In April 2026, while launching the theme and logo of the Fourth India-Africa summit, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said that “Africa occupies a central place in India’s foreign policy.” Though the summit was later postponed due to the Ebola epidemic, in October, Jaishankar embarked on a three-day tour that took him to Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Ethiopia “to deepen India’s partnership with Africa and further India’s solidarity with the Global South.”

India’s present approach to Africa goes back to July 2018 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the Ugandan parliament in Kampala, set out 10 principles that would define New Delhi’s ties with the continent. The principles affirmed that Africa would be at the top of India’s foreign policy agenda, with the partnership being shaped by Africa’s needs. It would focus on agriculture and food security, trade and investment, digital transformation, maritime security, and climate change. The two sides would also work together to realize “a just and democratic global order.”

Guided by these principles, India-Africa relations have witnessed remarkable progress in the past decade: Bilateral trade has reached about $100 billion; cumulative Indian investments have crossed $10 billion; India has provided 190 lines of credit valued at $10 billion for projects in 40 countries; and nearly 80,000 scholarships and skill development slots have been provided for capacity-building in health, agriculture, and technology.

Recently, there have been initiatives in areas of economic and knowledge development, technology, and security. Development finance is seeing a shift from lines of credit to foreign direct investment, with public and private finance being provided by India’s expanding banking presence. In the area of digital transformation, India has taken the lead in developing Digital Public Infrastructure, as well as setting up IT training centers and centers of excellence specializing in data science and artificial intelligence.

Given Africa’s geopolitical importance in terms of its long coastlines and numerous ports, and its hinterlands rich in agricultural produce, energy resources, and mineral wealth, India’s outreach obviously embraces shared security concerns. These include piracy, maritime terrorism, illegal fishing, narcotics trade, and human trafficking. The Indian Navy was an early responder during regional cyclones and during the pandemic when it transported vaccines and medical equipment to Africa.

India-Africa relations have witnessed remarkable progress in the past decade.

Talmiz Ahmad

India’s latest naval doctrine has placed the country as a net security provider and first-responder in regional emergencies. This has been complemented by the Africa-related initiative, “Africa-India Key Maritime Engagement,” a six-day naval exercise at Dar es Salaam in April 2025.

These exercises have been supported by capacity-building courses for defense personnel in Indian institutions in areas such as defense management, cybersecurity, counter-insurgency, and jungle warfare. Senior officers on both sides — at the level of ministers and service chiefs — are in dialogue on tactics and strategic issues as well as defense industry cooperation.

In recent years, the allure of Africa has increased exponentially. The US 2025 National Security Strategy described the continent as “a central node in the world’s geostrategic and economic reconfiguration (and) the arena where the (global) balance of power and the very architecture of future interdependence will be defined.” Africa has put its African Continental Free Trade agreement into operation, with an integrated market of 1.3 billion people. It also has 30 percent of the world’s critical minerals and metals, even as it is rapidly developing its digital infrastructure and industrial manufacturing.

The nature of engagement with Africa has also changed. The colonial scramble for Africa in the 19th century saw great power competitions for resources that were intrusive, exploitative, and violent. Africans today will not tolerate such external interventions and exploitation from former colonial states or new nations seeking to benefit from the continent’s resources. Africans demand from all foreign players transparency and value-creation. As the UK-based think tank Global Geopolitics has pointed out, present-day Africans wish to assert sovereignty over their geopolitical assets and hinterland resources, and ensure that the value-added gains from their activities benefits Africa.

This thinking resonates with India’s own approach to Africa, as set out in its guiding principles outlined in Kampala, and will shape its outreach to the continent. The areas of priority interest in this partnership are agritech, AI-enabled learning, green energy, digital finance, and advanced manufacturing including data centers, batteries, robotics, and smart factories. In the area of critical minerals, India is looking at joint processing, refining, recycling, and downstream manufacturing with integrated continent-wide value chains.

India also sees the link between energy and food security. Africa is a major producer of conventional fuels and is also, like India, committed to increased use of renewable energy. India sees itself as an important partner in both areas, with focus on grid modernization, digitizing power distribution, and developing best practices in energy management.

Maritime security will be an important area for cooperation, with a focus on boosting coastal radar and surveillance systems, port technologies, and providing coast guard and naval training. India will also engage in peacekeeping, as well as conflict management and conflict resolution initiatives, particularly those sponsored by the UN or the African Union.

In coming years, India’s ties with Africa will be both multifaceted and substantial. This was affirmed by Jaishankar during his recent visit to Ethiopia when he said: “Freedom brought our nations together. Development has now brought our economies together. And today, the transformation of the international order is bringing our strategic interests and goals together.”

  • Talmiz Ahmad is a former Indian diplomat.