Second Africa-India summit results in signing of the Addis Ababa Declaration.

African Union Commission Chairperson Jean Ping addressing the 2nd Africa - India Forum Summit held at the African Union headquarters in Ethiopia . Photo courtesy of www.gcis.gov.za

R125bn (US$18bn) of projects committed

to Africa by Indian businesses At the summit in Ethiopia held on May 25th South African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe has reaffirmed the strategic importance of India's relationship with Africa. He also underscored the need for burgeoning trade relations to be propelled to the next level. "We need to ensure that capacity building is focused on further expansion and leads to increases in trade between and amongst the African countries and India, as well as in investment in infrastructure development," Motlanthe said.

He also commended the commitment of $18 billion worth of projects to Africa by the Indian businesses at the Business Forum Conclave held early this year, as well as the credit line India offered to Africa during the first Summit in 2008 - - commitments made in a harsh economic environment in the aftermath of the recession.

"We, as African countries, need to ensure that we fully utilise such opportunities to the benefit of our people, especially since

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the shortage of finance experienced by Africa in this current economic situation depresses investment, deters growth and undermines the ability of our countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals," said Motlanthe.

Currently, the World Bank estimates that Africa needs investment of $93 billion per year to address the infrastructure gap.

In the fields of economic cooperation, the two sides underlined the importance of supporting stable, long-term capital flows to developing countries to stimulate investment.

They envisaged a widening of the partnership to areas such as civil society and governance, science and technology, social development, health, culture, tourism, sports, infrastructure and media and communications, in order to achieve inclusive growth, social-economic development and self-reliance.