India forging bonds with Angola - a win win for both countries
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted Angolan President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco's on a recent state visit to India.
Image: EPA-EFE/HEIN HTET
Angolan President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco's recent state visit to India underscored a mutual desire for stronger economic ties, with India recommitting itself to deepening strategic and economic engagement with the African Union.
Lourenco's visit - which took place between May 2 and 4 - was his first ever bilateral State Visit to India and took place 38 years after the last visit by the President of Angola to India, coming as India and Angola are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
Both countries have their differences - they are geographically far apart and linguistically diverse but both countries are connected by historical threads of post-colonial solidarity, economic complementarity, and growing strategic convergence.
Angola is rich in oil and minerals while India has long-standing relations with Angola's neighbours, such as Mozambique and Namibia and the general consensus is that bilateral relations with Angola remained underdeveloped for much of the past two decades.
Bilateral trade between the two countries has been growing and reached US$ 4.192 billion during 2023/2024 with their development partnership, capacity-building cooperation and defence relationships, expanding in recent years. Both countries also support each other's candidature at various multilateral forums, including in the United Nations.
In the meeting earlier in May, both countries agreed to expand cooperation in oil exploration, refining, and energy infrastructure development. India also expressed a keen interest in participating in Angola's diamond sector, critical minerals exploration, and fertiliser production.
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Play
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
-:-
Loaded :
0%
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque
Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
Advertisement
Next
Stay
Close ✕
During his visit to Johannesburg in July, 2018 to attend the BRICS Summit, Lourenco met India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed ways to enhance trade and investment between the two countries and also to deepen cooperation in sectors like energy, agriculture, food processing and pharmaceuticals.
The visit saw active participation from business leaders, with targeted meetings aimed at enhancing trade, investments, and joint ventures. The Angolan delegation included key ministers who arrived in India ahead of the president to facilitate focused bilateral talks, reflecting the seriousness with which Angola approached the visit.
Another cornerstone of the visit was the deepening of defence ties. India approved a $200 million Dollar line of credit for Angola to support its defence modernisation efforts. Discussions included the supply of military equipment, joint defence production, training for Angolan military personnel, and maintenance of existing Russian platforms. Angola's openness to Indian defence cooperation is a notable shift, signifying trust and alignment on strategic interests.
President Lourenço also signed a framework agreement for the country's accession into the International Solar Alliance (ISA) during the visit. The agreement will see the country join the intergovernmental organisation, which seeks to increase the deployment of solar energy technologies as a means for enhancing energy access and security worldwide.
India also showcased its leadership in digital and technological domains during the visit. Offers to share expertise in digital public infrastructure, space technology, and e-governance were welcomed by the Angolan side. A youth exchange programme was proposed to strengthen people-to-people contacts and foster cultural understanding between the two nations.
The ceremonial welcome accorded to President Lourenço at Rashtrapati Bhavan and delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Modi underscored the high-level nature of this engagement. A business forum brought together investors and stakeholders from both sides, focusing on oil, gas, mining, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Importantly, Angola currently holds the rotating chair of the African Union (AU). In a significant diplomatic signal, India reinstated the tradition of inviting the AU Chair for a state visit with Angola's position as AU Chair adding weight to its call for an early convening of the fourth India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-IV).
While addressing a joint press briefing with President Lourenço, Prime Minister Modi said, "India and the African Union are partners in progress and pillars of the Global South. Under Angola's presidency, the strength of India and the African Union's partnership will strengthen further. In the last 10 years, India has gained speed in cooperation with African nations. Trade has reached almost USD 100 billion. We've improved defence cooperation and maritime security. Last month, India and Africa had their first naval maritime exercise."
Lourenço said, "Both our nations combined can help establish a significantly expanded foundation for business opportunities."
"I have come to India, to convey a message of admiration and friendship that will hold with your country. I have also come to India with the intention of showcasing a new vision for relations between our countries."
Modi, described the visit as 'historic' and said it was not only giving new direction to India-Angola relations but also strengthening India-Africa ties.
'India stood firmly with Angola during its struggle for independence. Today, we continue to build on that foundation of friendship,' Modi said during a joint press statement.
President Lourenço's visit to India has ushered in a new era of strategic partnership between the two countries, highlighting mutual interests. While the relationship had previously been transactional and narrow, this visit has opened doors for a multidimensional partnership built on mutual respect, strategic alignment and shared developmental goals.
* Dr Govender is an academic and a keen observer of issues related to international relations.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Maverick
12 minutes ago
- Daily Maverick
The strategic reforms that could transform South Africa's economy
The key is to break the strangleholds that Eskom and Transnet have on our electricity, ports and railways. Introducing real competition into electricity generation and the operation of ports and railways is the key to unlocking real growth in South Africa's stagnant economy. So said Deputy Finance Minister Ashor Sarupen at a seminar organised by the In Transformation Initiative last week, where Jakkie Cilliers, head of the African Futures unit at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), presented the unit's latest report, co-written with Alize le Roux, which forecasts SA's growth trajectory to 2043. The seminar pondered why, despite the creation of a government of national unity (GNU) last June and the virtual end of load shedding, the South African economy only grew by a miserly 0.1% in the first quarter of 2025. Cilliers said South Africa was caught in a 'classic upper middle income growth trap'. From 1990 until 2025, South Africa's economy had grown by an average of 2.3% a year, and on its current path, without significant reforms, he forecast it would grow at an average 2.4% annually from now until 2043. That would expand GDP from about $402-billion in 2025 to about $628-billion in 2043, in constant 2017 US dollars. This 'slow but steady growth' would not be enough to dent poverty. It would barely keep pace with the population, which the unit forecast would expand from about 65.5 million in 2025 to about 77 million in 2043. Cilliers said annual GDP per capita would therefore rise from $12,600 in 2025 to about $14,700 in 2043 — with South Africa falling behind the rest of the world (except Africa) where he forecast average annual GDP per capita would climb from $20,300 in 2025 to $28,500 in 2043. He noted that on its current development trajectory it would take South Africa until 2037 to return to the peak GDP per capita of $13,800 that it reached in 2013. South Africa had been stagnating for years, with steady deindustrialisation, weak investment, and a growing dependence on social grants undermining growth, particularly during the Jacob Zuma presidency, Cilliers said. Cilliers noted that 740,000 South Africans entered the labour market every year, and because of slow growth and a very capital-intensive economy the number of unemployed people increased annually. In 2023, the International Labor Organization (ILO) found that South Africa had the highest unemployment rate globally after only Eswatini. Because being part of the informal sector is considered 'work' by the organisation, South Africa's relatively small informal sector contributed to this high percentage. In South Africa, only about 18% of the labour force is employed in the informal sector. Cilliers noted that about 62% of South Africans were now living below the World Bank's poverty datum line for upper middle income countries, of $6.85 per person a day. On South Africa's current economic path, that percentage would decline 'modestly' to 58% in 2043, though the absolute number of people living below that poverty datum line would increase, from some 40.9 million in 2025 to 44.4 million in 2043 (because the overall population would rise). Cilliers said South Africa should now be reaping a 'demographic dividend' because its ratio of working age population – aged 15 to 64 — to its dependent population (children and elderly) had now reached 2.1. In the African Futures calculations, the demographic dividend should kick in when the ratio of working people to dependents reached 1.7. he said, Economic growth stunted by poor human capital But South Africa was not earning this dividend largely because economic growth was being stunted by poor human capital, mainly an unhealthy population, many of whom were still afflicted by HIV/Aids and tuberculosis and low-quality education. The question, he said, was why South Africa did so poorly on social capital, education and health, given the very high levels of expenditure on those services. 'And the only answer that you can come up with is government inefficiency, the poor use of existing funds. And the question is, how do we escape the middle-income trap?' Cilliers asked. He said the African Futures team had modelled the effects of reforms in eight different sectors on South Africa's economic development. These were demographics and health; agriculture; education; manufacturing; infrastructure and 'leapfrogging' (i.e. bypassing older technologies); free trade; financial flows; and governance. They found that the largest return was from increased manufacturing, followed by freer trade and then better governance. So, for instance, all eight sectors combined would increase GDP per capita in 2043 by about 33%, from the $ 14,750 on the current path to $19,650. Of this, increased manufacturing would contribute about $930; freer trade (with the full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement) would contribute about $900; and better governance about $800. The combined impact of those eight reforms would decrease the percentage of South Africans living below the $6.85 a day poverty rate to 50% by 2043, down from 62% in 2023. This would represent 6.1 million fewer poor people than if the economy remained on its current path, though still leaving South Africa with a large poverty burden, Cilliers said. The African Futures team had compiled a laundry list of recommendations, starting with the need to strengthen governance and accountability through evidence-based policies, curtailing corruption and increasing accountability and inclusivity. Deputy Finance Minister Sarupen, of the DA, said much of Cilliers' analysis resonated with assessments by the Treasury's own economic policy team and the work being done by the government's Operation Vulindlela and by various parties in the GNU. He agreed that merely 60% growth in the size of the economy over the next two decades 'will not get us out of the trap that we're in' and that South Africa was in danger of falling from upper middle to lower middle income status. Structural constraints The low growth was driven by structural constraints, weak productivity, low investment in capital, higher inequality and an underperforming formal labour market. The Treasury was 'acutely aware of this'. But he said the government had to prioritise its reforms to tackle the problem because of the many competing demands of a massive amount of social ills and a very strong active civil society. He noted that South Africa had a system of fairly autonomous government ministries that made it harder to pursue coherent policies. Cilliers had identified manufacturing and freer trade as South Africa's best paths forward. Sarupen noted that cheap reliable energy with stability of pricing and supply underpinned manufacturing and industrialisation . 'And one of the drivers of our de-industrialisation has been excessive pricing and inefficiency of supply that really hurts manufacturing in South Africa,' he said. He noted that while prices in the rest of the economy had risen 196% since 2009, Eskom's prices had increased by 403%. So Eskom was driving inflation and deterring investment. Sarupen added that part of the reason GDP growth had been so low over the past year, despite an end to load shedding, was because companies had sunk so much money into load-shedding-proof themselves over the past few years that they had not spent enough on actual business expansion and employment. Sarupen also noted that free trade — another key reform advocated by Cilliers — 'requires you to be able to actually move goods and services cheaply and easily around, so the logistics reforms need a lot of depth and need to maximise competition. 'And so in the reform process that we're undergoing we need to be careful to not just bring the private sector into Transnet's monopoly structure. But rather how do we create competition, across multiple ports for example.' Likewise, South Africa had to maximise competition in railway freight lines. He agreed with Cilliers that crime had to be tackled much better as it was discouraging investment as well as acting as a deterrent to economic activity inside South Africa because, for example, citizens were fearful of using public transport to go to work. Rule of law He said the rule of law was the foundation of all other economic reforms, followed by macroeconomic stability, and then better education and health, and only after that global competitiveness and industrial masterplans. Sarupen did note though that South Africa's foundation of macroeconomic stability was 'probably one of our saving graces'. He also said that the government had to reduce debt. He noted that about 90% of South Africa's debt was denominated in rands, and about 75% of that was purchased by domestic markets. Rand debt was generally better than debt in foreign currency but the scale of government borrowing, about R300 to R400-billion a year, was crowding out the amount of capital that could be invested in business ventures and therefore growth. He added that the relatively high premium of about 11% on a 10-year South African Government Bond was discouraging businesses from investing in riskier ventures. He noted that many of the investments in this year's controversial national Budget were important — such as in public transport. He said, for example, that while a lower income worker in Vietnam earned a similar wage to a lower income worker in South Africa, the Vietnamese worker spent about 10% of his or her income on transport, the South African workers spent around 50%. 'People are going to work to earn money to be able to go to work,' he said. And this was diverting money away from workers buying goods and services, which was essential for economic growth. DM
IOL News
an hour ago
- IOL News
Reflecting on Gandhi's legacy: 132 years since a defining moment
Director of the National Gandhi Libray from New Delhi,India Professor Annamalai Alagan addresses guests at the 132nd anniversary of Mohandas Gandhi forcibly ejected at the Pietermaritburg railway station. A solemn commemoration was held at Pietermaritzburg railway station this week to mark the 132nd anniversary of a pivotal moment in the life of Mahatma Gandhi. In 1893, Gandhi, then a 23-year-old lawyer, was forcibly removed from a first-class train compartment despite holding a valid ticket, after a white passenger objected to his presence. The incident occurred during a journey from Durban to Pretoria and is widely regarded as the catalyst for Gandhi's lifelong commitment to non-violent resistance. The commemorative event was co-hosted by the Indian Consulate in Durban and the Pietermaritzburg Gandhi Foundation. Among those in attendance was Gandhi's granddaughter, Dr Ela Gandhi.
IOL News
2 hours ago
- IOL News
Six of the best: Editor's pick of the letters you sent to us
Who is fooling who at City Hall? What is going on within the eThekwini Metro is beyond one's understanding. A year ago, in April the city workers down tools of trade in protest of their pay scale, which is Category 8. The strike went caused havoc and impaired service delivery. The outcry was loud and Cogta had to intervene, when, in my opinion, it was unnecessary. It was unnecessary because one of the things listed in the motivation to increase the City Manager's salary by 66.66% was that he was leading a Category-10 municipality. That alone was reason enough to award workers their demands. Various consultations were made to verify the worker's call, but to date the issue remains unresolved, with the municipality crying about how tight the budgetary constraints are. The City says it had insufficient funds to foot the bill, but is wasting funds in defending court cases with contractors. Additionally, the City has advertised top executive positions that have a Category-10 salary scale. So, who is fooling who instance? I fail to understand the whole setup, but maybe the citizenry can dissect the situation, because it judged the workers in their actions. This is not an ideal situation to make a discourse, but the City management needs to provide leadership and furnish answers or another action by the workers will be justified, soon, I guess. | Concerned citizen (name withheld at editor's discretion) The DPP and her NPA office are inept Following the grave miscarriage of justice recently regarding the Omotoso case, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) now has more egg on its face with the extradition M Cholota – the ex-personal assistant of former Free State Premier Ace Mageshule – being ruled as unlawful. Much of the ineptitude and gross shoddiness of the under-performing NPA is a sad reflection of Shamilla Batohi, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).She is in the same inferior league as the former Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, who was booted out of office owing to poor performance. The new DPP will be appointed in 2026, but why is Batohi not shown the door immediately due to her ongoing failure to deliver? Is it because she is an ANC crony and lackey?Please, President Cyril Ramaphosa save our beloved country from continuing to be a laughing stock, especially in the international arena. You must make relevant appointments to senior public offices with competence, merit, credibility and integrity being minimum requirements. Shame on the relevant parliamentary portfolio committee for accepting the half-baked responses and other hogwash of the DPP in various sittings. Like her, most committee members are buffoons and are doing the country a great disservice. Enough is enough! | Simon T Dehal Verulam US-influenced UN in need of overhaul One would have wished that the UN Gaza ceasefire resolution, that is shaped by international law, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and principles of social justice, would have received unanimous vote, but, sadly and regrettably, it was vetoed by the US. The UN call, which was supported by 14 of the 15 members of the Security Council, was for the fifth time rejected by the US, making it the only country to vote against the urgent appeal for an 'immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire' in apartheid Israel's war on Gaza. The grossly ineffective UN Security Council which was established under the UN Charter to maintain international peace and security needs urgent reform to manage real-life global realities, issues and challenges that have changed since its establishment in 1945/6 when the UN Charter was adopted. | MOHAMED SAEED Pietermaritzburg How wonderful to see Trump, Musk fall out It was like manna from heaven to see the Donald Trump/Elon Musk bromance finally come to an end. The battle of the Titans was always destined to end in failure as it could be likened to King Kong taking on Godzilla … there could be no winner. The US president got his way by using Musk's ATM to squeeze his way into the White House – had it not been for Musk's financial backing, Trump wouldn't even have gotten into the Oval Office toilet ! Musk doesn't need Trump. He has oodles of money and has more than made his mark. It is, however, not dollar bills that measures a man's worth but the legacy he leaves. Musk now has a golden opportunity to put his wealth into a worthy cause and at the same time stick it to Trump! The Gaza conflict is calling. Sort that out and Musk will go down in history as the man who did what Trump failed to do, by instigating peace in the Middle East Musk's name will be etched in history as the man who did what no one could do for over a thousand years ! Now that's a challenge and what a legacy that would be. | Colin Bosman Newlands Why aren't we celebrating her? Is South Africa's first black female winemaker, Carmen Stevens, being afforded the recognition she deserves in the 'Rainbow Nation' for having achieved turning her childhood dream into a winemaking legacy? | Eric Palm Gympie, Queensland, Australia Shameful message of such letter-writers Some letter writers are called 'bullies' because they insist that the message of the day – the genocide in Palestine – should be shouted out loudly and continuously for all to hear, until this heartbreaking, very dark and heinous episode ends. And so the cries of these writers are halted. Perhaps because it upsets advertisers or other vested interest in certain newspapers! This selective opinion blackout obviously makes the media that fails to assist readers to voice their opinions based on established human rights, and possibly complicit in the genocide.'Selective', because some writers (actually just a pair of them) constantly side with Trump regarding the ' kill the boer' US President Donald-narrative, which begs the question: Why have, they not joined the flotilla of selected Afrikaner farmers making their way down the Mississippi towards a glorious future. In America? These writers are forever also siding with Israel calling it a ' fantastic' country while calling Iran a 'fanatical' state! Israel, the state that does something that has probably never been tried before: Luring starving Palestininians with the promise of scraps of food, then callously shooing them!How can humans in this country actually still side with a lunatic fringe like these Zionists in Israel?. Zionists whose neo-religion is their own modern invention which has nothing to do with Judaism?It's a very sad indictment on the press in this country which is actually fully permitted the proverbial 'freedom of the press', a concept that seems to be increasingly obstructed in other, so-called 'democratic' countries. These writers treacherously side with Israel against the ICC and IJC charges initiated by our very own South African legal system, while nobody else around the world has the actual acumen to do anything close to this!All very shameful! | Ebrahim Essa Durban DAILY NEWS
