India hopes to leave Energy footprint in Africa with Jaishankar’s visit

As a part of Modi’s foreign policy 2020 – India will explore the supply of small nuclear power reactors to the African countries, which will also counter China’s growing influence in the region

New Delhi: With an intent to significantly widen India’s energy footprint in Francophone Africa (French speaking sub-Saharan African countries), Union Foreign Minister Dr. S Jaishankar is set to embark on his maiden visit to the continent after taking the reign of the External Affairs ministry. Union Foreign Minister S Jaishankar will be traveling to the African countries of Niger and Tunisia between 21-22 January. 

Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy hyper activism, Africa continues to be a neglected continent for New Delhi. Even after repeated commitment to Africa, India continually underscores its claim to act as an advocate for the countries of the Global South. 

Thus, as a part of India’s foreign policy 2020 – Jaishankar’s visit will explore the supply of small nuclear power reactors to the electricity-starved African countries. According to government sources, with climate changes impacting their conventional hydropower generation capacity, India’s civilian nuclear power program has caught the eye of the African countries.

“Their (African nations) hydropower generation is primarily dependent on the Nile, the Niger, the Congo and the Zambezi rivers. However, in the last decade, a significant drop was witnessed in their power generation leading to a lower supply of electricity,” a senior official told theNews21.

He added that the Indian Nuclear Power Corporation’s (NPCIL) Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor’s (PHWR’s) 220 MW unit size is well-suited to meet the small demand load of African nations.

Move To Counter China

The African countries are now accounting for a larger share of India’s energy imports, thereby reducing their dependence on Middle Eastern countries. Thus, India is also trying to establish a counterweight to China’s activities – the Belt and Road Initiative – in Africa. 

However, Jaishankar will step in the African continent, at a time when Beijing has made major forays into the region. China has assured a large chunk of projects, from the $8 trillion BRI investments, in Africa. President Xi Jinping has tried to lure African countries to co-opt into his ambitious BRI initiative, which has been overtly ruled out by New Delhi.

Thus, to ensure that Africa engages with India without falling for the Renminbi – New Delhi in 2019 extended a $10-billion concessional line of credit for the African continent, and now has offered to construct PHWR units at very economical prices. 

African Challenges

For African nations, India remains an important partner, even if only to counter-balance excessive dependence on China. Nonetheless, China has more numerous opportunities in Africa. 

From 2000 to 2014, Beijing had invested around US$350 billion in developing countries, making it one of the largest investors in Africa. New Delhi cannot compete with these orders of magnitude. 

Another challenge for India has been the lack of capacity at the government level to sustain bold foreign policy initiatives. The reflections of the same can be witnessed in over two dozen Indian embassies in Africa, which continue to merely function without High Commissioners and Ambassadors. 

While the energy outreach towards Africa by the Prime Minister Modi-led government is set to hit geopolitical headlines, the implementation of the same will be a hard challenge. 

What is Francophone Africa?

Francophone Africa or African French is the generic name of the variations of French spoken by an estimated 430 million people in Africa in 29 countries of the continent.

In the urban areas of francophone Africa, another type of French has emerged called as  Français populaire africain (Popular African French) or FPA. It is used in the entirety of sub-Saharan Africa, especially in cities such as Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Dakar, Senegal; Cotonou, Benin; and Lomé, Togo”.