The Heads of State and Government and Heads of
Delegation of Africa, representing the Continent, the
African Union and its Institutions along with the Prime
Minister of the Republic of India, recognizing the rich
history of Africa-India relationship and noting with
satisfaction the existing close, deep and multi-layered
relations between the two sides and realizing the need
to give a new dimension to this cooperation, have
decided to adopt this Framework for Cooperation between
Africa and India.
The two parties agree to cooperate in the areas
enumerated herein.
1. ECONOMIC COOPERATION
As a conducive and supportive international economic
environment is important for Africa and India in their
quest for a mutually beneficial economic development,
the two parties hereby recognize the need to foster such
environment by reinforcing efforts to promote between
them, trade and industry, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI),
development of Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs)
and Africa’s regional integration. In this regard, the
two parties have agreed to cooperate in the following
areas:
i. Agriculture
Africa and India agree that agricultural development is
an effective approach to ensure food security,
eradicating poverty and improve peoples' livelihood, and
agree to strengthen Africa and India cooperation in this
sector in order to improve the food security of Africa
and to increase its exports to world markets. They
emphasize sustainable development of agricultural and
animal resources with effective support for scientific
research for conservation of land and environment. The
cooperation will focus on the following areas:
• capacity building and sharing of experience in policy
analysis and planning relating to agriculture sector;
•cooperation in water resource management and irrigation
practices, agro- infrastructure development, transfer of
applied agricultural technology and skills transfer;
•cooperation to combat agro-based diseases;
•capacity building/ training for increasing the capacity
of small land holder African food producers to comply
with the required quality and safety standards,
including extension activity and agricultural credit
policies;
•sharing experiences and information on appropriate
storage and processing technologies and jointly
promoting the uptake of African and Indian developed
technologies for diversification and value addition in
relations to food and agricultural products;
• sharing of expertise and information between commodity boards of
Africa and India with a view to learning from each
other's experiences in farm mechanization, post harvest
technology, organic farming, policy and regulatory
frameworks and setting up of cross border commodity
exchange boards;
• enhancing market opportunities for African value added
agricultural products;
• cooperation in livestock management, breeding
technologies, meat processing, dairy industry
development, fisheries and aqua¬culture, including
exchange and transfer of applied technology;
• establishing linkages between agriculture and
industrial development in order to support and nurture
agro-processing industries; and
• enhancing cooperation between agricultural training
centres and relevant research institutes.
ii. Trade, Industry and Investment
Africa and India recognize the need to expand the
two-way trade, greater market access and investment
facilitation and decide to take the following steps:
• technical assistance and capacity-building in trade
negotiations, dispute settlement and implementation of
different agreements under WTO, as well as in enhancing
competitiveness in the world economy;
• strengthening linkages of enterprises on both sides
with a view to developing global markets for products
and services available on both sides;
• maximizing the benefits of trade liberalization
through improved market access for products of export
interest to African countries and India, including
striving to provide duty-free and quota-free market
access for African products;
• promoting and facilitating enhanced trade cooperation
between the two sides, including through value
addition/processing;
• organization of business delegations and participation
in trade fairs and exhibitions;
• preparation of a Joint Strategy and Action Plan for
mapping of resources and opportunities for
entrepreneurship development and facilitation aimed at
mutual growth;
• developing and implementing projects for information
dissemination regarding entrepreneurship opportunities
on both sides, business-to-business contacts, such as
through business conclaves and upgrading of trade
facilitation through commercial missions of both sides;
and
• enhancing corporate governance and social
responsibility.
iii. Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs)
Africa and India recognize that for a sustainable and
successful industrial policy, development of micro,
small and medium-scale enterprises is necessary as the
first step towards industrialization in African
countries. With that objective in focus, the following
steps will be taken:
• capacity building through Entrepreneurship Development
Programmes;
• capacity building on policy formulation and
institutional framework development for the SMEs;
• promotion of Joint Ventures between business
enterprises of Africa and India;
• training in Africa and India for upgrading of skills
in the areas of conventional and hi-tech training; and
• promoting the export of SME products, including
projects on turnkey basis.
iv. Finance
Recognizing the importance of the financial sector,
cooperation in the following areas is decided:
• sharing of experiences and capacity-building on policy
and regulatory frameworks in the financial sector
including the microfinance sector;
• sharing of experiences in mobilization of domestic
savings;
• capacity-building in development of automated trading
systems for stock-exchange and development of
cross¬-border stock-exchanges, such as Pan-African Stock
exchanges; and
• mobilization of financial resources to fund the various projects
envisaged in the areas of cooperation.
v. Regional Integration
Recognizing the importance of regional cooperation and
economic integration in development endeavours, Africa
and India decide as follows:
• provision of financial support to mutually agreed
integration programmes carried out by the African Union
and the RECs, especially those of inter-regional and
continental importance;
• promotion and support for regional and inter-regional
projects, including infrastructural development; and
• provision of technical assistance to support the
establishment of the financial institutions of the
African Union.
2. POLITICAL COOPERATION
Bearing in mind that peace, security and development are
inseparable as there can be no lasting development
without peace and recognizing the need for closer
cooperation in the field of governance structures and
civil society, India resolves to support Africa in
meeting her objectives of sustainable development,
prosperity and peace through the following steps:
i. Peace and Security
• cross-fertilization of the experiences of the AU and
India in peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction
efforts taking into account the AU’s Policy Framework
for Post Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD);
• cooperation in undertaking lessons-learned exercises
and sharing of experiences regarding the role of women
in peacekeeping operations;
• cooperation in developing and implementing training of
trainers towards enhancing the civilian component of
peacekeeping operations;
• technical assistance and capacity building to tackle
the challenge of money laundering and terrorist
financing;
• cooperation in duplication of the Female Formed Police
Unit;
• cooperation in developing and implementing a Training
of Trainers Programme towards effective policing and
police support as ¬part of peacekeeping operations;
• sharing of experiences and information to enhance
capacity to fight international terrorism, including
through the African Centre on the Study and Research on
Terrorism.
• cooperation in combating drug trafficking, as well as
trafficking in women and children; and
• technical assistance and capacity building in disaster
management and humanitarian intervention.
ii. Civil Society and Good Governance
• cross-fertilization of ideas on decentralization of
governance and building capacity of local governments
through administrative reforms and enhancing public
participation in local and central government;
• establishing a platform to initiate, deepen and
maintain cooperation in civil establishments and
training institutes in Africa and India on various
relevant issues;
• create a joint platform for discussion of global
political and economic issues with a view to reinforcing
South-South positions that will enable Africa and India
to have greater leverage in the international fora;
• cross-fertilization and sharing of experiences on
public service reforms and human rights regimes with a
view to strengthening mutual competences in these areas;
• sharing of experiences on strategies for deepening
democratization at the local level, management of ethnic
diversity and wealth distribution in a democratic
context and the professionalisation of the public
services;
• exchange of expertise and sharing of experiences on
the conduct of elections in vast and complex terrains.
• sharing experiences in harnessing resources from
Diaspora;
• helping to strengthen the African Court on Human and
Peoples' Rights;
• interaction of legal experts/lawyers through Bar Associations;
and
• cooperation in legal research methodology and in
emerging international legal issues, such as the
mechanisms, processes and regulatory frameworks that
support outsourcing.
3. SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
i. Science and Technology
• developing robust networks among leading institutes
for Science and Technology for collaborative research
and development;
• sharing experiences in technology transfer and
development of appropriate technology;
• sharing experiences in capacity building for
strengthening the role of science and technology;
• cooperation in setting quality standards and
recognition awards in science, technology and
innovation; and
• cooperation in management of intellectual property,
including indigenous knowledge.
ii. Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Recognizing that Information Technology is emerging as
one of the major vehicles of economic growth and has
become fundamental part of infrastructure and
improvement of myriad sectors of socio¬economic
activities, Africa and India agree to take the following
steps:
•cooperate closely to ensure quick and effective
implementation and roll out of the Pan-African E-Network
Project being funded by India. The project will be a
major step forward in removing the digital divide,
ensure connectivity of all African countries and provide
much needed telemedicine and tele-education to the
masses of African countries;
• cooperate in the implementation of the digital solidarity
mechanism developed within the framework of NEPAD.
• cooperation in capacity building in devising model
legal and policy frameworks for ICT, such as on
e-Commerce, e¬-Governance, e-Health etc.;
• cooperation and information sharing among ICT
regulatory bodies;
• development of Information and Communication
Technology tools and applications aimed at improving
public administration at different levels of government,
taxation management, public financing and delivery of
public services;
• promotion of cooperation in the range of non-material
knowledge-based human resources such as technology,
organization, information, education and skills
development;
• cooperation in setting up Community Information
Centers using IT to accelerate socio-economic
development, with a view to providing rural connectivity
and bridging the digital divides; and
4. COOPERATION IN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND CAPACITY
BUILDING
i. Education
Africa and India recognize that human resource
development is vital to achieve the socio-economic
development goals of Africa and universal mass education
is a key factor in this endeavor. To achieve universal
education with special emphasis on quality and gender
equality, Africa and India will collaborate in the
following areas:
• sharing experiences and building capacity for
educational policy planning and administration through
the effective utilization of financial and statistical
information on education;
• increasing the scholarships available for Africa from the Indian
Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programmes
with focus on science, technology and information
technology-related courses;
• sharing of experiences and best practices in "Mid-day
Meal Programme”;
• collaboration in the development and production of
teaching and learning materials, including equipment for
teaching science and technology and textbooks,
especially for universities;
• collaboration in designing and implementation of Open
and Distance Education/Learning Programmes with
attendant capacity building for personnel required, such
as teachers and ICT technicians;
• establishing programmes for exchange of students and
staff through twinning leading African and Indian
Universities;
• cooperation in equipping scientific laboratories and
training workshops for Technical and Vocational
Education; and
• cooperation in establishing programmes in capacity
building and entrepreneurship for youth through ICT.
ii. Health
Africa and India acknowledge that upgrading and
streamlining healthcare systems and increasing access to
healthcare for the people of Africa and India is a
critical issue and agree to increase cooperation in the
field of health promotion and healthcare systems through
the following areas of cooperation:
• sharing experiences, information and expertise on
traditional systems of medicine within recognized
intellectual property regime;
• training and capacity building for health
professionals and physicians;
• sharing experience and information on healthcare
systems development and community health programmes;
• linking the centers of excellence in the health
sector, such as research and training institutes, etc.;
• focus on cooperation in devising and implementing
programmes for enhancing universal access to adequate
medical services, including developing the telemedicine
infrastructure and technology to enable patients to
receive quality health services, such as medical
diagnostic and other services to which they would not
ordinarily have access due to distance and/or limitation
in the availability of specialists;
• strengthen the indigenous manufacturing capacities and
to make available affordable and quality pharmaceutical
products, especially essential medicines. This may also
include exchange of technical experts and collaborative
efforts;
• enhance cooperation in controlling HIV/AIDS, TB,
Malaria and other communicable diseases;
• cooperation in combating the proliferation and dumping
of counterfeit medicines;
• local production of oral rehydration therapy.
iii. Water and Sanitation
In both Africa and India, many communities lack access
to adequate and safe drinking water, as well as basic
sanitation resulting in prevalence of diseases related
to poor hygiene and environmental sanitation. In order
to achieve the MDGs and the Johannesburg Declaration on
Sustainable Development and Plan of Action, efforts have
to be doubled particularly during 2008, the
International Year of Sanitation. In this connection,
cooperation could focus on sharing experiences and
promoting programmes in the following areas:
• development of sanitation infrastructure, particularly
in urban and sub-urban settings;
• urban development, in particular, combating the
mushrooming of slums and shanty towns;
• waste management; and
• putting in place appropriate framework for water
quality control and water treatment.
iv. Culture and Sports
Recognizing the need to enhance mutual understanding and
friendship between different nations and ethnic groups
and achieving common prosperity and progress of mankind,
as well as underlining the importance of cultural
exchanges and cooperation, Africa and India resolve to
enhance cultural relations between the two sides. To
this end, focus will be given to the following areas:
• encourage people-to-people contacts and exchanges to
deepen the traditional friendship between the two sides;
• strengthen contacts among young people through
encouraging and supporting exchange of students among
schools and universities;
• encourage the visit of Professors under the bilateral
cultural exchange programmes at prestigious universities
in Africa and India and encourage creating/maintaining
chair of African/Indian studies; ¬
• encourage bilateral cultural exchange programmes of performing
art troupes and art exhibitions;
• foster closer linkages in the film industry sector and
encourage holding of film festivals, as well as increase
interaction and cooperation for the film industry of
Africa and India; and
• cooperation in the area of sports.
v. Poverty Eradication
A significant percentage of the population in Africa and
India live below the poverty line and many of the
working poor lack social protection. Unemployment and
underemployment, particularly for the youth, resulting
in internal and external migration are contributing to
unplanned rapid urbanization. These are serious issues
for both Africa and India and both can cooperate to
resolve these problems in the following areas:
• strengthening cooperation in the framework of the
implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);
• cooperation in the implementation of poverty
alleviation strategies;
• sharing experiences in employment creation and
business management;
• development of social security systems; and
• sharing of best practices in development of credit
unions, especially in rural settings.
5. TOURISM
As a significant industry that provides economic benefits and
promotes friendship and socio-cultural understanding
among nations, Africa and India hereby resolve to
continue to promote the growth of tourism, as well as
expand people-to-people exchanges in their two regions
to further promote understanding, trust and cooperation
between their peoples. To this end, focus will be given
to the following areas:
• promotion of close interaction between relevant
authorities in Africa and India to facilitate coherence
of policies and initiatives related to tourism
development;
• adoption of appropriate measures to prevent all
threats to tourism, which may have direct impact on
tourism;
• strengthening of partnership with the private sector
especially travel agencies, hotels, airlines and other
tourism related establishments, as well as the media,
with a view to advancing tourism development between the
two regions; and
• promotion of general tourism and offering joint
tourism packages, including eco-tourism, to utilize the
geographical diversity of the two sides.
6. INFRASTRUCTURE, ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
Recognizing that energy and infrastructure is fundamental to the
economic growth of developing countries and
acknowledging that infrastructural development and
environmental sustainability are some of the priority
areas of NEPAD, Africa and India agree to place energy,
infrastructure and environmental sustainability as one
of the key areas of cooperation and commit ourselves to
the following areas:
• development of public-private partnerships in
infrastructure development;
• cooperation in the development of transport and
telecommunications networks;
• cooperation in the field of exploration and
exploitation of natural resources, as well as value
addition;
• creation of enabling environment for investment and
development of renewable and non-renewable energy
sources;
• cooperation and capacity-building in best practices
and adaptation on the impact of climate change and
desertification;
• exchange of experiences on recent advances on
alternative energy sources and sustainable land
management;
• development of cooperation in fibre optic cables
construction around and within Africa for broadband
access network specifically for landlocked countries;
and
• technical cooperation for Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM).
7. MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION
Africa and India agree that closer linkages and
cooperation in the field of media and communications
will generate greater synergy in their relationship,
enhance a South-South communication culture, enable more
systematic use of their shared cultural and social
heritage and also improve the process of economic
development in Africa and India. In this regard, they
have decided to focus cooperation efforts in the
following areas:
• cooperate to promote common South–South strategies on
flow of information in media;
• enhance linkages among news agencies; and
• enhance training in human resource development,
corporate
communications, and modern technology in media
developments.
Without prejudice to India’s on-going and future
programmmes at the bilateral, REC and other levels, we
agree to develop jointly, within a period of one year, a
joint plan of action at a continental level and an
appropriate follow-up mechanism to implement our
Framework for Cooperation.
Done at Delhi this ninth day of
April, 2008
