Envoys highlight business opportunities
India and Nigeria have deep-rooted business relations but there is a need to change the business philosophy for a win-win relationship and increase bilateral trade, according to Prince Kayode Adetokunbo, President, Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“We need to import and export with each other in sectors like technology, manufacturing. We have the markets for trade in sectors like mining, machinery equipment and many more,” the Prince told the Virtual edition of India-West Africa Summit & BSM 2020’s held 19-20 Nov 2020.
“We need to add to capacity supply in sectors like technology equipment and find solutions to the challenges for deepened long-term relations,” added Abhay Thakur, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria.
Thakur called on exporters to focus on sectors like agriculture, food processing, agriculture machinery, API suppliers, Tele-medicines, Tele-education, energy, solar grids, ICT, start-ups, media, entertainment, textiles, paper manufacturing and pharma.
“Nigeria is looking at doubling of the economy in the future, meaning that there are growing investment opportunities in Nigeria,” said the envoy at the summit organized by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“Our business linkages are robust and they need to further deepened and strengthened,” said Thakur, emphasizing that there has been an optimistic growth in the trade relation between India and Nigeria.
The summit also heard of business opportunities in other parts of the African region.
The government of land-locked Mali has identified some priority sectors for further economic development, according to the Indian Ambassador Anjani Kumar.
The country offers special incentives to encourage trade in sectors including Agri-processing, fishery stock, mining, manufacturing, tourism, communications, housing development, transportation.
The Indian-Mali trade has increased in the past few years in pharmaceuticals, cotton, vehicles, machinery, chemicals, rubber, iron and steel, with Indian investments in cement, assembling of vehicles, detergents, commercial vehicles, and many more.
Kumar also called for India to increase cooperation with Mauritania especially in oil exploration, mining, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, machinery and power generation. Kumar is concurrently envoy to Mauritania.
Landlocked Niger has a high potential of increasing Indian imports, added Ambassador Prem Kumar Nair. Niger depends on agriculture but offers potential opportunities in energy and gas, said the envoy at the summit’s panel session on Opportunities on Bilateral Economic and Business Cooperation with Nigeria, Mali and Niger.
Africa has been a top priority for India’s Foreign Economic Policy India has friendly relations with all countries of West Africa and, there has been a rise in the bilateral trade relations in the past few years.
In 2019-20, the combined trade between India and Africa stood at US$66.7 billion with immense potential to expand further, according to Dr. Srikar K Reddy, Joint Secretary, FT-Africa, Department of Commerce.
Industry, Government of India during the India- West Africa Summit and BSM 2020’s panel session on Opportunities on Bilateral Economic and Business Cooperation with Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Gambia and Togo organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The government has decided to open a lot of new missions in Africa to enhance diplomatic engagement for the continent has been a top priority for India’s foreign economic policy and there has been a qualitative shift in the long-standing ties, he underlined.
India is providing debt service waivers to many African partner countries, Dr. Reddy pointed out.
Dr. Reddy emphasized that there is a need for further deepening and strengthening of trade ties between India-West Africa to diversify and expand of trade basket.
There is trade potential in areas such as pharmaceutical, healthcare products, medical devices, and the engineering sector.
India’s top export to West Africa includes cereals and cereals preparations, medicals, pharmaceutical products, automobiles, petroleum products among others while India’s imports from the region include petroleum and petroleum products, gold, natural and manufactured gas, vegetables, and fruits.
India has made significant investments in Africa in the sectors of banking, oil, gas, mining, and textiles creating employment opportunities for the masses, added Y. K. Sailas Thangal, Ambassador to Cote d’Ivoire.
Africa stands out with great opportunity to revive the world economy as it has natural resources, youth, population, diverse economy, political structure, and free trade agreement, he highlighted.
The envoy called on Indian companies with experience, technology, and capital to unlock Africa’s opportunities as there is great value for the Indian government as well as the investing companies.
These investments will play a pivotal role in the creation of a job, livelihood in Africa during and post-pandemic.
“We need to expand our bilateral cooperation in areas like agriculture, agro-processing, healthcare, pharma, automobiles, engineering goods, ICT, and others,” said Thangal.
There are opportunities for expanding trade ties with Senegal and Gambia in food processing, digital technology, engineering, automobile parts, agriculture machinery, dairy, education, textile etc., according to G V Srinivas, Ambassador to Senegal Gambia, Guinea Bissau, and Cabo Verde.
India is well placed to leverage the great business opportunities for win-win cooperation and development through Bilateral Economic and Business Cooperation in Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Cabo Verde.
For Ghana, India can play a pivotal role in the supply of raw materials as well as imparting knowledge in the medical field, said T V Ganesan, Head of Commercial Wing, High Commission of India Ghana.
Indian SMEs have a lot to offer to the immense need for the development of industries in Africa. “There exists a huge synergy in SME development,” added Dr. Vineet Arora, Director, Intellio Healthcare Pvt Ltd, India.
The West African region has emerged as an important partner for India, both as an export market and as an import source, said Dr. Arora.
Domestic factors including consumption, natural resources, and primary commodities remain the major growth drivers in the West Africa region. “There has been a rise in trade relations of India-West Africa in the past few years and, now it is time to accelerate it further for greater opportunities,” stressed PHDCCI President Sanjay Aggarwal.
“Our interest lies in enhancing the trade and removing all the difficulties that come while in trade and business between the countries,” he stressed.
The Indian economic partnership with West African countries that have been vibrant based on trade investment, technology transfers, knowledge sharing, and skill development, he highlighted.
PHDCCI Senior Vice President Pradeep Multani highlighted the vibrant India-West Africa partnership in trade, technology transfer, knowledge sharing and skill development.
“Africa possesses a lot of trade potential and its export baskets have multiplied in the past few decades with the focus shifting from Europe to Asia,” said Multani, adding that has been one of the trading partners of the continent.
West Africa has always remained at the heart of Africa’s transformation with economic growth drivers being consumption, natural resources and primary commodities, added Multani. #export #investment #technology #pharmaceuticals #economy #manufacuring #projects /fiinews.com
