Key Highlights:

  • African business leaders at the 18th BRICS Summit praised India's economic growth under PM Modi's leadership.
  • Idehai Frederick of Nigeria's DICAN said India is the second-largest employer after the Nigerian government.
  • Frederick predicted India could achieve its Viksit Bharat 2047 vision ahead of target.
  • Daniel Tiruneh of Ethiopia's ABN highlighted growing India-Ethiopia cooperation in trade, investment and education.
  • Security for the summit includes around 15,000 police personnel and 200 paramilitary companies deployed across New Delhi.

African Business Voices Weigh In on India's Trajectory

As India hosts the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, African business leaders attending the event have offered a strikingly optimistic assessment of the country's economic trajectory under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, suggesting that India could reach its 'Viksit Bharat 2047' development vision well ahead of its stated timeline.

Nigeria's Perspective on Deepening Ties

Speaking to IANS, Idehai Frederick, Chairman of the Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Nigeria (DICAN), pointed to the decades-long friendly relationship between India and Nigeria, underpinned by substantial economic and trade linkages. Frederick offered a striking data point to illustrate India's economic footprint in Nigeria, noting that India is the second-largest employer of workers in the country after the Nigerian government itself. He said he expected bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the two nations to expand further in the coming years.

Why This Assessment Carries Weight

Frederick's comments are notable not simply as diplomatic praise, but because they come from someone positioned to observe India's on-the-ground economic presence in Nigeria through the lens of employment and trade rather than headline government-to-government statements. His view that India could achieve Viksit Bharat 2047 ahead of schedule reflects confidence rooted in what he described as visible evidence across India's development policies, international partnerships and its current leadership role within BRICS.

Ethiopia's Growing Engagement With India

Daniel Tiruneh, Founder and Managing Director of the Abyssinia Business Network (ABN), highlighted a similarly longstanding relationship between India and Ethiopia, describing cooperation across trade, investment, innovation and education as central pillars of the bilateral relationship. Tiruneh specifically noted that PM Modi's visit to Ethiopia a few months earlier had given renewed momentum to ties between the two countries, suggesting that high-level diplomatic engagement continues to translate into tangible follow-through on economic cooperation.

BRICS as a Platform for African Economic Interests

Tiruneh also pointed to the broader significance of BRICS itself as a platform for Ethiopia's international engagement, noting that the impact of strengthened India-Ethiopia ties was visible within the grouping's dynamics. This underscores a pattern evident in both leaders' remarks: for African nations increasingly represented within BRICS's expanded membership, the platform serves not just as a forum for global governance discussions, but as a practical avenue for deepening bilateral economic relationships with member states like India.

The Summit's Expanding Scale

India is currently hosting the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, with the grouping now comprising 11 member countries and 10 partner countries, a scale reflecting BRICS's continued expansion since its founding as a smaller bloc of major emerging economies. Heads of state and representatives from across this expanded membership have arrived in the Indian capital for the 2026 summit, underscoring the scale of diplomatic coordination involved in hosting an event of this size.

Security Measures Around the Summit

Reflecting the scale and sensitivity of hosting such a large diplomatic gathering, security arrangements have been significantly tightened across New Delhi. Authorities have deployed around 15,000 police personnel alongside 200 companies of paramilitary forces for security duties throughout the summit period, a deployment scale that underscores the logistical and security complexity of hosting heads of state and government representatives from 21 member and partner nations simultaneously.