Gandhinagar: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today said that India will always stand with Africa shoulder to shoulder in your Africa’s path to growth. Many of the challenges faced by India and Africa are the same; uplifting farmers and the poor, empowering women, ensuring rural communities have access to finance, building infrastructure. We can do much more by sharing our experiences on all these fronts, he added.

Shri Modi was speaking at the opening ceremony of the Annual Meetings 2017 of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group. Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Vijay Rupani; Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs and Defence Shri Arun Jaitley, and AfDB President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina were also present at the opening ceremony of the Annual Meetings 2017 being held at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi articulated on the age old ties between India and Africa and said that ancient links between the two societies have also enriched our culture. During the colonial era, businessmen, artisans, doctors went to Africa. Mahatma Gandhi perfected his philosophy of non-violence struggle in South Africa. Several people of Indian origin supported Africa’s struggle for independence. He further added that his Government has put in a lot of effort in strengthening and developing closer ties with African countries. He said, since 2015 he has visited 6 African countries, and is proud to say that there is no country in Africa that has not been visited by an Indian minister in the last three years. 

Quoting Nelson Mandela, the Prime Minister said that “India came to our aid when the rest of the world stood by or gave succour to our oppressors. When the doors of international councils were closed to us, India opened the way” he added.

Focusing his attention on the theme of the event ‘Transforming Agriculture for wealth creation in Africa’, Prime Minister expressed that this is one area where India and AfDB can join hands successfully. He added that India is providing its farmers with soil health cards, which inform the farmers about the exact nature of the soil and advice on the optimal mix of inputs required, thereby helping the farmers to increase yields.

Speaking on the subject of India-Africa cooperation, Shri Modi stated that one of our best partnerships is in the area of Skill Training. Every year, African women are trained in India to work on the solar panel. Each woman is responsible for electrifying 50 houses in their community. They also learn several other skills like beekeeping, kitchen gardening, etc., is really a good sign of development, he added.

Elaborating on other avenues of India-Africa cooperation, the Prime Minister said that India extends lines of credit through India’s EXIM Bank. So far, 152 credits have been extended to 44 countries for a total amount of nearly 8 billion dollars.

The Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction on the overall trade situation between India and Africa, which has doubled in the last five years to reach nearly 72 billion dollars in 2014-15. India’s commodity trade with Africa in 2015-16 was higher than that with USA.

Expressing pleasure on hosting the Annual Meetings of AfDB in Gandhinagar the Prime Minister said that Gujarat is famous for the love of Africa. He said that it is his pleasure that this event is being held in India and that too in Gujarat.

Shri Arun Jaitely, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs and Defence in his address mentioned that the ‘High 5 strategy’ adopted by AfDB has similar priorities and policies as that of Government of India for creating sustainable socio-economic development. He said that we meet here in challenging times. After a prolonged period of slow growth, we are finally stable. The economic activity is finally picking up.
 
President of AfDB Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, addressing the gathering, admired the growth and development of Gujarat, and said that the success of Gujarat is incredible – 24 hour power supply, industrialization, diversified economy, prosperous agriculture, best medical centres. Gujarat is the key for economic integration in India.

AfDB President stated that just like Gujarat, Africa is constructing world’s largest solar plant. We look forward to the establishment of India-Africa solar alliance. He further stated that there is a lot that India and Africa share together, especially from Gujarat. Africa is the place to be and it continues to post consistent growth. Africa remains resilient to support fast-track diversification in their economy. 

Dr. Adesina added that the green revolution turned India into a food self-sufficient nation and now a global powerhouse in food. Similarly, Africa must feed itself. Africa must rise quickly to its full potential in agriculture. Approximately 65 percent of Africa’s land is uncultivated. The need for industrialization in agriculture is essential for Africa.