Building Capacities: The Resurgence of Indo-African Technoeconomic Cooperation

The last few years have witnessed a revival of Indo-African technoeconomic cooperation within a host of ICT-based projects aimed at promoting capacity-building. This article is an attempt at sketching out some of the most significant traits of this evolving trend based on a discussion of two landmark initiatives: the Indian Technical and Economic Co-operation scheme and the Pan-African e-Network Project. The article suggests that differences between these two projects typify key changes that have taken place in conceptualizations of cooperation. First, there was an ethico-political shift in relation to the responsibility of the state and of individual beneficiaries. Then, the spatiality of cooperation has been modified in ways that are epitomized by the image of the network and its concomitant ideal of horizontal dispersion. Finally, a dynamic has emerged in which connecting the world and igniting the pride of the nation feed into one another in innovative ways.