The 3rd India-African Forum Summit in New Delhi from 26 to 29 October is generating some hype among the Indian and international media, but the same excitement is missing from the African landscape. Even in the African think tank community, the response to the summit seems to be muted, except for a few organisations in South Africa and Kenya which have produced analytical commentaries in the run-up to the event.
Considering that this is one of the largest gatherings of African leaders and governments in India’s capital, why is the excitement not escalating among mainstream African media, academia, and think tanks? This is even more a question because South Africa will co-host the 6th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in early December—and summits with two of Africa’s main trading and development partners in the same year make it even more important for the African voice to be heard. Sadly, this voice is rather faint at the moment.