts, many African countries still don’t find them affordable enough. South Africa is rolling out a $500 million plan to provide antiretrovirals to everyone who needs it. Such plans depend on international aid.

And that means business for Indian companies of the likes of Cipla, Ranbaxy, Aurobindo and Dr Reddy’s.

The companies need approval principally by the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) or the World Health Organization (WHO). And that comes with its own challenges. Ranbaxy is fighting FDA charges that it falsified vital data.

Aurobindo has gone to court in South Africa over a contract given to another firm when it had offered the lower tender. And many Indian companies have had to fight allegations over sub-standard medicine.

"India is probably where Japan was in the 1960s and 70s, trying to establish itself in the global marketplace," says Vikash Salig, South Africa CEO at Dr. Reddy’s Labs (Pty) Ltd.

"And sadly one of the strategies that we find emanates from vested interests and to some extent from innovator companies is to place concern around quality, safety and efficacy of generic products. And given the momentum India has created, they seem to be facing the brunt of it."

Indian companies produce precisely what Africa needs. "The generic penetration in South Africa is far, far too low," says Salig. "The cost of private healthcare is increasing at a rate that is becoming more and more unaffordable. India offers a wonderful base of high quality low-cost manufacturing operations. The ability to collaborate with a powerhouse like India can only help us in South Africa."

Despite the controversies, Indian companies have managed to build trust in the market.

"If you look at the whole of Indian pharma, the Ciplas of this world, Aurobindo, Matrix, they supply a lot of the treatment programmes on the continent. There is a growing acceptance that drugs from India are of very good quality, they are efficacious, they are safe, and of course they are affordable," says Ngozwana.

Harry Broadman, managing director of Albright Stonebridge Group and the author of Africa’s Silk Road reckons the way India invests in Sub-Saharan Africa is the same as its approach in other parts of the world.

"India’s engagement in Africa is not a political engagement but there’s a role to be played in trade, investment and finance. India’s comparative advantage in Sub-Saharan Africa has been very under-stated. Many people have focussed excessively on China," he says.

Two different countries, two different strategies. One is trying to impress with state-sponsored might, giving away goodies and walking away with plum deals.

The other is sending its private citizens to build trust, radiate through the people and build long-lasting businesses. The battle is intense, the stakes high.
The result is in the hands of the African people. At last, power to Africa.
ramana
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by ramana »

Slate magazine article on Untapped: The scramble of Africa's oil

There is a book by same name.
Malayappan
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by Malayappan »

Cross posting the interview of Shahi Tharoor in Pragati, covering specifically some Africa related issues -
The capacity to engage Pragati, December 2009
I found that we do have an interesting advantage with the Africans. First of all, there is that consciousness that we have been friends for a long time. Second, there is a sense that whereas the others who are vying for Africa’s hand, as it were—the West and China—have very impressive accomplishments in their development, and African countries look at them often with a lot of respect, even bordering on awe, they still see a certain distance between them and Africa. Whereas when African countries look at India, they see a country that is accessible, that is familiar, that seems to be grappling with many of the similar sorts of problems that they have—and yet a country that nonetheless has overcome them and managed to succeed. And they say to themselves, if India can do it, maybe we can do so too and learn from India. There is in many cases a sense of cultural affinity with India that enhances the content of our relationship.
But the thing about the Indian approach, going to the second part of your question, is that it is very different because it is not a heavy governmental footprint. I do not want to name the other countries, but I think you know what I am referring to. We come in, in a much more modest, unchallenging, unthreatening sort of way. Our government itself is not in a position to buy out presidencies and wholesale governments and nor would we want to—that is not our approach. What we often do is we extend modest levels of assistance by today’s standards—certainly in relation to the kind of assets that are available to China. Our grants are very modest. We make it 25 million dollars worth of something here, and 50 million worth of thing somewhere else and then we extend much larger amounts of lines of credit.
I kept hearing wherever I went anecdotes like, you know India gave a certain number of buses for example, and China gave four times as many, at a larger cost at least on paper, and often of a newer make; but the Indian buses are still running, the Chinese buses have long since broken down. No one knows how to fix them, the Chinese are not there to help, whereas we are more attuned to their needs, we’ve brought in the spare parts and trained the maintenance guys, and this has been a huge advantage to us.
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Re: India-Africa News and Discussion

Post by vipins »

Govt woos Africa with more investments, trade in oil sector
Seeking closer ties with the hydrocarbon-rich Africa, India today proposed to invest in oil fields and increase purchase of crude oil and LNG from the continent, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada said today.

"Our objective with Africa has been to build up a strategic partnership of enduring dimension in the oil and gas sector," he said in his valedictory address at the Second India-Africa Hydrocarbon Conference here today.

As India is hugely dependent on oil and natural gas imports, there is huge potential of Africa and India coming closer, he said addressing the representatives from 15 countries including 10 ministers.

The conference is part of New Delhi's attempt to catch up with Beijing which has developed deeper ties with Africa.

ONGC Videsh, the international exploration of the public sector energy giant ONGC, he said, has already invested $2.5 billion in the Sudanese oilfields. "Our focus has been to step up investments...In exploration and production."

"India can be a partner of African countries in the modernisation of their refineries," he said. "India is also keen to have partnership with the African nations by offering its expertise for development of their gas sector."

Since already over 15 per cent of the country's crude imports coming in mainly from Nigeria and Angola, he said Indian companies are willing to buy more crude as also explore opportunities to source more LNG.
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