By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider
New Delhi is set to be the host city for this year’s India-Africa forum Summit which commences 31 May 2026, with this year’s summit being guided under the theme, India Africa Strategic Partnership for Innovation, Resilience and Inclusive Transformation (IA-SPIRIT).
The Prime Minister of India, Narenda Modi, addressed Ugandan parliament in June 2018 and laid down ten principles to be considered with regards to India-Africa cooperation. This summit will serve as a platform for African leaders to be able to collaborate with Indian leadership in order to strengthen the ten principles.
The Summit will also aim to cover inter-state partnerships within the political, security, economy, trade, developmental, cultural as well as people-to-people relationships. The principles highlighted by Modi, titled “The Kampala Principles”, emphasise development partnership, strengthening robust trade and to encourage Indian investment across the continent of Africa.
The development partnership between India and Africa has cultivated the extension of 190 lines of credit which sums up to $12 billion to 43 African countries.
More than 200 projects which are valued at $4.5 billion have been completed across a wide range of sectors including; clean water supply, agriculture, power, rural electrification and digital connectivity. India has also supplied equipment, ambulances and radiotherapy machines for cancer treatment.
The political segment of the summit will be broken down into three factions; Senior Officials’ Meetings on 28 May, Foreign Ministers’ consultations on 29 May, and a summit of Heads of State and government on 31 May.
The summit will position India to frame their partnerships with Africa within an expansive strategic vision which will align with Agenda 2063 as well as India’s long-term development roadmap, Viksit Bharat 2047.
India also serves as Africa’s third largest trading partner, as bilateral trade has exceeded $100 billion and cumulative investments surpassing $80 billion. The business faction of the summit will include high-level plenary sessions, sector-focused discussions, business to business meetings and exhibitions.
Then the cultural faction will be led by the Indian council for cultural relations, which is organising a plethora of events throughout the month of May which includes an India-Africa dance and music festival on 23 May and a joint artistic workshop from 18-23 May which will involve Indian and African performers. The Indian-Africa Artists Partnership for Public Art, will aim to focus on collaborative mural projects.