New Delhi, May 23 (KNN)  The Indian government and its industry will strengthen their economic relations with Africa through the private sector in areas of agriculture, food processing, core infrastructure, manufacturing and services.

“I believe that increased coordination and commitment of the Indian private sector, the Government of India and the economic potential of Africa will strengthen economic ties to yield rich all round dividends," said the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Past President RV Kanoria yesterday in a meeting on 'Africa-India Partnership Day’ held at Kigali, Rwanda.

The 49th Annual Meeting of African Development Bank (AfDB) was organised by FICCI and EXIM bank with the support from the Indian government and the African Development Bank Group.

On the occasion, Kanoria said that the discussions unfolded the multidimensional scope of the PPP model and unfurled opportunities for cooperation between India and Africa.
He said the economic ties between India and Africa have strengthened over the years and both sides have increased their trade from about USD 5.0 billion a decade ago to over USD 70 billion last year. This is expected to further increase to USD 100 billion next year. Similarly, Indian investments in Africa have also increased from under USD 10 billion in 2000 to the currently estimated USD 50 billion.

The theme for this year's event was 'Sharing India's Experiences with Africa'. It focused on sectors such as renewable energy, road transportation, healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

The broad framework of 'Sharing India's Experiences with Africa' also gels with the joint proposal of floating a Project Development Company, by African Development Bank and Export-Import Bank of India, along with other partners such as State Bank of India, and IL&FS.

The sessions helped in synergizing the priority areas in the identified sectors for successful engagement between the African Development Bank, the government of India and the Exim Bank of India. (KNN/ST)