Africa and India have had a rich distinguished history, first ushered by Indian traders led by the seasonal monsoon winds before they upscaled their presence in the 17th century due to the abundance of spices on the East African coast. The colonial period brought with it a new demand for Indian Labour.

Today, the relationship is vibrant and multilayered. It is one of equal partners focused on prosperity and a quest for mutually beneficial economic development. The result is that annual trade between India and Africa stands at US$ 75 billion making India the third largest trading partner of Africa.

The data in this publication bears testimony to the depth and breadth of the sectors that Africa and India place the greatest levels of engagement. Both entities recognize that the development of micro, small and medium-scale enterprises is a necessary first step towards industrialization. The importance of a robust financial sector for economic development has been acknowledged in the cooperation policy, leading to the development and growth of regulatory frameworks that have spawned new ways of doing business. In addition, regional cooperation and economic integration have generated financial support to mutually agreed integration programmes and projects. Ultimately, the data, which cuts across a remarkable breadth of sectors tells the story of two parties working towards achieving common prosperity and progress.

In the area of science and technology, Africa and India share the common objective of enhancing collaborative research, strengthening science and technology institutions and cashing in on the growth of a south-south dynamic information economy. In this new era of Sustainable Development Goals, Africa and India share a common understanding on many fronts, such as the need to reinforce their cooperation in human resource development, upgrade healthcare systems and improve basic sanitation to stem the spread of diseases resulting from poor hygiene and environmental sanitation.

It is in this backdrop that the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) have come together to produce this publication titled “Africa-India: Facts & Figures 2015”, with a hope that the information presented will provide a much-needed snapshot of the potential for even greater collaboration and investment. By the year 2063, new and vibrant trade winds would have taken Africa and India to new heights of exchange and prosperity whose seeds are only now being sown.

» View the Interactive visualization of Africa-India Facts & Figures 2015

---

Statistical Highlights

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

In 2013, 16% of India’s total foreign direct investment stocks were in Africa. Altogether, India has the second largest FDI stocks in Africa after the United States of America. However, in terms of relative importance of Africa in the countries’ total FDI stocks, India is outstanding.

In the same year, 16% of India’s total FDI stocks were in Africa, while Brazil and China had 9% and 0.8% of their FDI stocks in the continent, respectively. In 2013, 26% of the inward FDI stocks in India came from Africa. Compared to Brazil, China, the Russian Federation and the United States of America, India has the largest inward FDI stocks from Africa, with a total of 65 billion USD in 2013. The importance of African investment is outstanding in India: Africa accounts for 26% of India’s total inward FDI stocks.

Trade

In 2014 Africa accounted for 11% of India’s exports and 9% of its imports. Since 2010, India’s exports to and imports from Africa increased by 93% and 28%, respectively. In the meantime, Africa’s share from India’s total exports has increased from 8.1% to 10.9%. Overtaking the United States of American with 40 billion of US Dollars of imports, India came as third African trade partner, in 2014 just after the European Union and China.

South Africa (17% of total), Kenya (13%), Tanzania (11%), Egypt (9%) and Nigeria (8%) were the top African importers from India in 2014. Meanwhile, the largest exporters from the continent to India were Nigeria (39% of total), South Africa (15%), Angola (14%), Egypt (5%) and Botswana (3%).