Auto, agri, pharma, logistics hold huge trade, investment potential for India, Africa

Four sectors - automobiles, agriculture, pharmaceutical, and logistics - hold huge potential for India and Africa to increase trade and investments, a top government official said on Thursday. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that the bilateral trade between the two regions stood at USD 100 billion in 2022 and there is a need to target doubling this to USD 200 billion by 2030.

He said the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has identified these four potential sectors - automobiles, agriculture, and agro-processing, pharmaceutical and transportation and logistics." We firmly believe that these sectors have huge potential for collaboration in terms of investment, trade, technology and capacity building between Africa and India," he said at CIIs India Africa Business Conclave here.

In agriculture, he said that both sides can increase trade and cooperation in areas like processed foods and seed technology. He added that India's pharmaceutical exports to Africa stood at USD 3.8 billion in 2023, and there are opportunities to increase the trade in the sector and provide affordable medicines and healthcare to African people.

Africa is a key player and supplier of critical minerals as these are fundamental for the green energy transition. Critical minerals, such as cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel, and rare earths, play a crucial role in the production of clean energy technologies, from wind turbines to electric cars. Critical minerals are particularly in demand for the production of batteries for electric cars.

The secretary said India can share its expertise and best practices in the logistics sector. He also said there is a huge scope to expand the import basket from Africa. India can implement tailor-made capacity-building programs in Africa, Barthwal said, adding that both sides need to work together in the World Trade Organization also.

Speaking at the conclave, Dammu Ravi, Secretary (Economic Relations) at the Ministry of External Affairs, said the duty-free tariff preference (DFTP) scheme was not utilized fully by Africa and there is a need to look into those issues. Ravi suggested that Indian businesses to consider setting up industries in Africa as the continent has huge manufacturing opportunities.

He also called for an increasing flow of information from the African side with regard to their laws, incentives, schemes, and land lease policies as Indian firms may not be aware of those. This information flow will help in strengthening economic ties between the two, he added.