We cannot replace one imperialism with another

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In an exclusive interaction with Shashank Tripathi, Shipra Tripathi, Director, CII, Africa Desk speaks about growing dominance of Indian & Chinese brands in Africa...

Is Africa fast becoming the testing ground for India Inc.’s ‘brand’ war with corporate China?
Africa is a relatively known territory for India historically. In the mind of Indian industry the space provided by Africa as a market place is large enough to house partnerships with India and China. In the minds of Africans it is no longer India or China. The relative advantage provided by the two Asian giants is required for the development of Africa – the technologies from India and the inflow of funds from China. There is a need to build Brand India but not in competition with Brand China, instead in its own right as a destination for adaptable and appropriate high quality technologies.

While China has till now adopted a largely heavy industries led investment approach in Africa, India’s approach is more entrepreneur and brand led. Which one do you think is a better approach?
The question here is not what is going to help India or China but what is going to help develop Africa. While I am not in a position to speak on the strategy being used by China, India has a long term perspective of engagement with Africa. The intention is to do business and to build capacities by ways of institutional links and skills development.

Is the time really ripe to enter the African market? Moreover, can private investors and entrepreneurs alone transform the continent?
Indian industry is private sector driven and this is what drives the economy. The private sector moves where it sees opportunity. The other aspect of Indian industry is that till a few years ago we were not prepared as organisations to take risks particularly in markets with low credit rating. If you look at the statistics now six of the fastest growing economies are in Africa and that provides opportunity for Indian industry to invest and get the results that are expected. The change in the perception of the world regarding Africa is also helpful such as the decisions taken at the Gleneagles where a majority of the G8 countries decided to give debt relief to a host of African countries giving them ready capital to invest in development related activities. So it is a combination of factors of private sector investments, government policies, & political will and institution building that will help transform Africa.

What, according to you, are reasons behind this renewed focus?
A lot of it is related to resources required by the growing industries in the two countries but in India a large amount of investments are going into no resource areas like infrastructure, power and water management, et al.

No doubt, African governments are welcoming investments by India and China, but Africa’s independent voices do not share this enthusiasm? What’s your take on this?
Africa has to stand on its own feet on its own terms. We certainly cannot replace one imperialism with another. Our inputs should support this process not go against it. Moreover, the challenges are largely from the lack of knowledge of the countries and the opportunities that it has for investment and resource allocation.

How do you think the West would react (rather is reacting) on the growing dominance of Indian and Chinese brands in Africa?
The West is looking keenly at the new and emerging influence of India and China. Think tanks are assessing and studying the growing presence in the region. Asian countries do not seem to be an immediate threat to traditional partners like UK and France.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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