Beating the Rhetoric
The Asia Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) portends the advent of change in the power corridors of global politics. From a Cold War driven bipolar world divided in two camps the world has become a multi-polar today. It has also resulted in the decreasing importance of Europe which is trying to reinvent itself and an emerging Asia. China and India have been pivotal to the discourse of a fast changing multi-polar world. In the midst of these events one emerging story is that of Africa. In the past few decades countries around Africa have begun to witness a new era of economic development. While traditional powers like South Africa and Nigeria continue to be flag bearers of the African story, new entrants like Botswana are beginning to make a mark. While Africa still battles with challenges posed by history, it is beginning to witness a shift.
The past decade, has however, also led to the development of regional partnerships. The Chinese led, One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative is the flag bearer of such a scheme. OBOR which will run through 60 nation promises to bring development to these countries spread across three continents while boosting global trade. While countries around the world have warmed to the concept, other powers like India have predictably chosen to watch the events unfold carefully.
And in the midst of all these it perhaps came as no surprise that on May 2017 during the African Development Bank (Afdb) meeting, an Asia Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) document of economic agreement between India and Japan was discussed. Developed by three think tanks spread across India and Japan the AAGC in essence is a Indo-Japan partnership which seeks to develop quality infrastructure in Africa while complemented by digital connectivity.
The AAGC would consist of four major components development and cooperation projects, quality infrastructure and institutional connectivity, capacity and skill enhancement and people-to-people partnerships. These four components are complementary to promote growth and all round development in both the continents. The AAGC seeks to build on decades of goodwill earned by India in Africa to engage in newer partnerships and roles. Unlike other countries India has followed a model of development which is free from conditions in Africa which has earned it tremendous amount of goodwill across African nations. In 2015 India had extended a $10 billion aimed at development projects over five years and offered $600 million in grant assistance, including an India-Africa development fund of $100 million. Indian engagement has focused on education, capacity building, skill and human resources development, and the Pan-African e-network supporting tele-education, tele-medicine, and e-commerce.
Japan on the other hand is beginning to explore African shores in order to reduce its market risks in the volatile Asian and European markets. Japan’s Africa policy predominantly seeks to develop infrastructure. Japanese PM Abe Shinzo has committed $30 billion investment by 2018 out of which $10 billion would be earmarked for infrastructure alone. In 2013 the “Japan Revitalization Strategy” was released . This document articulated the significance of creating new frontiers for growth by capturing the international infrastructure market. The document argued for tripling infrastructure sales by 2020. The strategy looked at Africa while discussing strategic initiatives for obtaining overseas markets. The Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) had also identified African countries as priority regions in its “Toward Strategic Promotion of the Infrastructure Export” policy proposal. Seen in this backdrop it is only natural that India and Japan must come together with a development proposal that would seek to further propel the African story. The AAGC seeks to do the same.
Digital connectivity is also the prime edifice of the AAGC programme. It will help the growth of innovation and technology services in Africa which will capitalise on the knowledge conundrum of the Asian superpowers of India and Japan. Quality infrastructure connects people, towns, regions and countries, and helps unleash their potential for growth. It consists of five remarkable aspects. These aspects are: (a) effective mobilisation of financial resources; (b) their alignment with socio-economic development and development strategies of partner countries and regions; (c) application of high-quality standards in terms of compliance with international standards established to mitigate environmental and social impact; (d) provision of quality of infrastructure taking into account aspects of economic efficiency and durability, inclusiveness, safety and disaster-resilience, sustainability as well as convenience and amenities; and (e) contribution to the local society and economy. At the same time the growth model propelled by the AAGC model would be one that would be in harmony with the local environment, community and people’s livelihood.
Commentators have chosen observed that AAGC is a response to the Chinese’s OBOR by China’s biggest Asian rivals India and China. Yet AAGC cannot be seen in terms of competition to OBOR. The scale of AAGC at this stage is much less compared to the announced scale and magnitude of OBOR. At the same time the fundamental difference lies between the philosophy of OBOR and AAGC. Much like the difference between China and India’s approach to Africa the philosophy of Chinese lead OBOR and Indian partnered AAGC remains different.
China concentrates on infrastructure and cheque-book diplomacy, whereas India promotes a broader spectrum of cooperation projects and programmes focused on the development of Africa’s human resources. China goes solo, while India is desirous of working with other willing nations to assist Africa as per the latter’s priorities. As Indian authorities have often clarified Indian intentions in Africa are never prescriptive and rather it looks at the limitless opportunities of an India- Africa partnership.
AAGC provides a wonderful partnership opportunity between India and Japan in Africa. At the same time it would seek to espouse an alternate model to the OBOR initiative. The AAGC initiative may indeed emerge as an interesting model in times to come.
( Views expressed by the author are personal)
