My ministerial colleague,

Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh ji,

Excellencies,

Honourable guests,

ladies and gentlemen,

2. It is a real pleasure to be here today, to celebrate Africa Day, with all of you. As we gather to mark the founding of the Organisation for African Unity in 1963; I express our historical solidarity, underline our shared interests, and reiterate our common aspirations.

3. Friends, Africa, we all know, is today undergoing very rapid changes. These span the range from being the cradle of human civilisation to becoming the land of the future. It is a continent with the youngest demographies, one with vast natural resources, expanding capabilities, growing markets and most of all, rising ambitions. India, the most populous country in the world and currently the fifth largest economy looks at Africa as a natural partner. Anchored in trust and mutual respect, it is focused now on value addition within Africa, with production, research, localisation and local employment.

4. Now you all know that India-Africa relations are deep-rooted and go back in history. Prime Minister Modi redefined our engagement in Africa by outlining its 10 guiding principles. These include our commitment to liberate Africa’s potential by building local capacity and creating local opportunities; keeping our markets open; sharing India’s experience with the digital revolution to support Africa’s development; improving delivery of public services; extending education and spreading digital literacy in Africa; improving Africa’s agriculture; addressing the challenges of climate change; and working with African nations to keep the oceans open and free for the benefit of all nations among others. People-to -people relations are an important dimension of our relations with Africa, and we have extended e-Visa facilities to 33 African countries. We have also expanded our diplomatic footprint in Africa with the opening of 16 new diplomatic Missions, taking the total number of Indian Missions in the continent to 45.

5. We are proud of our long-standing educational ties with Africa. Several African leaders have studied in educational or training institutions in India. In keeping with our spirit of ‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’, that the World is a family, India has also been at the forefront to provide capacity-building and training to African candidates under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme. Almost 40,000 Africans have been trained in India under ITEC in the last 10 years. India has also launched the second phase of the tele-education and tele-medicine project. Since 2019, more than 15,000 youth from 22 African countries have been provided scholarships for various degree and diploma courses in disciplines like, computer application, business administration, commerce, social sciences, and humanities. It is also a matter of pride for us that over 23,000 African students live and study in India. We have also established Indian educational institutions in Africa. The Indian Institute of Technology in Zanzibar (Tanzania), the National Forensic Science University in Uganda, the Entrepreneurship Development Centres in Rwanda, the various Centres of Information technology in several countries testify to India’s commitment to advancing the AU’s focus for this year ‘Educate an African Fit for the 21st Century’.

6. Friends, our contribution to infrastructure development in Africa needs special mention. The government of India has completed 206 projects in 43 African countries and 65 projects are being implemented under Indian concessional loans with a total outlay of over US$ 12.37 billion. 81 more projects are at a preparatory stage. These cover drinking water and irrigation schemes, power plants and transmission lines, cement, sugar and textile plants, technology parks and railway infrastructure.

7. On the trade and economic front, India is the fourth largest trading partner for Africa with a bilateral trade of about US$100 billion and cumulative investments of more than US$ 75 billion. The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) opens up prospects for a deeper economic integration. India is the first developing country to provide non-reciprocal duty-free market access to LDCs through its duty-free tariff preference (DFTP) scheme. This has benefited African LDCs by extending duty free access to 98.2 per cent of India’s total tariff lines. 33 of these beneficiary nations are in Africa.

8. Excellencies and friends, India has always stood by Africa in times of trouble. During the COVID-19 pandemic, around 150 tonnes of medical aid worth was provided to 32 countries in Africa. Our ‘Vaccine Maitri’ is well known and the bulk of the beneficiaries were also in Africa. India has also given medical equipment, ambulances, cancer treatment machines like ‘Bhabhatron’ to many. Traditional medicine is a domain where in fact we can do very much more, bearing in mind that the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre is actually located in India. As for our HADR response, we have also provided relief material to countries hit by natural disasters whether it is Zambia, Malawi, Kenya or Mozambique.

9. Friends, defence relations between us are strong and they are evolving. African Defence Ministers have already held multiple meetings in India. Besides training military officers from several countries in our military training institutions, India has also contributed to the setting up of Defence Academies and Colleges in Nigeria, in Ethiopia and in Tanzania. We have deployed training teams in several African countries like Botswana, Namibia, Uganda, Lesotho, Zambia, Mauritius, Seychelles and Tanzania among others. India is the third largest contributor to the UN Peace-Keeping Operations with nearly 5000 Indian personnel currently serving in five Peacekeeping Missions in Africa. India has also joined the Djibouti Code of Conduct and the Jeddah Amendment, as an Observer in August 2020, to play an active role in the repression of piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden and in order to secure maritime navigation.

10. Given our shared struggles, it is natural that we are supportive of a greater role for Africa in the United Nations and other multilateral fora. During our G-20 Presidency, as you all just saw, India took the decision to keep the global south at the centre of global discourse. We put emphasis on the aspirations of Africa, not just the needs of Africa. The inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member of the G20 during our Presidency in 2023 is a matter of great pride for us. We also completely stand behind African Union’s ‘Ezulwini Consensus’ and the ‘Sirte Declaration’. We have reiterated our commitment to the global south in the "Voice of Global South Summits” which we held in January and November 2023.

11. Friends, we also value the participation of African countries in the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the Global Biofuel Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). We are thankful to Africa for helping us recreate our bio-diversity and I take this opportunity to invite African countries to join us in the International Big Cat Alliance.

12. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, India has always believed in the transformative power of technology. We have been able to provide citizen-centric services and we have revolutionized public service delivery to our own people by leveraging digital technology. Popularly called the ‘India Stack’, it includes the UPI and Aadhar like systems amongst others. Our close collaboration with many African nations in this area has already started yielding results.

13. India’s strides in its space programme have also opened up exciting avenues for cooperation with Africa. Space tech-based solutions in weather forecasting, in early warning systems, resource management, precision agriculture and climate change amongst others can emerge as force multipliers which will actually help us to accelerate the achievement of SDG Goals. These tools can augment development processes in Africa and we are open to deeper collaboration.

14. For all these reasons and more, India and Africa must engage and must work together very closely. In this regard, we look forward to organising the IAFS IV Summit, and we seek your support to do so. We hope that the event would provide a more contemporary agenda of cooperation between us.

15. So, let me conclude, friends, by recalling the words of Prime Minister Modi in 2018 and he said- "India’s priority is not just Africa; India’s priority is Africans – every man, woman and child in Africa. Our partnership with Africa is beyond strategic concerns and economic benefits. It is based on the emotional bonds we share and the solidarity we feel." I assure you that Africa will be at the top of our priorities. We look forward to a mutually beneficial and mutually respectful relationship in the true spirit of being a Vishwa Bandhu.

16. So thank you, Excellencies, ladies, gentlemen and friends, for this opportunity to be with you all as you celebrate Africa Day.