By Manish Chand

“Africa has tremendous economic potential. It’s a continent on the move. For us, it’s an opportunity and for the rest of the world also
it is an opportunity,” Indian officials travelling with Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh to Ethiopia said here May 23.

“There is enough space for India and what it is good at – skills development, training, capacity building,” the officials added.

Amid talk about India competing with China for Africa’s resources and markets, Indian officials stressed that the West was
trying to conjure up a scenario of rivalry. “The West is setting up Africa as a zone of contention. They want us (India and China) to be at each other’s throat. They want to play India against China,” they said.

Denying that India has been outsmarted by China in pushing its interests in Africa, officials said there was fundamental difference
between the approach of India and China towards engagement with Africa.

”There is a large Chinese presence in the continent. They are mostly focused on infrastructure, raw materials and extractive industries.
Chinese commercial presence is concentrated. Ours is small business presence scattered throughout Africa,” a senior Indian official said.

On May 24, Manmohan Singh will co-chair the second India-Africa Forum summit with Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, chairman of the African Union (AU) and president of Equatorial Guinea. The first Africa-India summit was held in New Delhi in 2008.

(Indo Asian News Service)