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Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visits to Namibia and Ghana, arsenic portion of a five-nation circuit (including Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina and Brazil) successful July 2025, focused the spotlight again connected India-Africa economical relations — conscionable arsenic his caller sojourn to Ethiopia (December 16-17, 2025) did. The caller decennary has witnessed a caller momentum successful India’s relations with assorted African countries. A testament to this is the introduction of the African Union arsenic a full-time subordinate of the G-20 during India’s presidency word successful 2023. India and Africa stock a agelong past of taste affinity and governmental solidarity, but their narration has progressively been shaped by economics successful caller decades.
Editorial | Common goals: On India and a five-nation tour
Uncertainties successful occidental markets
In FY24, India’s exports to the United States and the European Union constituted astir 40% of its full exports. Given the rising unpredictability of these markets and the menace of a imaginable slowdown, it is indispensable that India looks to different markets, peculiarly African economies.
India is Africa’s fourth-largest trading partner, with bilateral commercialized reaching astir $100 billion. In FY24, India exported goods worthy $38.17 cardinal to African countries — the cardinal destinations included Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania. Petroleum products, engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, atom and textiles were immoderate of the large goods exported. In 2024, Africa’s imports from India were astir 6% of its full imports. To enactment this successful perspective, successful summation to being 1 of the largest investors, China is besides Africa’s largest trading partner, with bilateral commercialized exceeding $200 billion. Around 21% of imports to Africa successful 2024 came from China. Interestingly astir 33% of imports from China fell nether the HSN 84 and 85 merchandise categories, demonstrating China’s concern prowess. These merchandise categories comprise machinery, boilers, electrical machinery, and semiconductor devices.
Recognising the request to drawback up, India has already acceptable a people of doubling its commercialized with Africa by 2030. Here is simply a five-point strategy that whitethorn alteration India to fulfil its target.
The archetypal strategical pillar should absorption connected removing commercialized barriers and engaging successful negotiations for preferential commercialized agreements and broad economical concern agreements with determination economical communities and the large African economies.
The 2nd pillar should purpose to determination from low-value commodity exports to two-way value-added and cross-border associated task manufacturing. Currently, Indian firms lag successful utilising the incentives offered by aggregate African governments to alteration firms to acceptable up manufacturing units. For Indian enterprises, mounting up manufacturing facilities crossed Africa presents a strategical dual advantage. It enables them to support preferential entree to the U.S. marketplace done favourable tariff regimes, portion simultaneously capitalising connected Africa’s increasing user basal and concern demand. Moving beyond petroleum and accepted exports is captious successful transitioning to a caller signifier of India’s ties with African economies. Deepening engagement with African determination groupings specified arsenic the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) tin unfastened greater opportunities for Indian exporters.
An accidental for MSMEs
The 3rd pillar indispensable prioritise the scaling-up of the Lines of Credit and amended accessibility to commercialized finance. The African marketplace offers a large accidental for the micro, tiny and mean enterprises (MSME) segment, dissimilar the European and American markets wherever MSMEs find it hard to summation a foothold. There is simply a sizeable deficiency of argumentation attraction successful enabling MSMEs to summation entree to the African markets.
Ensuring casual entree to commercialized concern is captious successful achieving a sustainable commercialized narration with the continent. Other measures whitethorn see adopting commercialized successful section currencies, and forming a associated security excavation to screen governmental and commercialized risks for medium-term projects which whitethorn trim the perceived hazard for tiny and mean enterprises and banks.
The 4th strategical pillar should absorption connected lowering freight and logistics costs by investing successful larboard modernisation, hinterland connectivity and successful processing India-Africa maritime corridors.
The last strategical pillar involves the scaling up of services, integer trade, and people-to-people links. It is indispensable that India leverages its spot successful Information Technology, wellness care, nonrecreational services and accomplishment improvement to boost services exports and stimulate goods trade. Services alteration high-value exports and facilitate greater two-way trade. Current argumentation measures autumn abbreviated successful enabling services commercialized with African economies. There needs to beryllium a sizeable betterment successful this regard.
A relation for the Indian nationalist sector
Strengthening investments by Indian firms successful African manufacturing, agro-processing, infrastructure, renewable vigor and captious and emerging technologies whitethorn lend further spot to India’s relations with African economies. Currently, India’s investments successful Africa are inflated by investments successful Mauritius which are often done with an intent to evade taxes. Multiple factors, including bureaucratic hurdles, governmental instability and financing costs enactment arsenic barriers for Indian firms to put successful Africa. Indian firms, peculiarly the nationalist assemblage units indispensable instrumentality the pb successful investing successful the African continent, peculiarly successful mining and mineral exploration.
Ultimately, India’s engagement with Africa indispensable spell beyond transactional commercialized and determination towards gathering long-term, sustainable partnerships. As planetary proviso chains acquisition restructuring and the satellite shifts towards a multipolar economical order, Africa volition stay cardinal to India’s aspirations of becoming a planetary economical power. The clip is ripe for India to recalibrate, innovate, and deepen its economical footprint crossed the African continent.
Amal Krishnan is an Assistant Professor astatine Christ University, Bengaluru. Badri Narayanan is Fellow, NITI Aayog
