Indian business groups are investing heavily in Africa

The Indian industry on the African continent is certainly more discreet than the Chinese one, but it is equally important. Indeed, just like its neighbour China and driven by the private sector, India has also started the conquest of the African markets.

But unlike China, whose investments are always negotiated on the state level, Indian industrialists will negotiate directly with their African counterparts. Thus, over the past five years, 85 acquisitions and equity investments have been made by Indian companies in Africa who have invested $ 16 billion in highly varied sectors ranging from energy to consumer goods, as well as in the cement and textile industries.

Telecommunications, agriculture, textiles, raw materials: Indian companies are investing in all economic sectors

Taking over the African activities of the giant Kuwaiti mobile provider Zain by Indian Airtel Baharti last June has often been cited as the epitome of this new Indian presence in Africa. With this transaction worth $ 9 billion, the group has become the number two mobile telephone provider on the African continent. Meanwhile, Godrej Consumer Products, a group specialized in cosmetic products at low prices, acquired the Nigerian Tura soap manufacturer whose products are marketed primarily in West Africa. While Tata Hispano, a subsidiary of the giant Tata Motors, specialized in designing and marketing of buses, announced to invest over $ 10 million in an assembly line to increase its production and exports to Sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, it has begun with the modernization of the railway line Dakar-Thies.

Much has been said about the Indian company WACEM too, which invested more than $ 130 million in a cement plant in Mali in 2009. The production capacity of this plant is 800 000 tonnes in the first year and will grow to one million tonnes by its third year. Diamond Cement Mali is a mixed economy project. Its capital is 20 billion FCFA. 70% of the company’s shares will be owned by WACEM and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), 10% by the State of Mali, 10% by private investors in Mali and 10% by small shareholders.

Finally, in order to enhance and transform the cotton production in Burkina Faso, one of the Indian groups specialized in textiles, Alok Industry, opened last month a spinning mill in Bobo-Dioulasso, the second largest city in the country. Regarded as the leading cotton producer in Africa, the land of men of integrity will experience, according to some experts, a sort of revolution with the establishment of this plant that promises to transform 12,000 tons of fiber per year and cover in the long term the whole value chain, from clothing to marketing of textile goods.

An investment policy encouraged by the Indian State

The third largest economy of Asia, which has accelerated its acquisitions on the African continent over the past five years, is planning further increases of its funding and its presence in realizing major projects. And recently, the Indian government seems to have decided to support its industry in its objective to develop activities in Africa by trying to establish more negotiations between States, especially in terms of major projects such as road construction or refineries. Thus, as stated recently by the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, making the African continent one of their main economic partners is an official policy objective for India.