New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) The India Exim Bank on Tuesday extended a $100 million loan to the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) to support India’s project exports on the continent.

The fresh loan is in addition to a facility of $100 million extended to the AFC in August 2021 to develop critical infrastructure required for the revival of Africa’s economies in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and another credit line of $100 million, extended in March 2026, to support India’s project exports in Africa, according to a statement issued by the Exim Bank.

India’s partnership with Africa has evolved into a multidimensional engagement, with trade playing a central role in fostering development. Over the past decade, India has emerged as one of Africa’s key trading partners, offering not just economic cooperation but also investments in infrastructure, capacity building, and technology transfer. India’s total trade with Africa stood at $81.90 billion in FY 2024-25, with its exports accounting for $42.70 billion.

The AFC is a treaty-based pan-African multilateral financial institution focused on infrastructure investment in Africa. There are 48 sovereign member states of the AFC.

The loan comes in the run-up to the 4th India Africa Forum Summit, which will take place in New Delhi on May 31. Top leaders from Africa, including several heads of government, will attend the Summit, which will be preceded by senior officials’ meetings on May 28 and Foreign Ministers’ meeting on May 29.

The summit will focus on boosting cooperation in the economy and trade, defence and security, critical minerals, energy, space and high technology, agriculture, health, education, capacity building, skill development, and climate action.

A declaration will be adopted at the conclusion of the summit, which will outline the agenda for cooperation that will seek to align India’s vision of becoming a developed nation by 2047 with Africa’s Agenda 2063. Think tank dialogues and an India-Africa Film Festival are also planned alongside the summit. The India Africa Forum summit will be followed by the International Big Cat Alliance Summit on June 1.

India is currently Africa’s fourth-largest trading partner and among its top five investors. For the FY 2024-25, trade between India and Africa amounted to $81.99 billion (with India’s exports amounting to $42.6 billion and imports amounting to $39.2 billion).

Over the past decade, India has significantly expanded its diplomatic and political footprint across the continent. In the past decade, there have been nearly 50 high-level visits from India to African countries and close to 100 visits from African leaders to India. New Delhi has also opened 17 new diplomatic missions in Africa since 2018, taking its presence to 46 countries. India has provided more than 190 lines of credit worth more than 10 billion dollars to 41 African states so far. A total of 220 projects worth $4.5 billion have been completed.

–IANS

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