Due to inconsistent reporting systems, a wide variety of Indian development assistance estimates exist. The UN reports that in 2006 total development assistance was between $504 million and $1 billion. India's Ministry of External Affairs most recently reported Indian assistance to be $611.2 million in 2008/09. Close to 90% of India’s development assistance is distributed within Asia. Bhutan has historically been a large recipient, and Afghanistan has recently become another priority, receiving 16% of India’s total 2008–09 development assistance. According to the MoEA, African countries received $22 million of the total.
India’s African aid programme, called the Special Commonwealth African Assistance Programme (SCAAP), currently provides funding for 19 African countries. This is an extension of the 1960s ITEC programme, which worked to improve Africa’s economic and technical cooperation and to counter China’s influence in the region. India also runs the Techno-Economic Approach for Africa–India Movement, which aims to promote technology transfer to West Africa, including loans for agriculture, industry, infrastructure, science, technology and training. In 2008, at the first India–Africa Forum, the Indian government also committed at least $500 million over five years for the Aid to Africa programme, which provides development grants to Africa through the MoEA.
India–Africa trade is robust and growing. From 1991 to 2008, India's trade with the continent rose from $967 million to $35 billion. The Indian government has indicated that it expects to triple trade with Africa, reaching a total of $100 billion over the next five years. India also plans to double its lines of credit to the continent, hitting $5.4 billion over the next five years, and to invest in sectors such as agriculture, mining, information and communication technology (ICT), chemicals, power generation and transmission, and infrastructure. Most Indian–African cooperation is centred in South Africa, which accounts for 68% of African exports to India (mostly minerals, precious stones, metals and alloys, and chemicals).
In 2007, the MoEA announced a proposal to create an India International Development Cooperation Agency. This agency would be responsible for all activities related to development, including creating a development policy framework and implementing the country’s cooperation measures. It is unclear if the agency is any closer to launching, but its creation would be an important step towards tracking India’s increasing engagement in Africa.
