Minister of State for Commerce and Industry E M Sudarsana Natchiappan on Tuesday said that African companies could identify major investment opportunities in the upcoming National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) and large industrial corridors in India.
Addressing the valedictory session of the 10th CII-EXIM BANK Conclave on India Africa Project Partnership held in New Delhi, Natchiappan also acknowledged that India offers a gamut of attractive investment opportunities to African companies, especially in the physical infrastructure sector.
Natchiappan said that learning and doing business are two-way processes and that India has much to learn from Africa's development experience in the same way as African countries have been learning from India in various developmental and industrial sectors.
He urged the African governments to send a greater number of students to India to pursue technical training and education.
Yaduvendra Mathur, Chairman and Managing Director, EXIM Bank of India said that the concessional lines of credit extended by Indian government are extremely popular in Africa.
Referring to the issue of under-utilisation of lines of credit in some African countries, Mathur said that EXIM Bank will arrange for its representatives to visit the particular countries and address the issue.
Mathur also cited various examples of how the lines of credit brought about transformational change in African countries. He made a mention of the expansion of the sugar and power sectors and development of railway networks in Ethiopia which in turn created a large number of jobs.
Today, Ethiopia is aiming to become a mid-income economy by year 2025.
Earlier, Syamal Gupta, Special Advisor, Tata International Ltd and Former Chairman, CII Africa Committee, said that the annual Conclave has played a pivotal role in deepening the economic partnership between India and Africa.
At the session, a MoU was signed between CII and the Kaduna State of Nigeria.
This year's Conclave saw the participation of over 500 delegates from 45 African countries. In terms of business, 549 projects worth about $85.37 billion had been discussed. Over 900 registered B2B meetings were also conducted.
The 11th edition of the Conclave will be held on 22-24 March 2015.
