Africa to get $5.4 bn package from India

New Delhi: India unveiled an Africa package, which included lines of credit worth $5.4 billion over the next five years and preferential market access for exports from certain African countries.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the heads of state and/or government participating in the first India-Africa Forum Summit here India will undertake development projects against grants in excess of $500 million over the next six years.

He announced doubling of scholarships for the African students in undergraduate, post-graduate and higher courses and increasing the number of training slots under technical assistance programmes from 1,100 to 1,600 every year development projects.

The Prime Minister also proposed an India-Africa Volunteer Corps for development work, which can on a pilot basis identify projects in the areas of public health, informal education and women’s empowerment.

The duty-free tariff preference scheme will be extended to the 34 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) on the African continent and 16 other LDCs.

The Prime Minister said under the duty-free tariff preference scheme, India will unilaterally provide preferential market access for exports from all 50 least developed countries, 34 of which are on the African continent.

It will cover 94 per cent of India’s total tariff lines. Specifically, it will provide preferential market access on tariff lines that comprise 92.5 per cent of global exports of all LDCs. Products of immediate interest to Africa which are covered include cotton, cocoa, aluminium ore, copper ore, cashewnut, cane sugar, ready-made garment, fish fillet and non-industrial diamond.

'Between 2003-04 and 2008-09, we have extended lines of credit amounting to $2.15 billion. Over the next five years, we will more than double this amount and offer additional lines of credit amounting to $5.4 billion, both bilaterally and to the regional economic communities of Africa,' the Prime Minister said in his opening address at the plenary session of the India-Africa Forum Summit.

He announced New Delhi’s intention to enhance the Aid to Africa budget of the ministry of external affairs for implementing projects in critical areas focusing on human resource development and capacity building.

'Over the next five to six years, we propose to undertake projects against grants in excess of $500 million,' he explained.

Developing infrastructure in the areas of railways, information technology, telecommunication and power generation and physical connectivity in Africa would be a priority for India. The government will reach out to the private sector and make full use of public-private partnerships.