India steps up securing economic foothold in Africa
- Source: Global Times
- [00:05 February 01 2010]
- Comments
India has stepped up its efforts to gain an economic foothold in Africa in order to tap the continent's resources, signing energy deals with top oil producers Angola and Nigeria.
India this month deployed two high-level missions to the continent, with Oil Minister Murli Deora last week leading a delegation of top energy executives to Sudan, Nigeria, Angola and Uganda.
India's state Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) signed deals for $359 million worth of investments in Nigeria and an agreement for joint exploration and refining projects with Angola, seen as a precursor to a broader future deal.
Deora also tried to patch up a dispute over payments on oil deals in Sudan while discussing major new oil finds in Uganda.
Nigeria is already India's largest African trading partner, at about $10 billion annually, and Deora said in Lagos that his country wants to see that figure grow.
India also offered to invest billions in building and refurbishing refineries in Angola and Nigeria, which cannot process enough crude to meet their fuel needs.
''India has been trying to get its foot into Angola for a long time so this is a significant development,'' Edward George, Africa-China specialist at the Economist Intelligence Unit in London, told AFP.
India's ambassador to Angola, Ajjampur Rangaiam Ghanashyam, believes the latest deal is just the start of cooperation with India and pointed out that ONGC was already working with Sonangol in Iran.
India's expansive development in the continent to some extent shares a pattern with its neighboring China, but has comparable advantages over other countries there.
''We don't see China as a direct competitor but we know they are like us and have a growing economy so need to source oil,'' said Shri Tripathi, chairman of India's flagship gas company GAIL in Luanda.
''The fact that the Indian diaspora is deeply entrenched and spread across Africa and knows its way around is a big advantage,'' the India Times quoted Tarun Khanna, professor at the Harvard Business School, as saying yesterday.
''It's very good for Africa to have another investor ... because it will drive competition and hopefully bring benefits in terms of quality and delivery,'' George added.
Agencies – Global Times
