Africa keen to work with India on Education, Infrastructure, Telecom, Power & Agriculture: H.E. Ms Gennet Zewide, Deputy Dean, African Heads of Mission

By 1 2 1 News Reporter

Chandigarh 03^rd July:- H. E. Ms Gennet Zewide, Deputy Dean, African Heads of Mission, invited the industry from the Chandigarh & Punjab region to collaborate, invest, partner and build business ties with their counterparts in Africa, extending his full support at a seminar on "CII Africa Seminar Series - The Land of Unexplored Potential Trade and Investment Opportunities for Indian Companies," organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), at its Headquarters in Sector 31 A, here today. A 7 member African delegation led by H. E. Ms Zewide visited City Beautiful to showcase the strengths of countries like Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Kenya and Lesotho as ideal investment hotspots for Indian companies from Punjab and Chandigarh region

H. E. Ms Gennet Zewide, Deputy Dean, African Heads of Mission said that Bilateral India-Africa trade has grown by nearly 32% annually between 2005 and 2011, including through the economic crisis. India-Africa trade is projected to reach US$ 90 billion by 2015.Supportive Investment Facilitation Mechanism, favourable credit rating, simplified and streamlined business entry procedures, Cost effective human resources, Liberalized economy, anchored by huge internal market makes African nations a perfect investment platform for Indian companies.

Highlighting few major sectors for investments in the African nations, she added that there exists a vast pool of sectors awaiting investments in Africa like Infrastructure, Power – (Generation, Transmission & Distribution) Telecom, Pharmaceuticals, Banking, Mineral mining, Information Technology, Tourism (Hospitality, hotels and resorts) and Agriculture & Agro allied. The investors from Punjab have a great opportunity to unleash the investment potential and untap the huge internal market in various nations like Ethiopia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Kenya, Lesotho and Uganda.

Highlighting the golden opportunity for investments in coal mining sector, Oliveira Amimo, Commercial Counsellor, Mozambique High Commission, said, there exists a vast sea for investments and exploration in coal mining in Mozambique, as it is considered to be among the countries in the world with largest resources of coal, in particular of high quality coking coal. There are enough coal resources to make the country one of the largest coal exporters in the world provided targeted investments in the sector.

Darpan Kapoor, Chairman, CII Chandigarh Council mentioned that the seminar included multi-sectoral presentations, information on setting up operations in Africa, support assistance provided by the Government of India, financing options for doing business in Africa and experience sharing by Indian companies doing business with Africa. It also provided a platform for local businessmen to interact with representatives from Africa, towards resolution of queries on business and investment policies of specific countries in Africa.