Neo-colonialist, Perennial Underdog, or Smart Influencer: India in The Gambia and Ghana
Jaw, S.M. Siakwah, P. Vittorini, S.
Jaw, S.M.
Siakwah, P.
Vittorini, S.
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2025-10-26
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© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
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2025-09-23
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Abstract
Since the mid-2000s, India has massively increased its presence in Africa and is now active right across the continent. Despite this expansion, India still lives in the shadow of China and the West in Africa. Equally, the presence and influence of India in specific case studies in Africa is wholly under-researched. This article takes evidence from fieldwork in The Gambia and Ghana and finds that India is regarded by some as just another neo-colonialist and by others as under-resourced with poor capacity and limited public relations. There were some, however, who saw India and its various manifestations as a smart actor which uses the resources and attributes it has - including a common language, Bollywood, and various nuances of its presence – sometimes to good effect, allowing India to punch above its weight. The article thus considers India’s influence in The Gambia and Ghana, in particular in comparison to China.
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Harris D, Jaw SM, Siakwah P et al (2025) Neo-colonialist, Perennial Underdog, or Smart Influencer: India in The Gambia and Ghana. Commonwealth and Comparative Politics. 63(3): 228-252.
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