Africa seeks $17-bn Indian investment

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New Delhi, Sept 25: A high-level African delegation, comprising of government officials and members of the industry, will visit India next month. The group will seek Indian investments to the tune of over $17 billion in 300-odd projects in Africa.

According to sources, the 350-member delegation will, apart from seeking investment, ask for technology support from India Inc in sectors like oil, infrastructure, telecom, agriculture, mining, education, construction, food-processing, IT (hardware and software) and healthcare—in 16 African countries.

Of the African countries keen to attract Indian investment, Togo tops the list with $4.62 billion, followed by South Africa ($4 billion), Ghana ($3.73 billion) and Nigeria ($2.6 billion), according to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The other countries wooing India Inc in a big way are Zambia ($1.31 billion) and Ethiopia ($580 million). Of the 281 projects worth of $11.26 billion discussed in two Indo-African conclaves last year, projects worth $323 million are under execution.

“The biggest problem faced by Indian exporters in Africa is delay in payment. Another problem is that except for South Africa, there is no regular shipping lines for other countries. Moreover, there is a lack of awareness about opportunities in that continent,” DG of Federation of Indian Exporters Organisation Ajay Sahai said. Said CII director (Africa) Shipra Tripathi, “Instability is limited to countries like Sudan, Ivory Coast and Congo. But the rest of Africa is peaceful. Countries like Botswana have a Standard and Poor’s credit ratings equivalent to some European nations. Besides, the return on investment in Africa is more.”