India’s Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, has reaffirmed India’s commitment to strengthening its ties with African countries in the domains such as trade and renewable energy.
Speaking at the 18th edition of the CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on ‘India-Africa Growth Partnership’ in New Delhi, Goyal emphasized that India stands as the fifth-largest investor in Africa, with investments amounting to 74 billion dollars. He expressed satisfaction with the bilateral trade, which has shown robust growth of 9 to 10 percent in the past year. Goyal outlined the objective of elevating India-Africa trade to 200 billion US dollars and highlighted Indian companies’ eagerness to explore further opportunities in African nations.
Shri Goyal stressed upon collaboration between India and Africa in the field of renewable energy to make the dream of “One World, One Grid” come true. He said that India and Africa are uniquely poised to become the leaders in production of renewable energy especially solar energy with interconnected grids through overland and underwater transmission lines. The Minister said that this potential of affordable energy for all throughout the day must be leveraged effectively and praised the participation of more than 20 African countries in the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
Shri Goyal said that both India and Africa shared the values of Equality and Liberty. He said that the seed of the Conclave was sown in 2005 which has since blossomed and strengthened the relations between India and Africa. The Minister noted the vital role played by the Conclave in bringing together business leaders and policymakers from India and Africa at one platform for further enhancing the partnership.
