By IANS,
New Delhi : Intensifying its ties with Africa, India has offered the Comoros a $35 million soft loan which will be used to plug the energy crisis in that country, comprising three picturesque islands in the Indian Ocean.
With capacity building and training as important features of its Africa policy, India also agreed to set up a vocational training centre in Moroni, the Comoros capital, to impart skills in plumbing, welding, electrical, civil works and IT.
These decisions were taken during the recent visit of Gurjit Singh, additional secretary (Africa) that ended Wednesday. He called on President Dr Ikililou Dhoinine and discussed with him a host of bilateral issues, including economic ties and capacity building.
He offered a soft loan of $35 million for developmental projects, which was in addition to the earlier offer of $41.6 million for an 18 MW power project in Moroni.
The new loan could be utilized for generating power in three islands of Comoros, which are suffering from serious energy crisis.
The visiting diplomat also expressed India’s readiness to train Comorian women in the field of solar engineering in the Barefoot College of India under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme.
Describing India as “a steadfast friend of Comoros”, Dhoinine conveyed his deep appreciation of India’s assistance for the development of Comoros.
At the second Africa-India Forum Summit May 24-25, India had announced $5.7 billion in lines of credit and grants for a host of development projects and training institutes across Africa.