Amid global instability and Western aid retreat, India should redefine ties with Africa towards stronger health systems and resilient, food-secure development
Amidst an outbreak of the life-threatening disease Ebola, the African Union and India have postponed the fourth India–Africa Summit, scheduled for the end of May 2026. Given that the fourth India–Africa Summit was held after a gap of eleven years, there was considerable excitement in policy and academic circles. While a sense of disappointment is obvious, it is important to acknowledge the uncertainty of the times we live in and adapt accordingly. There is also an urgent need to reflect on the relevance of high-level summits between African and external partners, known as Africa+1 summits.
With the rising strategic importance of Africa, driven by resource competition and geopolitical rivalry, Africa+1 summits proliferated. The first country to establish an Africa+1 Summit was France. The first France–Africa Summit was held in Paris in 1973. In 1993, Japan launched the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD). The summit model became more popular in the 2000s after both the EU and China initiated their summits in 2000. The Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) became Africa’s most important diplomatic engagement, serving as the primary platform through which China coordinated its trade, investment, and, most importantly, infrastructure projects on the continent. FOCAC’s success, along with China’s announcement of large financial packages for Africa, drew global interest. By the second half of the 2000s, several other countries, including Indonesia, Turkey, South Korea, the US, and India, had launched their own Africa summits. Currently, there are nearly 15 Africa+1 summits.
As the West recedes from its role in international development, India must assume greater leadership.
Though India has a longstanding partnership with Africa, it was a late entrant to summit diplomacy. The first India–Africa Forum Summit was held in 2008. While the first three summits were held within three to four years of each other, the fourth India–Africa Forum Summit has been severely delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, elections in India and African countries, and now an Ebola outbreak. However, it is important to note that irregular schedules and long gaps between summits are quite common in Africa+1 diplomacy. For instance, the gap between the first US–Africa Leaders’ Summit (held in 2014) and the second (held in 2022) was eight years. Similarly, the last Africa–South America Summit was held in 2016, and the fourth summit has not yet taken place. Too many summits exert pressure on African leaders, who are perennially preparing for them. Moreover, the summit format has drawn severe criticism in recent years. Kenyan President William Ruto has sharply criticised Africa+1 summits, arguing that African leaders typically get only a few minutes to speak at such gatherings. Another common criticism is that high-level summits often lead to major announcements, but actual implementation remains poor.
As the world grapples with two major wars, soaring energy prices, supply disruptions and global instability, India should view the summit’s postponement as an opportunity to reassess and strengthen the foundations of its partnership with Africa. African economies have had little time to adjust to the multiple crises that have hit them since the COVID-19 pandemic. Many African countries are facing severe economic strain due to rising food, fertiliser, and energy prices triggered by the war in the Middle East. According to a recent policy brief by the African Development Bank Group, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), 29 African countries have experienced depreciation against the US dollar since the eruption of the Middle East conflict, increasing debt-servicing costs and inflating import prices. Most importantly, Central Africa is experiencing an Ebola outbreak, and aid cuts have severely affected Africa’s health systems. The continent also remains acutely food-insecure, and the war has already led to fertiliser shortages and steep rises in food and fertiliser prices. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a 20 percent increase in international food prices could push nearly 20 million Africans into food insecurity and leave 2 million children undernourished.
African countries have been hit hard by a series of economic shocks not of their own making. The continent needs massive international support, yet the developed world has practically abandoned it. Unprecedented aid cuts in 2025 have had severe consequences for countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia and Mozambique. The impacts of aid cuts and the shutting down of USAID were felt most acutely in the food and health sectors.
Africa is now India’s fourth-largest trade partner, and bilateral trade was estimated at US$ 81.9 billion in 2024–25.
As the West recedes from its role in international development, India must assume greater leadership. For India, Africa has always been a top priority. During its 2023 G20 presidency, India played a crucial role in securing the African Union’s permanent membership of the G20. Trade has also grown rapidly. Africa is now India’s fourth-largest trade partner, and bilateral trade was estimated at US$ 81.9 billion in 2024–25. Indian companies have also expanded their presence in Africa, and the country is the fifth-largest investor on the continent, with cumulative investments worth US$ 62 billion between 2010 and 2025. India’s capacity-building programmes and its demand-driven development partnership model, based on the principles of mutual benefit, are also well appreciated in Africa. The Indian government has extended nearly 196 concessional credit lines worth US$ 12 billion to 42 African countries to support projects in the power, energy, transport, agriculture, and health sectors. As Africa’s most trusted partner, India must now help build African resilience.
With its abundant natural resources and growing human capital, Africa has immense potential but remains highly vulnerable to external shocks. It is heavily dependent on international funding and global markets for its health and food needs. Nearly 99 percent of vaccines and 70 to 90 percent of drugs consumed in Sub-Saharan Africa are imported. The continent also imports over 80 percent of its basic food requirements. Its food import bill ballooned to US$ 65 billion in 2025. Agricultural productivity is extremely low, and nearly 90 percent of the fertiliser consumed in Sub-Saharan Africa is imported. Therefore, the next phase of India’s development partnership with Africa should focus on helping the continent achieve food security and build resilient health systems.
The next phase of India’s development partnership with Africa should focus on helping the continent achieve food security and build resilient health systems.
Food security and health have been key pillars of India’s relations with Africa. The India–Africa Framework for Strategic Cooperation, the outcome document of the third India–Africa Forum Summit, also stressed partnership in these areas. Both health and food security are important goals under Agenda 2063, Africa’s 50-year masterplan for transforming the continent into a global powerhouse. Rather than supporting a wide range of development goals through concessional loans, which have limited development impact, India should concentrate its efforts in Africa on food and health security. Focusing all its attention on agriculture, food security, and health will help address Africa’s two main development challenges. Also, given Africa’s huge debt burden, concessional credit for infrastructure is no longer an ideal development solution for the region.
India is already known as the ‘pharmacy of Africa’, supplying a substantial share of the generic medicines used to treat HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other chronic diseases across the continent. During the COVID-19 pandemic, under the ‘Vaccine Maitri’ initiative, India supplied vaccines and medical assistance to African countries. Indian hospital chains such as Apollo, Fortis and Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospitals already have a presence in several African countries. Indian pharmaceutical companies, including Cipla, have also begun manufacturing generic medicines in Uganda and South Africa.
Helping Africa achieve food and health security would be transformative for the continent while reinforcing India’s credentials as a leading global development partner.
Africa’s health sector has suffered a serious setback following the closure of USAID and wider aid cuts. At the same time, the region is seeking to reduce its dependence on imported medicines and vaccines. At the Third India–Africa Forum Summit, India committed US$ 10 million to an India–Africa Health Fund. Given the grave consequences of the West’s aid cuts for Africa’s health sector, India should now announce a substantially larger package of support.
Africa also faces a severe shortage of healthcare workers. India’s ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists) model offers a useful template that could be adapted across the continent. India’s capacity-building initiatives should therefore prioritise strengthening Africa’s healthcare workforce. Similarly, India should help Africa strengthen food security through greater technical assistance, improved agricultural inputs and drought-resistant crop varieties. Such measures would also create opportunities for Indian agribusinesses to expand across Africa.
Helping Africa achieve food and health security would be transformative for the continent while reinforcing India’s credentials as a leading global development partner. In a nutshell, substance, not symbolism, is the need of the hour.
Malancha Chakrabarty is a Senior Fellow and Deputy Director (Research) at the Observer Research Foundation.
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Dr Malancha Chakrabarty is Senior Fellow and Deputy Director (Research) at the Observer Research Foundation where she coordinates the research centre Centre for New Economic ...
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