Faced with the aggressive strategic intentions of BRI and China, each country is unable to face alternative challenges other than China. Thus the concept of trilateral cooperation was born. While various partners such as Japan, France, UK and others held talks with India about collaboration in Africa, nothing major happened until India and Japan announced the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor at the African Development Bank meeting in Ahmedabad in 2016.

An attempt has emerged to move beyond the think tank approach towards business-to-business (B2B) engagement between Indian and Japanese companies in Africa. However, the information exchange portal between JETRO and IIC in 2020 was flooded with Indian companies with limited interest among Japanese companies. This B2B approach has been promoted by the IIC Working Group on Trilateral Partnerships in Africa.

With increased coordination between India and European countries, other approaches emerged. This was discussed at the recent CII India-Africa Conclave in a special session on trilateral cooperation in Africa. In addition to the ministers of Cameroon and Guinea, it includes the heads of the UK’s DFID (now part of the FCO) and the French AFD.

His willingness to first create a fund that India and other companies can leverage from working in Africa is appealing. During the session, African ministers expressed their enthusiasm for the cooperation.

India’s push for a trilateral cooperation fund received a positive response from the UK, France, Germany and the European Union. These are for impact investments and can make long-term equity investments, equity injections and project grants, which will pursue the SDGs. This is the approach to impact investing, discussed in the new book “The Harambee Factor” on India-Africa cooperation.

It offers a viable alternative to financing projects, which will have economic, environmental and social impacts in African countries. Funding will go beyond loans and include investments, grants and capacity building, making the project financially viable and having an impact on partner country development.

During the India-UK Virtual Summit in May 2021, a Memorandum of Understanding was reached to establish a Global Innovation Partnership (GIP) under the trilateral rubric. India and the UK co-finance up to $100 million. They will support qualified innovators in this mixed funding matrix. A new budget item has been created in the MEA to allow for the entry of funds from trilateral or plurilateral partners such as in the National Infrastructure Investment Fund.

During Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Berlin, an Indo-German statement on triangular cooperation in third countries was announced. Similar funds or contributions to the same fund are being discussed with France and the European Union. The establishment of the Trilateral Development Cooperation Fund (TCDF) within the MEA has become a paradigm shift for implementing trilateral cooperation outside India.

Japan’s trilateral cooperation places more emphasis on a private sector approach. Since TICAD 7 in 2018, they prefer to provide guarantees and encourage the private sector in Africa. These efforts have been hampered by the pandemic. Japanese companies continue to look for new opportunities and with TICAD 8 in Tunis in August, further moves can be expected. Japan can be persuaded to contribute to the TCDF, as Japan’s ODA amounts to $4 billion per year. In contrast to Europe, which has traditionally separated development cooperation from business, Japan’s ODA and business are interdependent. The hiring process among all of them varies. This will continue to be an operational challenge.

Better to handle this on a project-by-project basis rather than an overall solution. Projects should consult with African countries and explain the benefits and responsibilities of the host country. Efforts to reduce debt pressure in Africa validate such cooperation and hybrid financing as a useful approach.

MEA as head of TCDF, must coordinate project identification. They can have an investment committee made up of specialists in development cooperation with Africa. This committee should guide the use of the TCDF.

Some experts believe that development partners can contribute to the TCDF MEA and use the funds according to their procurement rules, rather than having multiple procurement rules. This requires efforts from partners to adopt a similar implementation approach.

(Former Ambassador to Ethiopia, Indonesia and Germany, Gurjit Singh, is the author of The Harambee Factor: India-Africa Development and Economic Cooperation. He is Chair of the IIC Working Group on Trilateral Cooperation in Africa.)