Bilateral trade between India and Africa is set to double in the next five years from the current level of $53 billion, with sectors such as transport equipment, services, health and agriculture projected to drive the growth.

This was the agenda set at the second India-Africa Business Partnership Summit, organized by FICCI, here on Wednesday. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy inaugurated the two-day summit, with over 120 African delegates and 250 Indian delegates, comprising heads of PSUs, corporate houses, government representatives and consultants participating in the event.

“Bilateral trade has more than doubled from $25 billion in 2006-07 to $53.3 billion in 2010-11. I see a faster growth in the next five years,” Dr Rajiv Kumar, FICCI Secretary General, told Business Line.

According to an Exim Bank report, India's exports to Africa have surged from $10.3 billion in 2006-07 to $21.1 billion in 2010-11, primarily due to increase in exports of transport equipment and petroleum products.

The concomitant rise in imports from Africa during the comparable period attests to increased two-way relations, wherein India's imports from Africa have more than doubled from $14.7 billion to $32.2 billion, according to Dr Kumar.

The approved cumulative India's investments in Africa during 1996-2011 amount to $16.3 billion. This, according to the Exim Bank report, was largely driven by small and medium enterprises.

Mr T.C.A Ranganathan, Chairman and Managing Director of Exim Bank, said the bank was helping in the setting up of food processing, textile, diamond and IT clusters in Africa. “The diamond and IT clusters will be coming up at Botswana and Ghana respectively,” he pointed out.