CII-EXIM Bank African Conclave
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Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, while addressing the 18th CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on the India-Africa growth partnership in Delhi, said that the potential for expanding India-Africa trade was huge.
The Minister also released a paper prepared by the CII, which aims at increasing the trade to US$200 billion from the present level of close to US$ 100 billion, while endorsing the view that if both regions come together and identify areas where each could identify goods that can be traded, the bilateral trade volume could grow much beyond the target. “The bilateral trade between India and Africa is by and large balanced-India exporting close to US$51 billion India and importing US$ 47 billion, which is a welcoming feature;” he added.
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Flagging the potential for enhancing Indian investment in Africa, where India is the fifth largest investor, the commerce minister said that India’s investment approach has never been an expansionist one. “Instead, India treats countries like a brother,” he said, adding “We don’t intend to take over your ports, railways, etc. We don’t follow an expansionist approach.” Analysts pointed out that the minister was taking a dig at China, which is allegedly known for taking over utilities and real estate in Africa upon failing to give back the borrowed loans in time.
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Talking about the efforts India is undertaking to boost trade between India and Africa, the minister said, “Government of India has been working actively to promote the Indo-African relationship through its various initiatives focused on capacity building and training, the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) model, and several lines of credit.” He also specifically referred to the programs India implemented in Africa in education and healthcare.
Goyal urged the senior leadership of various African nations to find new areas of collaboration and work closely with India to make the maximum out of their ties.
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Notably, the comments from Goyal come a day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated that the rise of Africa is key to geopolitical rebalancing.
