Huge potential exists in India-Africa trade: Commerce Secy

Huge potential exists in India-Africa trade, which currently stood at USD 63 billion, in areas including mining and goods and services, a top government official said Wednesday.

Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan said the combined gross domestic product of India and Africa is 5 per cent of the global economy and 8 per cent of the world trade.

"We need to work together to achieve the full potential, which is enormous," he said here at the India-Africa Strategic Economic Cooperation meet.

He also said all ingredients -- natural resources, skilled manpower, technology, financing and entrepreneurship -- are there to increase economic cooperation between the two regions.

India mainly exports pharmaceuticals, engineering and electronic products to Africa and imports natural resources and diamonds.

There is a potential to go beyond these traditional products, Wadhawan said adding that much more scope is there in areas including engineering, electronics and mining.

Services and investments are other areas where "we can increase cooperation," he said.

The secretary said Indian and African companies can explore investments in sectors like IT, energy, and mining.