Ministry of Commerce and Industry aims to boost exports to 11 African countries

With the aim to boost trade and exports, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Indian High Commissions and Embassies of eleven African countries arranged a video interaction with the India business community in Africa.

According to a government release, the video interaction was attended by over 400 members of the Indian business community in 11 African countries, namely, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Mozambique, Ghana, South Africa, Botswana, and Madagascar.

The release noted that India’s total trade with the African region during 2017-18 was $ 62.69 billion, or 8.15 percent of India’s total trade with the world.

It read, 'Today, African countries present immense opportunities for India with the world’s largest land mass, 54 countries, a population growing to be almost equivalent to that of India, huge mineral resources, oil wealth, a youthful population, falling poverty levels and increasing consumption patterns.'

This initiative, led by the commerce ministry, places importance on finding an effective export strategy to address certain areas identified by the Indian business community in Africa.

Some of these areas include: improving the line of credit and develop a means for affordable and competitive funding, setting up of Indian banks and financial institutions in Africa, enhancing buyers’ credit facility, reviewing and liberalising visa policies from both sides, developing a robust trade dispute settlement mechanism, and more.

Earlier in February 2019, trade bodies were looking at the Maldives as a potential importer of Indian goods such as food products, medicines, handicrafts, and garments, or services such as banking, finance, and hotels.

Referring to the Maldives market, Abdul Latheef, President, SME and Entrepreneurship Federation of Maldives (SEFM), had said, “It offers an attractive market for Indian goods and services as Maldives’ economy is totally dependent on imports.”

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