African countries invite investment from India

Opportunities in sectors like textiles, food and agro-processing, agriculture, leather and leather garments, renewable energy, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and education await Indian industrialists and entrepreneurs in African countries, a business delegation that took part in a seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) said here on Thursday.

Representatives from Mali, Seychelles, Uganda, Ethiopia and Botswana attended the event.

Niankoro Yeah Samake, Mali ambassador to India, said his country wishes to explore investment and business opportunities from Indian businessmen in textile, gold, education and hospitality management. “Nearly 41% of Mali’s GDP comes from agriculture that comprises fishery, crops and livestock. Almost 75% of the country’s workforce is employed in agriculture. As much 59% of our export is cotton. So, we would like to explore potential from textile industries here in Coimbatore. I have invited a delegation of texpreneurs to Mali to explore business opportunities,” he said.

Seychelles, a country known for tourism, is looking for Indian restaurateurs to set up business in the Island nation, high commissioner Philippe Le Gall said. “The pillar of our economy is tourism and we see about 3 lakh people visiting Seychelles every year. We want to take that up to 5 lakh. We want restaurateurs to set up outlets for North Indian, South Indian, Bengali, Punjabi, Mughlai and Goan cuisines,” he said.

Minister counsellor to the Uganda high commission Margaret Kedisi said her country is interested in investments in pharmaceuticals, healthcare, automobiles and education. “As much as 30% of our pharmaceutical import is from India. At the same time, the most preferred destination of treatment is India. So investment in pharma and healthcare industry has potential in Uganda,” she said.

In Botswana, a country with 2.3million people, the population of cattle is higher than that of people, said the director, Botswana Investment and Trade Centre, Mumbai, Gemma Mbegabolawe. “We have enough potential for leather. Until now we have exported leather, but we now wish to develop leather product manufacturing,” she said.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/