AFRICAN UNION - INTERNATIONAL
News: PM Modi calls for G-20 membership for African Union
What's in the news?
● Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written to the leaders of the G-20 nations proposing that the African Union be given full membership of the grouping at its upcoming summit in India.
Key takeaways:
● The Prime Minister has taken a “bold step” to enhance Africa’s voice on the international stage and in shaping the future of “our shared world”.
● India is hosting the G-20 summit in Delhi in September in its capacity as the current chair of the grouping.
India's Priorities for African Union in G-20:
● PM Modi has written to G-20 counterparts to propose that the African Union be given full membership at the upcoming Delhi Summit of G-20, as requested by them”.
● As part of India’s G-20 presidency, Mr. Modi has been particularly focusing on incorporating the priorities of African countries in the G-20 agenda.
● In January, India hosted the Voice of the Global South Summit with an aim to highlight the problems and challenges facing developing countries.
Why is India supporting the inclusion of the African Union in the G20?
1. Projection of India as the leader of developing and least developed nations:
● By proposing the African Union for G20 membership, India has pitched itself as a leader of the developing and underdeveloped countries and also this move will enhance the credibility of India among the African countries.
2. Act as the voice of Global South:
● India has pressed the G20 to focus on the economic fallout of the Ukraine crisis, especially food, fuel and fertilizer insecurity in the Global South.
● Earlier in January, India had hosted the "Voice of Global South" summit to collaborate on political, economic, social, environmental, cultural, and technical issues.
3. Inclusion of Africa in complex global issues:
● Multilateral and cross border global issues such as terrorism, UN reforms, public health, debt, peace-keeping and security issues, climate change and the international trading regime (WTO) all require Africa's active participation.
● Proposal to grant the African Union full membership in the G20 demonstrates India's commitment to strengthening Africa's representation and partnership in shaping global affairs.
4. Fair representation to the African countries:
● Africa is the continent with 55 nations, currently South Africa is the only country from Africa that has the membership in G20 grouping.
● African Union's membership in the grouping will ensure the full and fair representation of Africa, similar to the European Union.
5. Making G20 as an inclusive and multilateral forum:
● To overcome the trust, legitimacy, and utility crises of multilateralism, G-20 needs to be more inclusive without sacrificing efficiency.
● Including the African Union as a permanent member would enhance its legitimacy and will make G20 as an inclusive and a forum for a collective voice of the global.
6. Promoting peace and stability in the continent:
● The African Union's membership will garner global attention towards Africa, in which many nations are affected by civil wars, terrorism, hunger, etc.
● This will increase multilateral investments into Africa and will address the above mentioned issues and promote peace and socio-economic development in the continents.
Significance of Africa's Relationship for India:
1. Bilateral trade and investment:
● India is the fourth largest trading partner of Africa. The bilateral trade between the India - Africa continent is around $100 billion. India put efforts to increase it further to $200 billion by 2030.
● India is the fifth largest investor in Africa with $ 55 billion investment.
● The Asia Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) is one of the initiatives launched by India in recent years, to enhance cooperation with African countries in partnership with Japan to enhance growth and connectivity.
2. India's reliance on Africa for some agricultural commodities:
● Africa is dominated by commodities, particularly crude oil, gas, pulses and lentils, leather, gold and other metals, all of which we lack in sufficient quantities back home and the diverse sources in Africa provide some protection against the vulnerability of depending on just one or two regions for their supply.
● EG: In January 2023, India announced Duty free import policy for pulses which has prompted many East African countries to increase their Tur and Arhar export to India.
3. Potential market for India's exports:
● Indian exports to Africa of manufactured products like medicines, automobiles, two-wheelers, iron and steel products, plastics, machinery and engineering processes, etc. as well as refined petroleum products are quite substantial and growing.
● Africa provides an alternate destination to such manufactures from India whose exports to traditional destinations in Europe and North America are on the decline, and helps to prop up the 'Make in India' campaign.
4. Energy security and mineral resources:
● Africa is rich with many natural mineral resources like zinc, iron, copper, and aluminium particularly in southern Africa countries.
5. Maritime security:
● Africa is critical to India’s security, especially the Horn of Africa region, because of its proximity with India. The threat of radicalism, piracy, and organized crime emerges from this region.
6. Support India's UNSC membership:
● This is also in sync with India’s aspiration for permanent membership of the UNSC, for which Delhi is keen to garner support from Africa that has 54 votes.
● African countries tend to take a unified stand on such multilateral issues after discussions and deliberations at the AU. This is amply evident on the question of UN reforms and India's bid for a permanent UN Security Council seat.
Challenges for India in deepening the relationship with African countries:
1. Issues in bilateral trade between India and Africa:
● India and Africa didn't realize their full bilateral trade potential as India- Africa's bilateral trade is not even close to China- Africa.
● Africa's bilateral trade with China is $282 billion while with India is around $100 billion.
2. Poor line of credit assistance to African countries:
● While acknowledging India's substantial role in assisting Africa's developmental process particularly through ITEC and other training and educational programmes, and through Lines of Credit (LOCs) for specific projects in Africa, African leaders advised India to close the gap between promises made and results achieved.
3. China factor:
● China has established a significant presence in Africa, particularly in sectors like infrastructure, mining, and energy.
4. Poor connectivity:
● India's connectivity with the African continent is negligible and adequate city-to-city connectivity between India and Africa is lacking, hindering people-to-people contact and impeding the growth of mutual understanding and cooperation.
5. Insecurity to Indian people and investment:
● Terrorist attacks and civil wars in many African countries severely affect Indian citizens and Indian investments. Due to this many investors are concerned about investing in Africa.
6. Racial attack on African students:
● Many African students studying in India are reporting that they are facing racial attacks. This affects India's image in African countries.
WAY FORWARD:
1. Separate foreign policy for Africa:
● India should frame a separate foreign policy for the African continent in line with " Act East Asia Policy" and "Neighbourhood first policy”.
2. Security assistance to African countries:
● India should provide support to African partner-countries in all defence related matters, including capability enhancement of their Armed Forces, to ensure their economic growth and social development.
● For this India can use India-Africa Defence Dialogue to further improve the defence relations with African nations.
3. Soft power diplomacy:
● India should engage with African nations through its soft power cooperation like "India - Africa Science & Technology and innovation Initiative", Educational cooperation and people to people contact.
4. India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS):
● The process needs to better leverage two strong assets that have hitherto remained untapped: the vibrant Indian private sector and the Indian diaspora in Africa.
African Union:
● The African Union is considered the top-most grouping representing the voice of Africa.
● It has been working towards ensuring the progress and economic growth of the African nations.
Launched in:
● It was officially launched in 2002 as a successor to the Organization of African Unity.
Headquarters: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Members:
● The African Union (AU) is a continental body consisting of 55 member states.
● African Union Members
Objectives:
● To rid the continent of the remaining vestiges of colonization and apartheid.
● To promote unity and solidarity among African States.
● To coordinate and intensify cooperation for development.
● To safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States.
● To promote international cooperation within the framework of the United Nations.
Vision:
● The AU is guided by its vision of “An Integrated, Prosperous and Peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.”
Organizational Structure:
Assembly of African Union:
● The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a semi-annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states.
African Union Commission:
● The AU’s secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa.
● The AU structure promotes participation of African citizens and civil society through the Pan-African Parliament and the Economic, Social & Cultural Council (ECOSOCC).
New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD):
● It is an economic development program of the African Union, started in 2001.
African Economic Community (AEC):
● The Treaty establishing the African Economic Community (AEC), commonly known as the Abuja Treaty seeks to create the AEC through six stages culminating in an African Common Market using the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as building blocks.
● The Abuja Treaty has been in operation since 1994.
Go back to basics:
G-20:
● The G-20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies.
● The members represent around 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.
Member of G-20:
The grouping comprises of the following developed and developing nations such as
● Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the U.K., the U.S. and the European Union (EU).