Assimilating Africa (by Dr. Shaantanu Shankar) - Report

Assimilating Africa, 

a lecture by Doctor Shaantanu Shankar

Lecture: Assimilating Africa 

Date: 04 April 2021

Speaker: Dr. Shaantanu Shankar; PhD in African Studies, University of Mumbai.

Time: 11.00-12.30 PM

The lecture started with a warm welcome of Dr. Shaantanu Shankar by our moderator, Rohit Gupta.

• The situation of Africa during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

We started with India- Africa Relations post COVID-19.  South Africa had the highest number of COVID-19 cases. The top 10 countries had 75% of the cases in the African continent. The three majorly affected countries were Morocco, Tunisia, and Ghana. There is a need for a more robust health care infrastructure. There is also a possibility of under-reporting of cases. The testing infrastructure was also very limited which could have led to the problem of under-reporting. The medical infrastructure needs to be developed and it is concentrated in the urban areas. Rural areas do not have much coverage when it comes to medical infrastructure.  

The Tanzania Situation caused a lot of problems as well. Its national policy on COVID was very irresponsible. The President denied the existence of the COVID-19 virus and refused to pose a lockdown. He further added that Tanzania is COVID free. This greatly affected the surrounding countries, especially Zambia. Cross-border and regional connectivity-related problems rose. The lack of transparency led to an increase in COVID cases as cross-border transportation continued among the countries, to and fro Tanzania.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected Africa’s growth and development a lot. Due to the imposition of lockdown, in the initial stages, there was a supply disruption, like China, one of its major exporters stopped the supply. This led to inflation, shortage in goods, supply disruptions, delay in infrastructure development, major food shortages and it also gave rise to civil unrest. In Mozambique, there was a rise in Jihadist Terrorism. The number of Al-Shabaab groups also started increasing in Somalia. The terrorist groups were able to increase their authority in rural areas as the government does not have much reach there. India has helped Africa through mission SAGAR. 

There were cases of abuse and violation of Human Rights. Anti-corruption and anti-government movements were frequent. Many governments and political parties tried to promote and extend their rule in various regions. The formation of criminal groups also increased. 

The initiation of vaccination in Africa had a relatively late start. Only South Africa, Senegal, Mauritius, Seychelles, Equatorial Guinea, and Zimbabwe started in January and February.  Poor African countries were not self-sufficient and therefore had to depend on a WHO-led COVAX facility for vaccine supply. Africa was also dependent on other rich countries for vaccines. India and China were the first ones to help Africa in facilitating vaccines. Russia also helped but did not play a major role like India and China. Deals with China and Russia were heavily scrutinised due to a lack of transparency and failure to follow international standards and protocols. India did not go through such scrutiny due to its transparency in its health records. But the current deliveries were only able to cover 5% of the needs. Due to lack of vaccines, commercial deals formed. 

• Indian and Chinese Investments in Africa.

India has been constantly supporting Africa. It is the third-largest trade partner of Africa. India has provided Africa with Machinery, vehicles, Pharmaceuticals, and the UN has been providing it with its Peacekeeping forces. India is constantly importing oil and gas, minerals, agriculture, iron and steel, fertiliser, and exporting Refined petroleum, vehicles, pharmaceuticals, machinery, cereals, consumer goods. India has been a major foreign investor. India is the 8th largest source of FDI for Africa. India is planning to invest $310 million in Zimbabwe for a thermal plant project. And $23 million in a thermal power plant in Botswana. Africa has also played a major role in India’s development. The Ministries of Finance and External Affairs of both countries are in constant contact. Nav Bharat, a coal company in India has invested in Zambia. In 2021, New Delhi has kept aside a portion of funds for African development. 

China has been creating a debt trap for Africa. The biggest concern is the influence China has created over Africa in the last 10 years and China accounts for 18% of imports and 15% of exports. And it practices the dumping of goods in Africa. China has a very strong manufacturing power which makes it easier for it to manufacture goods in bulk and dump them in Africa. This also causes Africa to invest in China. These goods are of lower quality or have counter-fret issues. There have been accusations against Chinese workers for stealing jobs in Africa. And there have been instances of labour violations as well. 

India’s economic footprint is increasing. Indian companies like Tata and Cipla have business in Africa. India has an advantage in terms of geographical access. This leads to lower trade costs, easy access, etc. Compared to Chinese investments, Indian investments are more complementary as they were taken into account national development. 

• Democracy and Human Rights in Africa.

There are concerns of Human Right violation and Democracy in Africa as well. Elections have been manipulated in Tanzania, Uganda, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. Questionable elections, electoral frauds, and extended terms are a few of the major democratic concerns. There was an occurrence of a civil war in Ethiopia in November 2020.  Boko Haram has carried out many abductions in Nigeria. China has been giving money to authoritarian rulers in Africa. Rwanda has an authoritarian government and has a good rate of economic success so questions are raised that if democracy is the only viable governance model in Africa. 

This was followed by a very interactive and detailed question-answer session. A few questions that were discussed are:

Q1. The Boko- Haram Human Rights violation, why is it prevalent in Africa?

• Islamic State Terrorist groups are prevalent in West African Countries like Chad, Nigeria, Cameron, and Niger. The terrorist groups have capitalised on poverty and refugees are the main target. This has also led to a number of rapes and abductions. Health and Military need to be improved to tackle this situation well.   

Q2. What is the Tigray Conflict?

• The Tigray conflict is an armed conflict going on in the  Tigray Region of Ethiopia. It is being fought between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) which exercised control over the Tigray Regional government, and the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF). The war was declared on TPLF for organising elections arbitrarily in August. 
• The conflict is between ethno national forces.

Q3. What are a few measures that can be taken to tackle Human Rights issues?

• Freedom of the press is the most important step that needs to be taken. Apart from it, protection of Rights and Supporting Democracy can also help. 

Q4. What is the role of women in African Politics?

• There is a patriarchal structure in politics. In spite of it, African women play a major role in politics. Africa is a leader in women’s parliamentary representation globally. Ghana is an excellent example of matriarchy in politics. Some of the women leaders of Africa are Saara Kuugongelwa ( Prime Minister of Namibia since 2015 ), Sahle - Work Zewde ( President of Ethiopia since 2018 ), Gabon and Togo have female prime ministers. The newest is the first female president of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan who took oath on 19 March 2021.

Q5. Do the African nations consider Western Sahara to be an independent nation?

• The USA recognized Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara in return for Morocco establishing full diplomatic ties with Israel. India and African Union at large do not have any political opinion or will.

The session convened with a thank-you note from the moderator. 

Report by: Keisha Singh, Treasurer of the PSA, FYBA.