India wants to boost trade with the African continent

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: that doubling of trade to Africa to $50 billion by 2012 is a distinct possibility,” the study points out.

According to the survey, Indian companies felt that the Indian government should adopt more pro-active measures to encourage trade, like entering into preferential trade agreements with individual countries and regional economic communities and enhancing the lines of credit to African countries. They called for a special package to push Indian exports into Africa.

A public-private partnership initiative to create “Africa Promotion Council” was recommended, which could have sub-councils focusing on each of the five regions in the African continent.

The Indian companies called attention to barriers encountered in fully reaching the potential of trade with Africa—from prohibitive costs of shipping, shortage of shipping line, high transaction costs and delay in obtaining visas. “Brand India is still in infancy in many of the African countries. There is a need to promote products from India to the African countries. This is particularly important if we are to add more and new products to our export basket,” said the survey report.

Wary of expensive western technologies that need to be modified to suit African conditions, India has emerged as a favourite destination for its low-cost high value technologies aimed at value-addition of natural resources in the continent.

Recently India has initiated several measures through which technology is being made available to several other developing countries. For instance, on the one hand India is helping providing space research technologies through Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and at the same time is setting up a demonstration centre for small and micro-machineries in Ivory Coast.

Both have also agreed to co-operate closely to ensure quick and effective implementation and rollout of the Pan-African E-network project being funded by India.

Africans have identified an array of sectors like textile or garment industry, agriculture and food processing, information and communication technology (ICT), the gems and jewellery industry, small and medium industry, and infrastructure as areas in which Indian technologies can make a world of difference.

According to Dr Sachin Chaturvedi, fellow, Research and Information System for Developing Countries, “The trade linkages of India with Africa started taking off during comprehensive economic reforms in the late 1990s. India’s trade with Africa has more than doubled between 2001 and 2007, from $5,493 million in 2001-02 to $12.24 billion in 2006-07.”