New Delhi — In a keynote address that resonated strongly with the more than 1000 participants attending the India Africa Business Forum, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Mr. Carlos Lopes called for "a bolder, agile and fast approach" to achieving a shared vision for a vibrant India and a resurgent Africa. When combined with China's dominant role in global economic developments, said Lopes, the troika could change the geography of the world economy.
"Few would have predicted China's economic dominance. Today, India's performance is celebrated. Africa, with 10 out of the 20 fastest growing economies in the world, no doubt, is next," he predicted.
Held in the margins of the India Africa Summit held from 26-30 October in New Delhi, the India Africa Business Forum had in attendance, Mr. Shri Sumit Mazumder, President of the Confederation of Indian Industry whose organization has partnered with the Economic Commission for Africa on a ground breaking publication entitled: "Africa and India - facts and figures 2015". The publication centres on the key sectors that Africa and India place the greatest levels of engagement.
Lopes said that while Africa has also been one of the largest recipients of India's technical cooperation, India has also benefitted from the relationship.
"Just last year, the continent benefited from $2 billion worth of India's development partnership assistance, with the largest beneficiaries being Ethiopia, Senegal and the Republic of Congo. India has gone further to offer lines of credit worth 7.4 billion USD with the biggest recipients being power and engineering sectors," he said.
Moreover, said Lopes, "Africans have also benefitted from 25,000 scholarships as a direct impact of the second India Africa Summit and today the number of African students attending Indian tertiary institutions exceeds 6,000."
While these achievements are impressive, considering Africa's collective GDP per capita has been higher than India's, for a smaller population, He underscored that Africa's size of world trade is higher than India and the continent compares favourably in the historical speed of growth over the last decade and a half.
"Time is ripe to push the envelope of the Indo -Africa relationship, because the potential for a win-win is so obvious," he urged.
Pointing out that there are demographic dividends to be gained, he noted that by 2050, the joint population of Africa and India will account for 43% of the world's total and opportunities are wide open for boosting trade, scaling up investments. "By playing the right cards, this pair could impact complex geo-political interests and emerge as a formidable force. Both have sizeable markets and have an emerging new generation of middle class consumers," he said.
With Africa becoming a becoming a hub for Indo investments, ranging from chemicals and fertilizers to financial, software and telecommunications, Lopes underscored that last year alone, a quarter of India's total pharmaceutical exports were shipped to Africa. "Imagine the windfalls that could be made by investing in local pharmaceutical training, production and drug manufacturing," he said. He added this could pave a sustainable path for Africa's health systems as well as create modern jobs, stimulate economic activities and in many ways increase investment.
Cautioning on the one-sided narrative of the India-Africa relationship, he stated that by 2013, 26% of the inward foreign direct investment stocks in India actually came from Africa alone, amounting to $65 billion. "This share of foreign direct investment stocks up was larger than those received by Brazil, China, the Russian Federation or the USA." He stressed that more must be done to induce further African investments in India with more sustainable and real economy strength than financial markets opportunity.
In addition to Shri Sumit Mazumder, President of the Confederation of Indian Industry other notable dignitaries attending the forum included Shri, Sushma Swaraj, Minister for External Affairs, Government of India; Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission; Shri, Jyotsna Suri, President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry; and Shri Rana Kapoor, President of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India.
Africa and India - facts and figures 2015, related infographics and interactive visualization are downloadable here: http://www.uneca.org/publications/africa-india-facts-figures
