The seat of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, will hold the second Africa-India Forum Summit. The event will span a period of 5 days, beginning from May 20 and will include heads of state and government officials from 14 African nations and India.
A variety of topics will be discussed, including agriculture, trade, security, communication and governance and the theme of the summit will be ‘enhancing partnership shared vision’. The event is a follow-up of the first Africa-India Forum Summit held in New Delhi on April 4, 2008, when the New Delhi Declaration and the Framework of Cooperation was adopted.
India’s bilateral trade with Africa is estimated to be more than $40 billion and Indian investment in Africa is over $15 billion, and India is also dependant on Africa for Oil, with only Nigeria contributing to as much as 15-20% of India’s crude oil requirements.
New Delhi will focus on building capacity and developing present projects and institutes in the Africa continent, such as the India Africa Institute of Foreign Trade (IAIFT), Uganda, the India-Africa Institute of Information Technology (IAIIT), Ghana, the India Africa Diamond Institute, Botswana, and the India-Africa Institute of Education, Planning and Administration (IAIEPA),Burundi.
Image credit: PMO