“India’s capacity building programmes under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) has earned much goodwill for it in Africa.” Discuss. (2018, 15 Marks)
The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, launched on 15 September 1964, is among the oldest institutionalised capacity-building schemes anywhere and the flagship of India’s development partnership. It has trained more than 200,000 officials from over 160 countries, and Africa has always been among its largest users. The claim of goodwill holds; the harder question is whether goodwill becomes influence.
What ITEC gives Africa
- Training in India. In 2019-20 ITEC offered 11,400 civilian slots in 334 courses at 89 institutions, from public administration and audit to IT and elections, plus 2,342 defence slots. The third India–Africa Forum Summit (2015) pledged 50,000 scholarships for Africans over five years.
- Experts and institutions. The model predates ITEC: India set up the military academy at Harar in Ethiopia in 1958 and helped found Nigeria’s Defence Academy in 1964. The Gandhinagar Declaration (2022) sought more military-education slots for Africa.
- New tracks. e-ITEC, ITEC Onsite and ITEC Executive (2019), with the e-VidyaBharati and e-ArogyaBharati tele-education and tele-medicine networks, extend reach without travel.
Why it has earned goodwill
- Alumni inside the state. Six decades of trainees sit in African ministries, central banks, police and armed forces, carrying familiarity with Indian institutions and practices. In Joseph S. Nye’s terms this is soft power: attraction rather than inducement.
- A gift that respects equality. Emma Mawdsley (2012) shows that Southern cooperation claims a shared identity and rejects donor–recipient hierarchy. Fully funded, condition-free courses chosen by partner ministries fit that claim, and the Kampala principles (2018) restate it. Veda Vaidyanathan reports African officials saying India “does not act or speak like a donor” (2023).
- Reach to small states. Landlocked and island states get the same access as large ones, so India’s reputation runs broader than its economic footprint.
- Low cost, high visibility. A modest budget buys career-long relationships; during the pandemic, e-ITEC sessions reached African health workers quickly.
Where the claim needs qualifying
- No evaluation. India publishes no tracer studies on whether trainees used their skills or stayed in service, so goodwill is asserted more than measured.
- Under-use and diffuseness. South Africa used 38 of its 50 ITEC slots in 2025-26; course menus often reflect what Indian institutions teach rather than what African administrations most need.
- Goodwill is not leverage. African states back India for their own reasons; the Ezulwini Consensus on Council reform still diverges from India’s G4 formula.
- Competition and erosion. China’s FOCAC plan for 2025–27 offers 60,000 training places and training for 6,000 military personnel, and racist attacks on African students in India spend goodwill quickly.
Conclusion
ITEC has earned India real and lasting goodwill in Africa, among the cheapest influence India buys anywhere. To make it count, India should map and cultivate alumni, publish outcome evaluations, align slots with partner priorities, and back training with the delivery its credit lines and summits have lacked.