There is no ‘Africa’

Following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent visit to Africa and the accompanying India-Africa Summit in Addis Ababa, this relationship across the Indian Ocean has come firmly into the spotlight. Like previous iterations, however, this time observers in India have analysed the situation through a lens that has been simultaneously India-centric (What can we do for Africa? What can Africa do for us?) and China-inflected (How can we compete with China in Africa?). While useful, such analyses do not sufficiently grasp the complexity of the matter, in part because they construct India and Africa as two monolithic entities in terms of their capacities and interests.

The Indian state is but one of multiple actors that can be clubbed together under the signifier 'India'. And this is assuming that the state itself can be considered a homogenous entity, which of course it is not. Even so, the Indian state is interested in Africa for a variety of reasons. State-owned entities such as ONGC Videsh, the petroleum company, want a share of African oil and gas reserves. Indian and African interests often (though not always) overlap in shaping the international trade regime, particularly in negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Somewhat tangentially, the Indian state seeks good relationships with African countries to further its geopolitical interests, such as gaining a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and in various matters before the UN General Assembly, where the relatively small African countries gain prominence due to the 'one country, one vote' system.