African countries woo investors in Punjab, Chandigarh

Representatives of African countries today wooed investors of the northern region to invest in several sectors including power, telecom, pharmaceuticals, banking, tourism and assured that they would extend full support to them for setting up their new projects.
A seven-member African delegation led by Gennet Zewide, Deputy Dean, African Heads of Mission today visited the city to showcase the strengths of countries like Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Kenya and Lesotho as ideal investment hotspots for Indian companies from Punjab and Chandigarh region
"Bilateral India-Africa trade has grown by nearly 32 per cent annually between 2005 and 2011, including through the economic crisis. India-Africa trade is projected to reach USD 90 billion by 2015.

"Supportive Investment Facilitation Mechanism, favourable credit rating, simplified and streamlined business entry procedures, cost effective human resources, liberalised economy, anchored by huge internal market makes African nations a perfect investment platform for Indian companies", said Zewide, Deputy Dean, African Heads of Mission.
Highlighting few major sectors for investments in the African nations, she added, "There exists a vast pool of sectors awaiting investments in Africa like Infrastructure, Power -(Generation, Transmission & Distribution) Telecom, Pharmaceuticals, Banking, Mineral mining, Information Technology, Tourism (Hospitality, hotels and resorts) and Agriculture & Agro allied."
The investors from Punjab have a great opportunity to unleash the investment potential and untap the huge internal market in various nations like Ethiopia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Kenya, Lesotho and Uganda, she said.

Ndubuisi V Amaku, High Commissioner, Nigeria High Commission said, "Nigeria offers a favourable Business Climate for the substantial investors of Punjab, as the Nigerian government offers very low VAT regime - 5 per cent, free market (easy entry and exit procedures), transferability of profit, dividends, etc with ease...".

Oliveira Amimo, Commercial Counsellor, Mozambique High Commission, said, "There exists a vast sea for investments and exploration in coal mining in Mozambique, as it is considered to be among the countries in the world with largest resources of coal, in particular of high quality coking coal.
"There are enough coal resources to make the country one of the largest coal exporters in the world provided targeted investments in the sector."

Enumerating on the prospective tradable goods between the India and Kenya, Judith Ngunia, Counsellor - Political Kenya High Commission, said, "Kenya is a rich source of raw materials such as minerals, metal scrap, agricultural products, leather, etc.
"Indian businessmen can set up production centers in Kenya to give impetus to its manufacturing while exporting the manufactured products at competent prices to India.