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Abuja (Nigeria), Jan 23 (PTI) As he sought to take India-Nigeria ties to a “higher level,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said India is “betting on Africa’s rise” and the rebalancing and the multi-polarity of the world will not be complete until the continent takes its due place.
Addressing the Nigeria-India Business Council (NIBC) here, the minister said the rebalancing and reordering of a new global order will only happen “when the core of it is economic … which is the rise of Africa has to be the economic rise of Africa.”
The minister, who arrived in Nigeria on Sunday after attending the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Uganda, concluded his two-nation tour with an address to the NIBC.
“Now, that obviously presents choices, because it is very difficult to go up in the global order by being a market for others or just by being a provider of resources,” he said.
“Africa,” Jaishankar said, “is rising, and India is betting on Africa’s rise.”
India is betting on Africa’s rise because, “by any objective assessment, today there is so much growing for Africa in terms of demography, in terms of resources, in terms of ambition, in terms of, increasingly, of policy alignments. That clearly potent, a very different, much more positive future in the very short term, he said.
“We are betting on Africa because…we have a shared past, not always a happy history, not between us, but between us and some other people. But it is a history which has engendered an enormous solidarity.
And that solidarity today makes me say very clearly that for us, when we speak about a changing global order…the reordering of the world, the rebalancing, the multipolarity of the world will not be complete until Africa takes its due place,” Jaishankar said.
He said digital public infrastructure, green and clean growth, water, agricultural sustainability and security, and blue economy are some of the areas where the partnership between India and Africa can grow.
Noting that there is about USD 13 to 15 billion worth of trade annually between India and Nigeria and New Delhi has committed nearly USD 30 billion in investment in the country, Jaishankar said Nigeria is India’s premier economic partner in Africa.
“But having said that,” he asserted, “I would also urge you not to be satisfied, to look at the potential…India’s exports in the year that has just been completed was USD 766 billion…and I’m sure, you would surely like, (that) a larger part of that share to come to Nigeria.”
Earlier on Monday, Jaishankar co-chaired the Nigeria-India Joint Commission (NIJC) meeting, addressed two business forum meetings, addressed a Nigerian think tank, met with the Indian community and unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi.
“Noted the expansion of our economic cooperation, especially trade and investment. Discussed new opportunities in energy, power, renewables, transport, healthcare, fintech, agriculture and security,” Jaishankar had said in a post on X after the Joint Commission meeting.
Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, who co-chaired the 6th Session of NIJC with Jaishankar, called it “productive!”
“We strengthened ties through Nigeria’s active participation at the G20 Summit in India, signed an MoU on renewable energy, fostered trade growth and political cooperation,” Tuggar posted on X on Tuesday.
Consular matters, including challenges faced by Nigerian students in visa renewals, were also discussed, seeking resolutions through diplomatic channels, he added.
He had reached the Nigerian capital Abuja from Lagos, which he reached on Sunday after the NAM summit in Uganda.
In Lagos, the External Affairs Minister, while addressing the Nigerian Institute Of International Affairs (NIIA), said Global South is about a “mindset, a solidarity and a self-reliance” and without the advancement of the Global South, the world is not going to see planetary progress.
“The global agenda today is on promoting rebalancing and multipolarity, thereby restoring the world to its natural diversity,” he said, adding, “The global conversation today is focussing “on the advancement of the Global South because without the advancement of the Global South, we are not going to see planetary progress.”
After concluding his three-day visit to Nigeria, Jaishankar said he was “seeking to take our (India-Nigeria) ties to a higher level.”
In a post on X, he said, “Concluded my Nigeria visit with an address to the Nigeria-India Business Council (NIBC) today. Investment and trade are at the heart of our partnership. Recognize the contribution of those driving it and seeking to take our ties to a higher level.”
He also appreciated the presence of the Ministers of Trade, Budget and Economic Planning, Blue Economy and Steel Development of Nigeria and the Governor of Nasarawa.
