Making up for lost time

So India has finally gotten around to strengthen its trade relations with Africa. A pledge of $5Bn over the next 3 years in development support is a good start but not anywhere close to what China has to offer. A quick look at this article tells us how China is way ahead in their trade relations with Africa.

But India has its own strengths when compared to China. First and according to me the strongest is the relatively large number of the Indian Diaspora in Africa. Second, with a stronger and well established private sector, India can give stiff competition to the state-owned companies in China.

India may have been a little late in taking this step, but it's a start. The success would lie on India's pace with catching up on lost time & keeping up with it.