In order to deepen the India-Africa strategic partnership to promote sustainable development, and to implement the outcomes of the First India-Africa Forum Summit, the two sides have jointly developed this Plan of Action, with a view to implementing the thematic areas that are contained in the Framework for Cooperation. The Plan of Action is established for a period of 4 years and will be subjected to review, adaptation and enhancement during and after that period.

1. ECONOMIC COOPERATION

i. Agriculture

To enhance agricultural education, science and research, India will provide 25 PhD and 50 Masters’ scholarships per annum for four years to African students in agriculture in Indian Universities/Institutions. The scholarships will cover different disciplines in agriculture. In order to ensure equitable distribution, the AU Commission will coordinate the process of selecting the prospective candidates in conjunction with the Government of India and its embassies in Africa..

India will also provide :

Customized short-term trainings related to transferable skills focusing on training of trainers who will transfer expertise to stakeholders at national level;

Targeted visits of Indian professionals for field demonstrations based on mutually agreed objectives and mission with beneficiary stakeholders;

On-the-spot consultations and in-country trainings;

Provision of essential hardware and software in field demonstrations; and

Exchange of literature, seed, and planting materials, as well as sharing of best practices in agriculture.

The areas to be covered under this programme will endeavour to include management of livestock and fisheries; management of commodity boards; irrigation and water conservation; and capacity building in the area of agro-processing.

ii. Trade, Industry and Investment

The two sides recognize the need to expand two-way trade, greater market access and investment facilitation and agree to the following:

India will establish an India-Africa Institute of Foreign Trade based on the model of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. The institute will provide professional education in the field of International trade and management including studies pertaining to the public and private sectors in Africa. In addition, the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) will provide customized capacity building programmes on international trade and business over a four-year period through the existing bilateral arrangements. This will provide capacity building as the process for the establishment of an India-Africa Institute of Foreign Trade is pursued.

India will also establish an India-Africa Diamond Institute on the model of the Indian Diamond Institute in an African country. The Institute will help to develop African capacities and skills in processing, polishing, and grading raw diamonds.

India’s Duty-Free and Tariff Preference (DFTP) Scheme for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Africa, which has been widely welcomed and which allows access for African goods and services to the growing Indian market, will be continued. Information sharing on the DFTP scheme has been carried out through various fora and will be enhanced under this Plan of Action.

To enhance private sector interaction and building of entrepreneurship and business-to-business linkages, the following initiatives will be undertaken :

Preparation of an India-Africa Business Guide to highlight opportunities on both sides for trade and investment, through the Chambers of Commerce of the two sides;

Organization of Business Councils or meetings at the Regional level between Indian and African economic operators, in order to examine business opportunities offered by both economies; and

Upgrading industrial supply-side capacities and enhancing competitiveness; and exchange of best practices between African and Indian Investment Promotion Agencies.

iii. Small and Medium- Scale Enterprises (SMEs)

Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises are at the core of economic development through the private sectors of Africa and India. They contribute to exports, transfer of technology, employment generation, development of regional trade and entrepreneurship. In this respect and to promote the development of capacities and support transfer of technology, the following actions will be undertaken:

India will establish ten (10) vocational training centers in Africa through the National Small Industries Corporation. Thereafter, it will support existing vocational training institutions in Africa.

India will offer generous Lines of Credit on concessional terms to a large number of African countries; undertake programmes for development of capacity building in Africa and support the Chambers of Commerce in India to hold India-Africa Annual Conclave and other similar initiatives.

Programmes to provide enabling infrastructure and conducive operating environment for SMEs and Small and Medium-Scale Industries (SMIs) in Africa will be created as well as joint ventures between African and Indian SMEs including the development of business guides for the establishment of SMEs in Africa and India as a means of youth employment.

iv. Finance

Recognizing that finance is critical to the implementation of the Plan of Action, India announced at IAFS 2008 that it will provide about 5.4 billion United States Dollars in Lines of Credit to African countries and institutions over the 5-year period. A separate provision of 500 million USD to develop capacities in Africa, of which nearly half is committed to this continental level Joint Plan of Action is envisaged..

These financial provisions will support the integration of Africa through:

Provision of regional infrastructure among other programmes;

Provision of support for capacity building and development of a Pan-African Stock Exchanges;

Consultations between African Ministers of Finance and Economic Development and their Indian counterparts to share experiences; and

Sharing of experiences on the mobilization of domestic savings and the strengthening of Micro-Finance institutions in Africa.

v. Regional Integration

Regional integration is an important objective for Africa and various efforts to harmonize the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) through the promotion of integrated projects are ongoing. India has subsisting engagements with many of the RECs and has developed an implementation process for this purpose. Consequently, India agrees to consider financial support to mutually agreed integration programmes carried out by the African Union and the RECs, especially those of inter-regional and continental importance. India will provide a line of credit of USD 300 million to support regional integrational infrastructure projects through the AU.

POLITICAL COOPERATION

Bearing in mind that peace, security and development are inter-linked, the two sides agree to :

i. Peace and Security

Enhance the capacity of African Governments, institutions and various stakeholders in the implementation of UN Resolution 1325 on women’s role in the peace process;

Cooperate in efforts to combat illicit drug trafficking and abuse, as well as small arms and light weapons; and

Cooperate in developing and implementing training of trainers towards enhancing the civilian component of peacekeeping operations.

ii. Civil Society and Good Governance

Strengthen the African Court on Human and People’s Rights through sharing best practices, capacity building of the court and provision of equipment and the mobilization of resources for the activities of the court;

Promote the interaction of legal experts/lawyers through the Bar Associations, and cooperation in legal research methodology and on emerging international legal issues and regulatory framework that support outsourcing; and

Exchange experiences on best practices, research and human resources within the framework of decentralization and local governance alongside the conference of Ministers of Public Services and Administration and ECOSSOC.

3. SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

i. Science and Technology

Conscious of the fact that science, technology, research and development are fundamentals and major catalysts for socio-economic activities, the two sides agree to the following:

Proposals for enhancement of research, development and scientific exchanges involving programmes and events to discuss issues of policy transfer of technology mechanisms through the institutional strengthening of three institutions and capacity building will be undertaken;

India-Africa Science and Technology Conference will be organized to plan an agenda;

India will support institutional strengthening in areas of mutual interest;

India will provide training in areas like HIV, TB and Malaria;

India will support Africa for its research and development efforts through specific fellowships named after CV Raman which will be implemented bilaterally. These will cover medium term and long term support for researchers and post doctoral fellows; and

Consideration will be given to the proposal for the training of journalists in scientific journalism.

ii. Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

Recognizing the contribution made by Information Technology to the economic development of Africa and India:

Both sides welcome the establishment of the Pan-African e-network project which supports the developmental goals of African countries in the education, health and communication sectors. Both sides agree to the early completion and implementation of this important project.

India will establish an India-Africa Institute of Information Technology which would bridge the gap between academia and industry, and serve as a think-tank for the professional development of IT and provide capacity building and education for the growth of IT in Africa.

India will support the African Union’s initiative in this sector and support capacity building to this end through the ITEC programme. Africa’s desire to have India participate in the implementation of the inter­connection of all African capital cities with broadband network by 2012 and work with Africa to build continental and national e­-strategies including the development of all e­-applications would be jointly developed by both sides.

COOPERATION IN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND CAPACITY BUILDING

Recognizing the importance of human capacity enhancement in the attainment of socio-development objectives, the two sides agree to the following:

i. Education

India will establish an India-Africa Institute of Education Planning and Administration, which will provide academic and professional guidance to agencies and institutions engaged in educational planning and administration in Africa.

India will consider collaborative development of high quality open source Overseas Development Learning training materials for teachers and various categories of school managers.

India will develop training workshops on local and low cost production of educational materials;

India will assist in the development of TVET programmes aligned with labor market demands for both formal and informal economies, and global economic trends.

ii. Health

India will organize an India-Africa workshop on traditional medicine to highlight the commonalities in approach and sharing of experience.

Both sides will strengthen public and private sectors collaboration in the areas of pharmaceutical production and procurement in Africa and India in the framework of pharmaceutical manufacturing plan for Africa;

Both sides will support collaboration in research and development in traditional medicine and practices in Africa and India;

Both sides agree to share experiences, specialized expertise and best practices in healthcare systems development and community health programmes;

India will collaborate with Africa in training and continuing education for health professionals; the Pan-African e-network tele-medicine component supports CME and the training of health professionals in various sectors already part of ongoing bilateral and regional programmes.

iii. Water and Sanitation

India will organize seven training programmes in specialized areas by reputed training/research/academic institutions in India. Up to 50 participants per course will be invited through the African Union.

India will also support African institutions and initiatives in the field of integrated water management through proposals to be mutually decided.

India will fully support Africa in attaining the MDGs in the areas of water and sanitation.

iv. Culture and Sports

Africa and India will endeavor to jointly:

(i) Promote film and TV cultural programme exchanges;

(ii) Organize joint international training for trainers in the field of cultural goods protection and cultural industries;

(iii) Jointly study the establishment of regional laboratories for doping control in Africa and India;

(iv) Organize joint international trainings of trainers in the field of sports management and development, including sports medical care; and

(v) Organize youth cultural and sports festivals through events like Africa-India Week and by tapping the talent of the large African student presence in India through the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

v. Poverty Eradication

Support for the goal of poverty eradication through the following specific programmes will be undertaken:

Organization of seminars/exhibitions across Africa, including through public/private partnerships;

Construction of prototype low-cost houses in 5 African countries, one per region

Exchange of cost-sharing experiences in the construction of demonstration houses in 5 African countries, one per region.

Both sides agree to share best practices in the development of credit unions, especially in rural settings;

Promotion of micro-finance projects in Africa.

5. TOURISM

Recognizing that tourism provides economic benefits and promotes friendship and socio-economic understanding among nations, the two sides agree as follows:

India will sponsor a study towards the harmonization of policies and norms in the tourism sector in cooperation with relevant institutions in Africa;

Both sides will strengthen 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

Both sides will promote 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 infrastructure, energy and environment are fundamental to the economic growth of developing countries, the two sides agree as follows:

Training programmes for up to 50 African participants (annually) at the National Institute for Training of Highway Engineers (NITHE) will be provided by India.

Energy

Note that India has actively engaged with Africa through the India Africa Hydrocarbon Conferences and welcomes India’s commitment to work with Africa to process its resources including by establishing refineries in some countries.

Define together with the RECs, the regional power pools and national governments concrete projects in the field of hydropower, wind and bio-energy in African countries, which have high potential; and

Cooperation to explore renewable sources of energy in Africa.

Transport

Maritime Transport

Develop and promote mutual assistance and cooperation in the area of maritime safety and security, prevention and protection of the main environment and port users;

Work for the creation of regional coast guard networks (North, West, Central, East and South) and surveillance facilities;

Develop Africa’s training in the area of maritime and harbor administration; and

Collaborate and exchange information in the area of maritime transport, harbor management, safety, security and preventing, controlling and combating pollution, particularly through training, exchange of skills and knowledge programmes;

In all these areas more specific proposals will be developed by experts from the two sides.

Air Transport

Coordination of the respective external air transport policies; and

Identification and· development of hubs for air bridge to support airlines operations between the two regions and beyond.

The African side will provide a concept note on these in order to create a dialogue between African and Indian authorities.

Land Transport

Status Quo Assessment of the Trans African Highway (TAH) Network; and

Development of a road safety strategy for the African continent.

The African side will develop and provide India with concept notes on both projects.

Environment

Elaboration of’ specific programs to combat desertification and climate change which constitute major challenges for the international community; and

Sharing of experiences on projects for carbon development mechanisms.

TERI’s MOU with ECA and support to the Africa Climate Policy Centre is also recognised. The Indian initiative to have an African section at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit annually organized by TERI in February in New Delhi initiated since 2009 will be utilized to foster closer engagement among the environmentl policy makers in India and Africa.

7. MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION

Bearing in mind that closer linkage in the field of media and communication will generate greater synergy in their relationship, the two sides agree to:

Cooperate in human resource training in the area of modern corporate communications using modern technology (ICT) and the development of language skills; and

Provide assistance in the production of documentary videos, which are effective in disseminating information on specific missions or interventions.

Other programmes in this area could be undertaken through existing ITEC programmes and through the Public Diplomacy Division in India. These would be discussed between the African Union Commission and the Permanent Mission of India to the AU.

Similarly, an exchange of media delegations, editors’ conferences and training of media persons will form part of the initiatives that India is taking in Africa. These will be undertaken regionally and bilaterally.

8. With respect to the institutions to be established in Africa, namely, India-Africa Institute of Foreign Trade; India-Africa Diamond Institute; India-Africa Institute of Information Technology; India-Africa Institute of Education Planning and Administration; Pan-African Stock exchange and India-Africa Vocational Training Centers, the host countries undertake to facilitate their establishment and sustenance including:

Land for the Institutions;

Building infrastructure;

Budgetary provision for recurring costs;

Governance structures for administration and running of the Institutions; and

Business plan for future development and sustainability.

On its part India will establish and equip the institutions and maintain them for a period of three years.