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Africa: Continent Wants India to Invest in Mining Industry
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Leadership (Abuja)
25 March 2008
Posted to the web 25 March 2008
Teddy Nwanunobi
Africa and India have been doing business for centuries and now African countries are courting the Asian giant to diversify its investment portfolios to mining, where it has to compete with another Asian giant, China.
A three-day India-Africa Trade Conclave, a business summit organised by the Confederation of India Industry and the Exim Bank of India, has ended in New Delhi with African countries courting the Asian country to compete with China in exploiting the continent's mining industry.
During the summit, which attracted over 500 delegates from 30 African countries, the African representatives said they wanted India to exploit the continent's vast mineral resources in a rational manner that benefits both the Asian giant and Africa's host countries.
Zambia's minister of commerce, Felix Mutati, is quoted by the Indo-Asian news agency as saying Africa would prefer Indian investment because India has traded in Africa for a long time and the African countries and India understand each other.
"You have cost-effective technology which we want," Mutati is quoted as saying. "We are able to understand each other better as we are both from the south."
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Mutati said apart from only thinking of exploiting the mineral resources, Indian firms should also concentrate on exploring prospects of supplying equipment to the mining industry as well as in processing of raw materials.
Deputy director of Investment Promotion Centre in Mozambique, Mussa Uthman, said his country had big reserves of diamonds, copper and nickel which could viably be exploited by Indian firms. One of India's steel giants, Tata Steel, is already in Mozambique exploiting vast coal reserves.
Apart from Mozambique, Tata Group is already building a 120 MW plant to supply power to the mining industry in Zambia.
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