India-South Africa Connect: Global Vision Meets Digital Realities
Seminar 2024
Programme Director
Respected Prof Shamika Ravi, Member Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister of
Prof Randall Carolissen, Dean Johannesburg Business School,
Mr. Thumpy Koshy, MD and CEO, Open Network Digital Commerce
Mr Chandan Nayak Head of Comviva
Prof Eldrid Jordan, CEO of Supple
Mahesh Kumar, CG Johannesburg,
Banu Prakash, DHC Pretoria,
My colleagues from the High Commission of India, Pretoria and Consulate General of India, Johannesburg
Captains of Industry and businesses present here today
Ladies and Gentlemen
First of all let me thank Johannesburg Business School for hosting this seminar on a very important topic: India-South Africa Connect: Global Vision Meets Digital Realities.
India and South Africa have been well connected from many years. Indians started coming to South Africa first as indentured labour from 1860 and then as passengers and they settled in areas around Durban. Of course, the most well known Indian of that time was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who stayed in South Africa for 21 years and and experimented with Satyagraha, or soul force, a method of protest which he used in India’s struggle for freedom, subsequently. During the apartheid period, India had cut-off relation with South African Government and had supported African National Congress in its struggle against the apartheid. In the post-apartheid period the relations have been strong both political and economic level.
Indian economy is growing at a fast pace and currently is the fastest growing large economy of the world. In the next 5 years, India is set to become the third largest economy of the world with its GDP surpassing US$ 5 trillion. However, here I will like to point out out and emphasize that India's economic growth model is different. India's philosophy has been that it would share its expertise and experience with the countries of the Global South. India chaired the G-20 summit last year and the motto of the summit was "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" i.e. one earth, one family and one future, and we believe that the world is one family and we must share, whatever we have, with the world. It was not a mere slogan for the G-20 summit. We have followed this philosophy in the past and will follow in the future. It was this philosophy that guided us during Covid-19 in sharing vaccines, medicines and medical equipment with more than 150 countries of the world, while some countries hoarded vaccine and chose to vaccinate their own population first. In fact, India and South Africa together went to WTO asking for TRIPS waiver so that vaccine could be manufactured and distributed in all countries.
Let me come back to the topic of seminar today. India today leads in Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). A recent joint report National Association of Software and Service companies (Nasscom) and Arthur D Little, a prominent Boston based consultancy firm captures this very well. The report titled “Digital Public Infrastructure of India - Accelerating India’s Digital Inclusion” is of the view that the DPI is capable of propelling India to a 8 trillion economy by 2030. The report says and I quote : India is leapfrogging from offline, informal, low productivity to a single, online, formal, high productivity mega economy. The foundation of this digital revolution has been strengthened by the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPIs) or India Stack, enhancing the ability of the country to use digital technologies at a population scale to change the society. DPIs form the cornerstone to shape this “tech-ade” and ultimately drive the “India@47” growth path. The DPI model is unique, interoperable, collaborative, equitable, with the inclusive principle that every citizen in the most inaccessible corner of the country has the same opportunity as everyone else.
Our unique ID programme and our digital banking are now amongst the best in the world. During Covid, our digital delivery for vaccination and social welfare programmes touched the life of each and every Indian.
Here I will like to paraphrase from Minister of External Affairs Dr. Subramaniam Jayshankar’s latest book- Why Bharat Matters-
By firmly establishing a digital backbone across the country, 800 million plus Indians received food support and half of them also received money in their bank accounts during the Covid pandemic. Think about the enormity of this effort: it is like supporting the entire European and American populations at the same time. Indeed, each one of the programmes and schemes has been carried out on a magnitude that approximates the population of a major nation. The Jan Dhan Initiative, that is opening bank account of each and every household which were unbanked earlier is like banking the US and Mexico at one go. The Saubhagya scheme that brought each Indian household to the grid is like electrifying whole of Russia; Ujjwala scheme that provided LPG connection to household was like changing cooking fuel of whole of Germany, and the Awas Yojana- constructinf houses for the poor is like housing whole of Japan.
The Direct Benefit Transfer, that is transfer of money intended for social welfare, directly to the accounts of the beneficiaries has ended the leakages that were earlier prevalent. The money is digitally transferred seamlessly on the due date and a message is received on phone regarding the transfer. Digital technology has brought more democracy and has empowered the masses
The digital payment system evolved under UPI is world class and many countries are adopting this system. Recently Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Nepal have adopted UPI. Already payments can be made through UPI in Singapore, United Arab Emirates and at the Eiffel tower in the France. We are offering this technology free of cost to all countries of the Global South. Similarly our unique ID is also being adopted by many countries of the Global South. Around 30 countries are in discussion or in early stages of implementation of these technologies of bio-metric based ID or UPI.
According to NASSCOM – Arthur D Little report the economic value added through DPI is likely to multiply by 3 times by 2030. In 2022, it was adding 0.9 % to the GDP, which is likely to grow to 2.9 to 4%.
However, there is more to India story, which again emphasizes our philosophy of Development Cooperation and Partnership.
You are aware that India Institute of Technology/IITs have produced the best brains of India, many of whom are now CEOs of Global companies such as Mr. Sundar Pichai, CEO Google. Now India is working with friendly countries to establish IIT Campuses abroad, on requests from them. Last year IIT campus has been open in Abu Dhabi, UAE and Zanzibar, Tanzania. A branch of IIT Chennai will start working in Sri Lanka this year.
When Prime Minister was in Johannesburg for BRICS Summit, rover from Chandrayan landed on the moon. Prime Minister in his meeting especially with President Ramaphosa, expressed readiness for cooperation in Space.
India since 2019 has launched 41 Vande Bharat trains. This year 60 more trains are to be launched These trains are semi high speed trains, which can be used with existing infrastructure and, therefore, are cost effective. Many countries have shown interest in this project. Work is also going on high speed Bullet train connecting Ahmadabad to Mumbai, which is likely to be completed by 2026.
All the above examples, be it in digital technologies, vaccines, pharmaceuticals, space or trains- the solutions that have been found, are solutions that we are ready to share with all in accordance with our philosophy of treating the world as one family. We are also supporting global organizations such as International Solar Alliance, Global Bio-fuel Alliance or Coalition for Disaster Resilience Infrastructure, in order to address energy security and climate issues.
So here I will conclude by exhorting those of you, who are yet to have any business relations with India, to have another look at India as your partner in your development journey. We will not disappoint you. I thank you all for joining today’s Seminar .
Thank you,
