In an effort to further boost India-Africa business collaborations, an "India-Africa Partnership Day" is being organized on the sidelines of the African Development Bank's annual general meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, being held May 27-31.
The Indian delegation for the event, being organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Exim Bank, comprises industrialists, heads of public sector undertakings and senior finance ministry officials, a FICCI release said Wednesday.
The delegates include FICCI's past president R.V. Kanoria, Exim Bank CMD T.C.A. Ranganathan and Secretary (Economic Affairs) in the finance ministry Arvind Mayaram.
New Delhi had recently hosted the successful 9th CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnerships which discussed projects worth nearly $64 billion.
"The India-Africa Partnership Day with the theme 'Sharing India's Experiences with Africa in PPP' is being organized to serve as a platform for sharing of India's experiences, knowledge and ideas on facilitating and financing infrastructure development through mechanisms including the PPP (public-private partnership) model, with constituents and stakeholders from African countries," FICCI said.
India's investments in Africa since 2005 total $50 billion and lines of credit to African countries total $8 billion.
Several multinational giants like Tata, Reliance, Bharti Airtel and Ashok Leyland have significant presence in Africa.
"Indian firms have signed large deals in more than 30 African countries - from infrastructure and pharmaceutical projects in Senegal to power, finance and automotive projects in Ghana and automotive, energy and power infrastructure in Sudan, to the full spectrum of sectoral engagement in Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania and in North Africa.
"By deliberating on experiences of Indian companies in implementing projects in Africa, and exploring ways to scale up these investments, the event will also help synergize the priority areas for engagement between the African Development Bank and its members, Government of India, Exim Bank of India and corporates in Africa and India," said FICCI.
Encouraged by the growth in bilateral exports and imports in the current fiscal, the target for India-Africa trade has been raised to $100 billion over the next two years.
