India-Africa meet deferred due to Ebola

The India-Africa Summit, which was scheduled to be attended by 54 countries in December, has been deferred this year due to the Ebola outbreak in Africa.

The India-Africa Summit, which was scheduled to be attended by 54 countries in December, has been deferred this year due to the Ebola outbreak in Africa.

With the government expecting nearly 1,000 delegates including ministers, government officials, business leaders and others, for the summit — it was logistically difficult given the public health guidelines to manage, spokesperson in the external affairs ministry said here.

He said the government will work with the African Union on the fresh dates for summit which will now be held only in 2015.

India was preparing to host all the 54 African Union leaders for the third edition of the summit in New Delhi in December.

The event was billed as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s grand reach-out to the continent, where India’s economic and strategic footprints are growing, but far less than that of China.

Africa accounts for over 60% of the total concessional lines of credit (LOCs) extended by the EXIM Bank of India.

From April 2009 till June this year, India has extended LOCs of over $4.2 billion to African countries.