Private sector key driver of Africa ties- Singh
March 28, 2013, 8:01 am

Manmohan Singh was welcomed to South Africa by President Jacob Zuma earlier this week [GCIS]

According to an IMF forecast, among the top 10 countries with the fastest growth in GDP from 2011 to 2015, seven are in Africa.

India will assist Africa in charting its own course through institution-building, infrastructure development and technical and vocational skill development, announced Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister .

“Africa needs to take charge of their own future,” said Singh stressing that human resource development and capacity-building assistance are at the core of India’s cooperation with Africa.

In 2011, the average growth of GDP in the African continent was 5.4 per cent, and the figure is expected to reach 6.1 per cent in 2012, according to IMF figures.

The pan-Africa e-Network for tele-medicine and tele-education, which is functional in 47 countries in Africa, is a major success story of India’s institution-building partnership with Africa, said Singh.

“India’s enterprising private sector is one of the key drivers of the India-Africa partnership,” asserted the Indian prime minister.

The Confederation of Indian Industries(CII) and the EXIM Bank of India last week organised the 9th Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership, which generated interest in 500 projects worth 70 billion US dollars.

Even as South African President Jacob Zuma underlined at the BRICS Summit that the BRICS Bank “is needed for other developing economies as well”, he found support in Singh.

“The BRICS bank could further leverage the collective capacity of the BRICS countries to assist the transformation of Africa. This is an objective that India remains committed to,” asserted the Indian prime minister.

The BRICS Post