Indian Investors in Africa to Focus on Agriculture, Energy

Credit lines from India to Africa would target agriculture and energy because the rural sector is crucial in improving the lives of people in the world, India’s Foreign Affairs said.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the regional meeting on the India-Africa partnership project Thursday in Dakar, he said the vast majority of the world’s population depends on agriculture for survival and each country should control their food self-sufficiency and even seek to export their products.

According to the minister, New Delhi “has always been on the side of Africa” to support its development, and therefore India “has responded positively to the calls” of Sierra Leone, whose chief diplomat insisted on opening his country to “business in a context of national reconstruction”.

In a statement copied to APA on the sidelines of the meeting, Ms. Zeinab Hawa Bangoura said with 9 watercourses and a favorable climate, her country could be “self-sufficient and even become an exporter of rice in the next 3 years.”

After the energy sector where Sierra Leone grew “from 6 to 30 megawatts…, we now prioritize agriculture,” she said.

Ms. Bangoura evoked the efforts “to create a business-conducive environment in post-war Sierra Leone.

“You need less than 72 hours to set up a business in Sierra Leone,” she assured.

On his part, Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio spoke of India as a “southern developing country” showing Africa that development is possible.

“While Africa needs India, India also needs Africa,” Gadio said, adding that Africa did not wait for “the great inbound rush before building partnerships.”

Gadio pleaded that India, “the world’s fourth leading economy with 1 billion people,” should be a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, adding that “this emerging great power” has always stood as “a great political mind and strategic alliance” in its links with Africa.

Source African Press Agency

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