India steps up scramble with China for African energy
Monday, 1 February 2010
LUANDA, Jan 31 (AFP): India has stepped up its efforts to gain an economic foothold in Africa in a new scramble with China for the continent's resources, signing energy deals with top oil producers Angola and Nigeria.
India has lagged behind China's aggressive courting of African nations to secure rights to energy as well as raw materials.
Beijing is using its deep pockets to build roads, railways, even a new parliament building in Malawi, to win favour across Africa, deploying at least half a million Chinese workers to labour on projects around the continent.
India's democratic system and often lumbering bureaucracy have left it slower to make inroads and less likely to fund big projects, since government must account for all spending to parliament.
But this month India deployed two high-level missions to the continent, with Oil Minister Murli Deora last week leading a delegation of top energy executives through Sudan, Nigeria, Angola and Uganda.
India's state Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) left with deals for 359 million dollars worth of investments in Nigeria and an agreement for joint exploration and refining projects with Angola, seen as a precursor to a broader future deal.
Deora also tried to patch up a dispute over payments on oil deals in Sudan while discussing major new oil finds in Uganda.
Nigeria is already India's largest African trading partner, at about 10 billion dollars annually, and Deora said in Lagos that his country wants to see that figure grow.
India's flagship gas company GAIL has expressed an interest in liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in Angola and Nigeria, Africa's two top oil producers.
India also offered to invest billions in building and refurbishing refineries in Angola and Nigeria, which cannot process enough crude to meet their fuel needs.
"India has been trying to get its foot into Angola for a long time so this is a significant development." Edward George, Africa-China specialist the Economist Intelligence Unit in London told AFP.
India has lagged behind China's aggressive courting of African nations to secure rights to energy as well as raw materials.
Beijing is using its deep pockets to build roads, railways, even a new parliament building in Malawi, to win favour across Africa, deploying at least half a million Chinese workers to labour on projects around the continent.
India's democratic system and often lumbering bureaucracy have left it slower to make inroads and less likely to fund big projects, since government must account for all spending to parliament.
But this month India deployed two high-level missions to the continent, with Oil Minister Murli Deora last week leading a delegation of top energy executives through Sudan, Nigeria, Angola and Uganda.
India's state Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) left with deals for 359 million dollars worth of investments in Nigeria and an agreement for joint exploration and refining projects with Angola, seen as a precursor to a broader future deal.
Deora also tried to patch up a dispute over payments on oil deals in Sudan while discussing major new oil finds in Uganda.
Nigeria is already India's largest African trading partner, at about 10 billion dollars annually, and Deora said in Lagos that his country wants to see that figure grow.
India's flagship gas company GAIL has expressed an interest in liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in Angola and Nigeria, Africa's two top oil producers.
India also offered to invest billions in building and refurbishing refineries in Angola and Nigeria, which cannot process enough crude to meet their fuel needs.
"India has been trying to get its foot into Angola for a long time so this is a significant development." Edward George, Africa-China specialist the Economist Intelligence Unit in London told AFP.