India has proved to be a popular“”and clever“”investor in poor countries

India has proved to be a popular“”and clever“”investor in poor countries

Apr 11th 2021LUSAKA AND NAIROBIIN CENTRAL Lusaka a brand-new flyover flutters with the green, white and saffron of the Indian flag. Throughout the Zambian capital lorries produced by Tata Motors, part of the steel-to-tech Tata empire, are used in everything from construction to rubbish collection. Signs inside the vehicles instruct drivers in both English and Hindi. The lorries' occupants phone each other over a mobile network run by Bharti Airtel, an Indian telecoms firm.Zambians, like those in many developing countries, are vocal about their dislike for the Chinese firms that invest heavily there. India is also a big commercial presence but no one bats an eyelid. Tata Motors has huge assembly plants from South Africa to Malaysia. Bharti Airtel is one of the biggest telecoms operators in Africa. The Aditya Birla Group is the world's largest producer of carbon black, an ingredient in car tyres. They are one of Egypt's biggest industrial investors and exporters.Even in strategic sectors, such as infrastructure and communications, Indian foreign direct investment (FDI) is not viewed as geopolitical scheming or hegemonic ambition. “That's one of the selling points for India,” says Gareth Price of Chatham House, a think-tank. “With the obvious exceptions of Pakistan and