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India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said that India was among the top five countries that have invested in the African continent. He revealed that cumulative investments of India in the region are at US$73.9 billion for the period between 1996 and 2021.
He was addressing the 17th CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on India-Africa Growth Partnership held in New Delhi, India’s capital, which is also one of the nerve centers of Indian business.
Referring to India’s bilateral trade with Africa, which is at US$$89.5 billion in 2021-22 compared with US$56 billion the previous year, the minister said that increase has been appreciable. The Duty-Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) Scheme extends duty-free access to 98.2 percent of India’s total tariff lines and has helped African countries to access the Indian market. This facility was availed so far by 33 LDC African nations.
The minister also expressed the hope that the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) which was commenced in 2021 would be helpful to the Indian companies to enhance and intensify their business footprint in the African region.
www.trendanafrica.com has interfaced with several African delegates to get their feedback. Some of them felt that India and Africa could step up trade and investments in multiple sectors including mining, food processing, and manufacturing. Yet, they felt that a change of mindset was needed from the Indian entrepreneurs to scout the market more aggressively. Billed as the future market for a long list of goods and services, multinational corporations from the West and China are actively investing in the continent whether in the MENA region or sub-Saharan Africa. That type of killing instinct was missing from large corporations in India.
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“ What one should look at is not the present market, but the future, which will be greatly embellished by the formation of the African free trade zone, the largest free trade area in the world having a head count of over 1.3 billion people, majority of them are in the productive age group,” said an Indian businessman settled in Africa but did not want to reveal his identity.
The mega event was attended by over 400 delegates from over 40 countries in Africa. The concluded annual business meet was reported to have had not only hand holding but also helped in finalizing concrete business deals.
