Africa gets major share of Indian investments worldwide

Africa has bagged a major share of about $3 billion that Indians invested every month around the world, says the head of a government agency that facilitates Indian investment abroad.

Dushyant Thakor, general manager of Invest India, spoke Wednesday on the sidelines of a three-day Indian trade expo organised jointly by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Thakor, however, could not state the exact percentage of Indian investment in Africa but said the agency “has been able to assist investors who want to establish in Africa and this has been substantial”.

He said the event saw the participation of over 200 Indian companies and “has been helpful to Indian businesses that want to invest in West Africa”.

Invest India has been building investment contacts and networking with various investment centres in West Africa to provide a platform for good working relations between Indian businesses and those who want to trade with them, Thakor said.

Ibrahim Bocar-Bah, the ECOWAS commissioner of macro-economic policy and private sector development, said India can help in the transformation of the region with its technological know-how which is lacking in the region.

Bocar-Bah said: “The show has given the opportunity to West Africa to see how far India has gone in the development of appropriate technology which West African countries can adapt for their development.”

He said “it was a very good exhibition and it was important that Ghana hosted it because of the country’s economic growth over the past year.”

Most of the Indian participants described the show as a success.

Parimal Kumar of the Defence Research and Development Organisation said the show has exposed them to “lot of limitless opportunities in the West Africa region”.

“We see many opportunities that we would like to take up further,” he added.

Kotsons vice president (Marketing) C. Singh said: “We have made contacts for new businesses and have seen exactly what the West African sub-region has to offer in terms of trade with India.”

“West Africa is a huge market with opportunities that we intend to explore.”

He said his company was already trading in Ghana, Togo and Benin and will try to explore other countries for more businesses.

A Ghanaian businessman, Terry Adjetey, said: “The event has opened up opportunities that exist in India for businessmen in Ghana and the West African region to take advantage of.”

“It has been an eye opener for some of us because we have seen what India is capable of providing in the area of appropriate technology,” he said.

(IANS)