Speech by President Uhuru Kenyatta during the 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit, New Delhi, India
From president.go.ke
Your Excellency, the Right Honourable Narendra Modi, Prime minister of the Republic of India.
Your Majesties, Your excellencies, Heads of States and Government, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I wish to express my profound gratitude to the Government and people of the Republic of India for the warm welcome and Indian hospitality extended to my delegation since our arrival in New Delhi. In addition, I commend the Government of India for successfully hosting this important Forum. Over the years, India has become an important political, economic and social partner to Africa. Our cooperation in areas such as human resource development, trade, investment, infrastructure development, healthcare, peace and security have defined our relationship. India provides Africa with a contemporary development experience which can be emulated in our own situations. The theme of this Summit, “Partners in Progress: Towards a Dynamic and Transformative Development Agenda” is particularly relevant given the ambitious development goals that India and African countries have set to achieve in the next 15 years.
It is, therefore, my hope that this Summit will offer us the opportunity to agree on concrete proposals that will deepen our partnership for the mutual benefit of our citizens. Excellencies, Our shared history, values and experiences have constructed an important foundation for our present partnership. Although the India-Africa Forum has only been in existence for seven years, relations between India and Africa have been in place for hundreds of years, dating back to the First Century AD. In Kenya, relations with India qualitatively changed at the end of the 19th century. 32,000 Indian laborers came to Kenya to build the Kenya-Uganda Railway in 1896, forever changing our landscape and our country.
Excellencies, It’s important to recall that, India and Africa share a common colonial legacy. India’s struggle for, and eventual attainment of, political independence in 1947 inspired and supported the liberation movement in Africa. At the global arena, India and Africa continue to work together in the spirit of South-South Cooperation as we address critical challenges such as poverty, unemployment, armed conflict, terrorism, and climate change. Kenya appreciates, in particular, India’s support for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). AMISOM has played an important role in the East African Coast by working to secure sustainable peace in Somalia and stabilizing the Horn of Africa. Kenya is also involved in the search for peace in South Sudan and Burundi and even in these processes we hope we can call on India’s support. Excellencies, Indo-African trade has grown significantly in the last few years and has the capacity to grow faster, be deeper and broader. However, for that to happen, we must shift from the tiring and traditional focus on the export of primary commodities and move aggressively to develop Africa’s manufacturing base and value addition.
It is encouraging that India’s investments in Africa have steadily grown, making India the 5th largest source of foreign direct investment in Africa. However, there remains vast untapped potential that investors can take advantage of. I, therefore, encourage more Indian companies to establish a base in Africa as they expand and look for new opportunities and markets. Excellencies, In the social sector, our cooperation has been clearly evident in education and health. Thousands of African students have received high quality education at Indian universities. Many have been equipped with skills in critical areas such as agriculture, transport, disaster management, energy, and information technology. In the field of healthcare, Africa is one of the largest source markets of medical tourism to India.
In Kenya’s case there are over 10,000 Kenyans who seek for medical intervention in India. It is my expectation that India will choose to partner with Kenya in strengthening the capacity of our health systems, especially in the areas of oncology and cardiology. It would also be important for Indian pharmaceutical companies to continue setting up manufacturing plants for generic drugs in all areas of interest to our people. We also look forward to co-operate with India on the transfer of necessary skills in specialized medical fields so as to make these services more accessible and affordable to our people. One of the challenges that the India-Africa Forum partnership has faced is that previous Plans of Action did not have comprehensive monitoring and evaluation frameworks.
I am encouraged that the Plan of Action that we will adopt at the end of this Summit has an evaluation mechanism that will track progress on the implementation of various aspects of our partnership agenda. Excellencies, Africa and India have both been afflicted by terrorism – an evil that knows no boundary, has no religion, no race and no values and that destroys indiscriminately. It cannot be defeated or tackled by one country or region alone. We all know, We have all tried. It has to be an object of global co-operation and solidarity. There is no country that is too far, safe or free from terrorism. This Forum, therefore, provides us with a unique platform to re-dedicate ourselves to the global fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestation. New Delhi is the appropriate venue to call for a re-doubling of efforts towards finalization of a global framework in the war against terrorism.
In conclusion, I would like to affirm Kenya’s unwavering support to India-Africa partnership. We are committed to playing our part in strengthening the already warm and cordial relations we have with India. The Monsoon brought India to Kenya and the East African Coast a Century ago, It remains the gateway to Africa. As the host country for the WTO Ministerial Conference we look forward to welcoming you all to Kenya and to agreeing on a positive agenda. We look forward to the years ahead with great optimism due to the abundant opportunities that exist in numerous areas of cooperation. I am convinced that closer, mutually beneficial collaboration between Africa and India will enable us attain our development goals and improve the lives of our citizens.
I Thank You.
