L. Fituni, I. Abramova Resource Potential of Africa and Russia's ...

egy with regard to Sudan and Zimbabwe. All these things make us
expect further growth of Chinese investments in Africa.
India is one of the few new players on the African continent to
compete with China for natural resources. India’s relations with Africa
receive far less attention in the West than China. Although India
sees China as a competitor in Africa it has to date lacked the resources
and infrastructure to compete directly but India says its ‘soft
power’ engagement in Africa is different from that of the Chinese.
According to a preparatory paper for India-Africa 2011 Forum, India’s
footprint in Africa has been private-sector-led and its diplomatic
presence is limited, although is picking up. India must strike a
balance between the South–South coordination promoted by its policy-makers
and the economic self-interest of its businesspeople. 47
Most actively India is economically involved in Angola, Zimbabwe,
Nigeria and Sudan. The key attractive sector is the energy one. The
economic forecasts predict that the rapidly growing Indian economy
will depend on the imported fuel source for over 90% by year 2030.
This explains why India is so keen on developing oil extraction projects
in various African countries. Currently about 12% of Indian oil
is imported from Nigeria. Sudan and Angola are two other most important
suppliers. Indian diamond cutting and polishing industry
also depends on African diamonds. The key partners in the diamond
sector are Angola and Zimbabwe. India pledged to build local cutting
and polishing centers in the two countries. The total Indian exports
to Africa rose from US$83,536 million in 2004/5 financial
year to US$178,751 million in 2009/10. Imports from Africa also
increased from US $111,517 million to 288,373 million during the
same period. 48
Of other BRIC countries Brazil is playing an increasingly active
economic role on the continent. During the President Lula administration,
Brazil’s annual trade with African countries has
quadrupled in value from $6 billion in 2003 to roughly $25 billion
in 2010. These figures represent an extraordinary increase of exports
by an average of 28 percent per year and imports from Africa
of about 23 percent per year. In terms of total volume of bilateral
trade, Africa is taken as a whole ranks fourth among Brazil’s top
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