India-africa Trade

SBI, Exim Bank helping Africa's businesses by filling trade financing gap

The State Bank of India and the India Exim Bank are helping businesses in African countries to fill the gap in trade finance, the South African heads of the two organisations told the India Entrepreneurs Forum (IEF) here. The event was initiated by Consul General of India Mahesh Kumar who said it is the first of a series of ongoing engagements with the IEF. We did this to assist all companies doing trade or some form of other business with India in their capacity building because generally for bigger businesses they are able to sort out their trade financing needs. For smaller business, a lot of issues look very difficult and insurmountable and they find the complexities of the trade world very bewildering sometimes, Kumar said. CEO of State Bank of India (SBI) Ashutosh Kumar and Shyamashish Acharya, Resident Representative at the Johannesburg Representative office of India Exim Bank, both explained the benefits of using their services in dealing with import and export trade between

President Murmu to embark on state visit to 3 African nations from Oct 13

President Droupadi Murmu will undertake a state visit to three African nations -- Algeria, Mauritania and Malawi, starting October 13, which is a reflection of India-Africa "growing partnership", the MEA said on Wednesday. Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Dammu Ravi, at a briefing here said the visit comes after the African Union became a member of the G20 at its summit last year under the Indian presidency of the grouping. "This visit should be seen in the context of Africa as a continent and how India wishes to engage, and is looking at having a stronger partnership with Africa. It's a reflection of India-Africa growing partnership," he said. Africa includes 54 countries and forms the "core of the Global South", Ravi said. The first leg of President Murmu's three-nation visit will begin from Algeria, then onward to Mauritania, and it will end with Malawi. Secretary (CPV & OIA) in the MEA, Arun Kumar Chatterjee, said President Murmu will visit .

India, Africa should target $200 bn trade in next 7 years: Piyush Goyal

There is a huge potential to increase economic cooperation between India and Africa as both regions can look at doubling two-way trade to USD 200 billion in the next seven years, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday. Speaking at CII's India-Africa business conclave, Goyal said the main sectors where businesses of the two sides can collaborate include agriculture, pharmaceuticals, mining, tourism, auto, critical minerals, and renewable energy. "I would like to suggest six areas for collaboration and cooperation as a way forward to take this relationship to the next level," he said, adding, "can we look at doubling our trade. So far we have only a few African countries who trade with India". He said as many as 33 countries do not participate in the duty free tariff preference (DFTP) scheme of India. "Can we look at getting more and more countries to enjoy the fruits of this partnership and set a benchmark to double this trade number from USD 100 billion to US

Africa's natural resources, demographic advantage attract investors: V-P

Africa's natural resources, demographic advantage and growing economic integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area make it an attractive destination for investments, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Wednesday. He also said that India's new-age digital technologies and its space programme offer huge opportunities for Africa to increase cooperation with India. "Africa's natural resources, demographic advantage and growing economic integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area make it an attractive destination for investments," Dhankhar said. He was addressing CII's India-Africa Business Conclave here. He added that India's Duty-Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) scheme offers enormous opportunities for mutual development. The vice president said that resurgent Africa and rising India can give a strong impetus to south-south cooperation specially in areas like clean technology, climate-resilient agriculture, maritime security, and connectivity. "India

PM Modi congratulates Comoros President Azali Assoumani on re-election

PM Modi affirmed hope that the two countries will continue to work to strengthen the India-Comoros partnership, the India-Africa partnership and the 'Vision Sagar'

India-Nigeria joint commission meet: EAM Jaishankar stresses on cooperation

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday co-chaired the 6th Joint Commission Meeting between India and Nigeria and said that both the sides have agreed to strengthen efforts in a slew of sectors, including people-to-people exchange, energy, mobility and consular cooperations. The Joint Commission meeting, which Jaishankar co-chaired along with his counterpart Yusuf Tuggar, also discussed opportunities in the sectors of energy, power, renewables, transport, healthcare, fintech, agriculture, and security between the two countries. Co-chaired the 6th Joint Commission Meeting along with FM @YusufTuggar. Noted the expansion of our economic cooperation, especially trade and investment. Discussed new opportunities in energy, power, renewables, transport, healthcare, fintech, agriculture and security," Jaishankar said in a post on X. Earlier, he arrived in the Nigerian capital Abuja from Lagos, which he reached on Sunday after attending the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in ...

'Work in progress to remove trade barriers in sub-Saharan African nations'

The commerce ministry is working to address issues related to non-tariff barriers and market access for domestic products in sub-Saharan African countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana and Gulf nations to boost India's exports, an official said. The official said meetings have been held with Indian missions of the sub-Saharan African countries with which India has significant bilateral trade. The major trading partners of India in that region in 2022-23 were South Africa (total trade USD 18.9 billion, exports USD 8.5 billion); Nigeria (USD 11.85 billion, exports USD 5.15 billion); Togo (USD 6.6 billion, exports USD 6 billion), and Tanzania (USD 6.5 billion, exports USD 3.93 billion). The other countries were Mozambique (USD 5 billion, exports USD 2.5 billion); Angola (USD 4.22 billion, exports USD 621 million); and Kenya (USD 3.4 billion, exports USD 3.2 billion). "A virtual meeting with Indian Mission of top 10 countries (bilateral trade-wise) in sub-Saharan African region was hel

High on G20 bonhomie, India readies 4th summit with African Union

First held in New Delhi in 2008, the second and third summits were held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa in 2011 and New Delhi in 2015

India's rising Africa bet: FDI outflows at $14 billion, shows data

Total trade between African nations and India was almost $100 billion in 2022-23

India can look for FTA talks with Africa to further strengthen ties: Goyal

India can also look for negotiating a free trade agreement with Africa to further strengthen economic ties, he said

Gambia death fallout: Pharma exports to African market slipped 5% in FY23

Medicines put up for retail sales led the decline in exports

India's Exports to EU, US grow but Asia and Africa suffer in FY23

India's merchandise exports had risen 6.7 per cent to $450.4 billion in FY23

India gives $2 million to African Union Transition Mission in Somalia

Earlier, India had contributed USD 4 million to African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

Time is ripe for India to explore trade deal with AfCFTA: Commerce Secy

AfCFTA brings together the 55 countries of the African Union and eight regional economic communities to create a single market for the continent

India among Africa's top investors, bilateral trade at $89.5bn in FY22: EAM

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India is among the top five countries that have invested in the African continent.

CII-Exim Bank conclave: Goyal calls for deepening trade ties with Africa

The trade between India and African countries has been balanced with exports of trade and services of about $40 billion and imports of $49 billion, Goyal said

India proposes to negotiate trade pact with Africa: Suresh Prabhu

The minister also highlighted the need for Indian companies to invest in Africa

India-Africa trade may touch $117 bn by 2020-21: Report

Indian exports to the African continent are expected to grow to $70 billion by 2021-22