In eleven years of power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has elevated Africa to a foreign policy priority, rather than an afterthought. Over the last year, he’s had three tours of Africa and has visited six proud African nations: Nigeria, Mauritius, Ghana, Namibia, Ethiopia, and South Africa for the G20.

India’s engagement with Africa is rarely front-page news in Western capitals. China dominates the headlines with its expansive Belt and Road Initiative and $280 billion in trade with Africa. India’s numbers are smaller, roughly $100 billion, and its approach is far less flashy. Yet, that may be precisely the point.

Multiple African nations now strain under Chinese debt. When infrastructure projects fail to deliver returns, loans become leverage. And what happens when the loans remain unpaid? A loan shark, the biggest on the planet, fronting the tag of a nation, but running a small alley loan centre, comes out to grab what it’s allegedly owed.

India has seen this unfold in its neighbourhood, with Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and to an extent in Nepal and Bangladesh as well, and has chosen a different path. Instead of debt-heavy megaprojects, Modi’s government offers something simpler and smarter: technology transfer, manufacturing partnerships, digital public infrastructure, and pharmaceutical access.

But why do I, or in fact any Indian, care so much for a continent which potentially has nothing to offer in terms of geopolitical power play, or even an attractive developed market? Because Africa is home to 1.2 billion people, with massive natural resources, growing markets, and a continent increasingly courted by every major power.

And most importantly, as is the vision of our Prime Minister, if India wants to be the leader of the Global South, if it wants to shape the 21st-century world order, Africa is non-negotiable.

Prime Minister Modi is currently on his visit to Ethiopia. On Wednesday, during his parliamentary address in the country, Modi positioned India’s democratic and economic trajectory as a model for South-South cooperation. Once again reminiscing and reminding the nation and the continent as a whole of India’s peer relationship, grounded in shared anti-colonial heritage, non-aligned principles, and a refusal to accept the post-Cold War order as permanent or immutable.

Ethiopia also hosts the African Union, making it the diplomatic capital of Africa. The same African Union for which Modi advocated throughout India’s G20 membership to include the covalence of 55 nations into the premier economic institution, giving them a voice on debt sustainability, climate finance, technology access, and illicit financial flows, issues where fragmented African states historically held no meaningful leverage.

During the visit, Modi was conferred the Great Honour Nishan of Ethiopia, the nation’s highest civilian award. He became the first head of state to be conferred Ethiopia’s highest award. It is in line with the roughly two dozen state honours the Prime Minister has received, including the Order of the Niger by Nigeria, Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean by Mauritius, Order of the Star of Ghana, and Order of the Welwitschia by Namibia.

And why would the Prime Minister of a democratic state, which has made Africa the cornerstone of India’s policy, not be conferred by these awards?

India and Ethiopia elevated their relationship to a full Strategic Partnership. It came with eight formal agreements covering customs........

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