Indian President Murmu States: “Africa is the continent of the future!”

To reinforce India-Africa ties, Indian President Droupadi Murmu embarked on a two-nation African tour. From 8 to 11 November 2025, she was in Angola; subsequently, she proceeded to Botswana, before returning to India on 13 November 2025.

Historically, this visit marks the inaugural presidential visit from India to these two nations. In both countries, President Murmu addressed the Parliament and interacted with the local Indian Diaspora.

In Angola, she served as the Chief Guest at the 50th Anniversary of the Independence of Angola, and it is also worth highlighting that 2025 marks 40 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. On the other hand, Botswana and India are set to celebrate 60 years of diplomatic ties in 2026.

Angola is one of the top oil and gas producers in Africa, even surpassing Nigeria during certain years to rank as the top exporter. In the face of pressure from Trump to move away from Russian oil, President Murmu underlined that Angola could play a greater role in ensuring India’s #EnergySecurity.

In addition, the two countries signed several cooperation MoU in the fields of the #BlueEconomy, including fishing, aquaculture, and marine resources. Previously, the two sides signed a partnership MoU in the fields of agriculture and culture during the visit of Angolan President Lourenco to India in May 2025.

The bilateral trade volume between India and Angola reached USD 5 billion in 2024 and is poised to grow substantially as India ponders stepping up its purchase of hydrocarbons. Angola also officially joined the Biofuels Alliance and Big Cats Alliance, both initiated by India.

In 2024, the bilateral trade between India and Botswana amounted to USD 506 million. A substantial portion of the commerce can be attributed to the procurement of diamonds by India from Botswana. Within the framework of the Big Cats Alliance and to preserve biodiversity, President Murmu ceremonially took delivery of eight cheetahs from Botswana.

Additionally, she toured the Diamond Exchange Hub of Botswana, as the partnership between India and Botswana in precious stones has tremendous growth potential. In the future, Indian firms plan to invest more to undertake diamond cutting, polishing, and mounting locally in line with the #LocalBeneficiation policy of Botswana. In that regard, President Murmu commended Botswana’s success in leveraging its natural resources to uplift its people.

In the course of the meeting between Indian President Murmu and Botswanian President Boko, both sides agreed to enhance collaboration in the domains of agriculture, renewable energy, and capacity building. It is worth noting that Botswana has also already joined the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

India is willing to contribute to the development of the transport infrastructure in Angola and Botswana. In that regard, India has recently financed and implemented the Metro Express in Mauritius. Moreover, India supplied rolling stock to Mozambique and Guinea.

Being a world leader in the fields of software and #digitalization, India is prepared to share its digital payment gateway — known as the Unified Pay Interface (UPI) — which is based on the state-of-the-art #FinTech. So far, Namibia and Mauritius have successfully adopted #UPI in Africa.

“In the larger context of South-South cooperation, the role of Africa cannot be overstated. Africa is the continent of the future. With its youthful demographics and vast natural resources, the continent can fuel the growth of global economy.” 

India President Droupadi Murmu

Traditionally, Indian pharmaceuticals have garnered widespread acceptance across Africa through the provision of generics. In the case of Botswana, where more than half of the population is HIV positive, India is well-positioned to provide affordable AntiRetroviral Therapy (ART).

As part of a new chapter, defense and space technology could constitute novel areas of cooperation. Indeed, India has emerged as a supplier of defense equipment and is one of the few space nations that could offer space technology solutions that more closely match the needs of the #GlobalSouth.

President Murmu reaffirmed India’s commitment to enhancing cooperation with Africa via the India-Africa Forum (#IAF). She recalled that it was under India’s presidency of the G20 that the African Union secured a permanent seat, at par with the European Union. She emphasized that India’s #ViksikBharat2047 and the African Union’s #Agenda2063 share similar aspirations, thereby presenting significant opportunities for synergies to shape up ‘the world that we want.’