India has donated essential medicines worth 50 million dollars to African countries as part of the country’s collaboration with Africa to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
The High Commissioner of India to Nigeria, Mr Abhay Thakur, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Abuja after he donated some items to the Federal Government.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Government of India had on Friday donated seven tonnes of consignment of essential medicines, including hydroxycholoroquine and medicine, including antibiotics to Nigeria.
The seven tonnes of consignments (586 cartoons) were received by the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, on behalf of the Federal Government.
The envoy said it would be very difficult to put a cost on the items donated, noting: “I will say for the whole of Africa, our donation is more than 50 million dollars.
“I am talking about the whole of Africa.”
Thakur said India would be willing to collaborate with Nigeria on production of COVID-19 vaccine, as the country had made some progress in the development of the vaccine.
He said “there are many centres in India where serious work and research is happening; there are institutions that are working across India to produce vaccine.
“One of the most promising one is developed by one of the institutions and has already gone into first phase of testing; we hope phase two will start soon.
“We hope to hear encouraging news about COVID-19 vaccine on the forthcoming India independence day, which is on Aug. 15.”
The envoy said India would continue to support Nigeria in building the capacity of its human resources as it continued to offer e-ITEC training ( Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation).
“We are offering short online webinars on COVID-19 management and research; there are about 10 programmes; we are working together and we will continue to do so.
“So far, 14 Nigerian medical professionals have benefited from online courses on COVID-19 management strategies in Africa.
“Our focus now is on capacity building but we can expand to research. I will take this message home and encourage some of our researchers to work with Nigeria on medical research.’’
He expressed optimism that the measures taken by the two countries had helped to manage the spread of COVID-19.
“In fact, I will like to mention here what President Muhammadu Buhari said in his speech in early May that India had taken strong measures and very strong lockdown measure to curb the virus.
“The exchange of experience is very important and we look to each other in combating this pandemic.
India had been enjoying longstanding, multifaceted, friendly relations and deep-rooted bilateral relations with Nigeria since it established its Diplomatic House in Lagos in November 1958, two years before Nigeria became independent on Oct. 1, 1960.
GOOGLE TO INVEST $10B
Technology Company, “Google” has said it plans to invest 10 billion dollars in India in the coming years, as reports revealed that the country is most favourable destination amid the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
This was made known in a report made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) by the Indian High Commission on Friday in Abuja.
According to the report, Google will be investing the 10 billion dollars in infrastructure and equity investments, as Silicon Valley companies jostle for a position in one of the world’s fastest-growing internet markets.
It said that Sundar Pichai, the Chief Executive at Google and its parent company, Alphabet, announced the scheme after speaking with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi .
It notedd that Modi described the conversation with the technology giant as “extremely fruitful”, discussing new working practices during the Coronavirus pandemic as well as security and safety online.
Pichai at an online event said: “this is a reflection of our confidence in the future of India and its digital economy.”
The promise from Google which did not include specific details to apply to the next “five to seven years”, marks the latest attempt by a big U.S. internet company to woo the leadership of a country,” the report states.
According to the report, the increased interest in India from Google and other U.S, – based investors come as tension on the Indian-Chinese border closes avenues for investors from China.
“Chinese internet giants such as Tencent and Alibaba, along with Chinese venture capital companies, have become among the largest investors in Indian tech.
“But India in April changed its foreign investment rules to require government approval for all would-be Chinese investors.
“A sharp escalation in tensions following a deadly clash on the Himalayan border in June prompted the authorities to ban 59 Chinese apps, including ByteDance-owned TikTok.
“Access to India, now the world’s second-largest mobile market, is particularly important for Google as it is shut out of China.
“It faces the prospect of greater difficulty in operating in Hong Kong following the passage of the new security law there in June.
“India, with its 1.3 billion population, represents one of the biggest opportunities for tech companies globally after hundreds of millions of Indians started using smart phones and accessing the internet in recent years.
“Google Pay, the company’s digital payments service, has grown rapidly since inauguration in the country in 2017,” the report said.
According to the report, Google described its vague spending promise as an India Digitisation Fund, and say it will cover affordable internet access, and new product development.
It said the investment would also be tailored to Indian market needs and accelerating digital transformation, as well as healthcare, education and agriculture.
The report noted that India had insisted that government surveillance took precedence over the kind of encryption that was becoming standard in U.S. internet services, and had sought to limit the local power of the Big Tech oligopoly.
“Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s Chief Executive, travelled to the country earlier this year to promise one billion dollars in investment, and to support 10 billion dollars Indian export sales over the next five years, as his company faces a local antitrust investigation.
“Google’s pledge also comes three months after rival Facebook invested 5.7 billion dollars in Jio Platforms, the fast-growing Indian telecoms company that has launched a series of digital services.
“Jio, part of Mukesh Ambani’s oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries, has also sold stakes to 11 other foreign investors including the investment arms of U.S. chipmakers Intel and Qualcomm.
“As well as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, KKR and Silver Lake.
“Google has also explored investments with Jio and rival telecoms operator Vodafone Idea in recent months. Apple has also stepped up its iPhone manufacturing in the country through its supplier Foxconn.”
According to the report, Google is rising to the occasion by trying to invest a fairly substantial amount in India’s digital transformation.
Mr Ravi Prasad, India’s Minister of Electronics and Information Technology expressed the appreciation of their country to Goggle, saying, “I am very happy that Google is recognising India’s digital innovation and the need to create further opportunity.”
