Windhoek
President Hage Geingob is among 54 African presidents invited to attend the 2015 edition of the India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS), Indian High Commissioner to Namibia, Kumar Tuhin told New Era.
The four-day IAFS summit that will take place from October 26 to 29 in New Delhi, India, is a celebration of the close partnership between Africa and India.
The Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) will lead the business component of the Namibian delegation and several local firms are expected to attend, Ambassador Tuhin revealed on Monday.
Other African leaders invited to attend the IAFS are South African President Jacob Zuma and his Nigerian counterpart Muhammadu Buhari, while Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi could send a representative.
The summit is believed to be the most significant diplomatic engagement at home this year of the Indian government led by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and will see the largest gathering of leaders at that level ever in the country, even surpassing the 1983 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) summit, which was attended by 33 leaders.
India sees the summit as a springboard to a more intense and strategic engagement with Africa, the resource-rich continent where it is playing catch-up with China.
While the overall annual trade volume between India and Africa is still not satisfactory, it has shown a steady increase in the past 10 years, with the figure having reached US$70 billion.
China on the other hand is now Africa’s largest trading partner, ahead of the US. Last year its trade figure with the continent stood at over US$200 billion.
The summit will among others address major global issues, like climate change, United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reforms and international terrorism.
It will also tackle health issues and skills development, keeping in mind the young population and the ocean-related economy of both India and Africa