India aims to boost investment in Africa

United Nations India aims to boost investment in industrial economic and social sectors of Africa as the 54nation continent tries to ramp up development to alleviate poverty the UN General Assembly was told FridayScaledup investments in infrastructure both economic and social as well as in productive capacity for industrial development are needed Amit Narang a Counsellor at Indias UN Mission said This is an area of priority for Indias partnership with Africa as wellSustained and robust inclusive economic growth is indispensable for eradicating poverty and therefore also a central policy objective he said speaking at the UNGA session on New Partnership for AfricasDevelopment NEPAD India attaches high importance to the programmes goal of broadbased and equitable economic growth that allows Africa to reduce poverty and better integrate into the global economy he addedUN Secretary General Ban Kimoon noted the growing cooperation between and India and Africa in his progress report on NEPAD saying Indian investment in Africa has surged with major investments in information and communications technology energy engineering chemicals pharmaceuticals and automobiles sectorsNarang said that Indias partnership is aligned with Africas own development priorities and trade has grown 31 percent annually between 2005 and 2011 and is now estimated to be over US 72 billion Indian Investment in Africa is estimated to be over US 35 billion and in the last decade India has provided more than US67 billion in concessional lines of credit for African countries which is more than twothirds of the total such credit extended by the country he saidA report by the consulting company KPMG said India has become one of the leading investors in African countries with investments in joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries touching the 33 billion mark The investments take in a wide range of sectors including oil and gas pharmaceuticals petrochemicals IT fertilisers and infrastructure the report India Investing in South Africa and Africa saidAbout the contributions investments make the report said Indias investments in agriculture and telecommunications may also have more of a direct economic impact on the lives of ordinary Africans 70 percent of whom are engaged in some form of agriculture and at least 30 percent of whom have access to a mobile phoneIndian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel is a major player in the area having acquired the African operations of Zain Telecommunications for an estimated US107 billion in 2010 The company says it has 70 million subscribers in 17 African countriesLooking to the future a report by the World Trade Organisation and Confederation of Indian Industry said IndiaAfrica trade is projected to reach US 90 billion by 2015The report said Information communication and technology ICT has been a significant feature of India and Africas trade and capacity building initiatives with many Indian IT companies including NIIT Wipro and HCL having entered Africas IT sectorIt highlighted the work of Indias PanAfrican eNetwork Project which offers teleeducation and telemedicine solutions to over 47 African countries The report said that under the project India plans to connectivity between heads of state in addition to supporting egovernance ecommerce infotainment resource mapping meteorological and other services