India Pledges $10 billion loans to Africa

30 Oct 2015
Chibuike Oguh

Summary

India’s new offer includes a grant assistance of $600 million and an India-Africa Development Fund of $100 million.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The Indian government has pledged to offer $10 billion in concessional credits to Africa over the next five years.

India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, made the announcement at the ongoing India-Africa summit taking place in New Delhi. Up to 12 African leaders are present at the summit, including Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari.

Modi said the new loan offer would be in addition to the $7.4 billion in soft loans and $1.2 billion in aid provided since the first India-Africa summit in 2008.

India’s new offer includes a grant assistance of $600 million; an India-Africa Development Fund of $100 million; an India-Africa Health Fund of $10 million; 50,000 scholarships in India over five years; and expansion of the Pan Africa E-Network to institutions of skills, training and learning across Africa.

"We will raise the level of our support for your vision of a prosperous, integrated and united Africa that is a major partner for the world," Modi said at the summit.

India-Africa trade has doubled since 2007 to about $72 billion, far below the China-Africa trade of nearly $200 billion. India imports mainly raw materials from Africa: crude oil, gold, raw cotton and precious stones. Indian exports to Africa include high-end consumer goods such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals and telecom equipment.

Chibuike Oguh is Financial Nigeria's Frontier Markets Analyst


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