India to tap African markets to boost exports

India will focus on making Africa a major export market and increase trade with African nations amid the fragile global economic recovery and persistent financial woes in Europe.
    
"We are preparing a strategy paper on Africa with an aim at increasing our exports to the continent," a Commerce Ministry official said.
    
The Department of Commerce will come out with a strategy paper to increase exports to Africa, which accounted for $8.36 billion, or less than six per cent of India's exports, in the first 11 months of the 2009-10 financial year.
    
For this purpose, an analysis of the major commodities exported to the Africa region, including a strategy for exports over the coming years, is required, he said.
    
Different export promotion councils have been asked to come out with policies to expand exports to Africa.
    
In the Foreign Trade Policy for 2009-14, market-linked incentives for exports to several African countries were announced.
    
While shipments to the South, East and West African regions were in the range of $2.6 billion during the April-January, 2010, period, exports to the central part of the continent remain dismal. Exports to Central Africa stood at a meagre $278 million.
    
India largely exports pharmaceutical products, minerals, plastics, cotton, garments, iron and steel.
    
In the wake of the global financial meltdown, domestic exports were among the worst hit, forcing the government to come out with various stimulus measures. The slow and fragile economic recovery, especially in developed markets like the US and Europe, continues to be a concern for Indian exporters.