As part of its Africa program, Futuribles focuses on the continent’s relations with emerging powers. After examining Russian strategies in Africa, Futuribles turns its attention to India and will organize a round-table discussion on the future of relations between India and the African continent.

This will include issues such as what kind of cultural, economic and diplomatic cooperation can we expect Between India and African states by 2035? With which countries can cooperation be developed? What could be the geostrategic significance of these cooperative ventures?

The roundtable discussion will be hold on November 09, 14:30 French Time (UTC+1). The roundtable will be online and in English. It will associate the following panelists:

Sanusha Naidu, Senior Research Fellow at Institute for Global Dialogue, City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. Sanusha Naidu is a foreign policy analyst. Her research interests include Democratisation in Africa; Africa’s Political Economy and Development; Africa’s relations with Emerging Powers from the South (BRICS and IBSA); South African Foreign Policy Analysis; and the role of track two diplomacy in International Relations. Ms Naidu has a Masters in International Relations from the University of Staffordshire, United Kingdom. She has previously worked at the Centre for Conflict Resolution based in Cape Town and managed the South African Foreign Policy Initiative (SAFPI) at the Open Society Foundation for South Africa.

Dr Renu Modi is Professor and former Director of the Centre for African Studies, University of Mumbai. Her areas of teaching and research are interdisciplinary and cross cut major disciplines including: International Relations, Indian Ocean Studies, Migration and Diasporas, and Development Studies. She specializes in research across a number of areas including: agriculture and food security, climate diplomacy, South, South–South Cooperation, BRICS and bilateral, health/COVID-19 diplomacy, trade/investments and bilateral partnerships, Indian & African diaspora, migration studies in regions such as India, Africa.

Dr Abhishek Mishra, Associate Fellow with the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (MP-IDSA). His research focuses on India and China’s engagement in Africa, aimed at developing partnerships under the framework of South-South cooperation, including a specific focus on maritime security cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region.

The roundtable will be moderated by Thierry Hommel, Head of the Forum on Africa’s Future at Futuribles.