A number of Indian companies have announced their intention to invest in Africa’s mining and power sectors at the recently held 11th edition of the West African Mining and Power Exhibition (WAMPEX)
The expo, held in Accra, Ghana, and was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) with the support of India's commerce ministry.
Rachna Jindal, deputy director of CII, commented, “There are lots of opportunities in Ghana, and for that matter Africa, for Indian companies to take advantage, and so, the companies from India have come to showcase what they can offer. We have the technology that is appropriate and are ready to make our expertise available to those countries that need it.”
According to a mining study released by KPMG, the African continent contributed 6.5 per cent of the world’s mineral exports in 2011, by mining 20 per cent of the world’s land area. Members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) produce two-thirds of Africa’s mineral exports by value, with South Africa leading the pack.
Ghana, in particular, is richly endowed with natural resources like gold, diamond, manganese, bauxite, iron ore, limestone, kaolin, feldspar and silica sands. The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources of Ghana, in its website, stated political stability, availability of geological data, favourable investment climate and improvised governance as reasons which put Ghana in a favourable spot with investors.
Jeeva Sagar, Indian high commissioner to Ghana, said, “Ghana is rich in resources while Indian technology and expertise in mining and power sectors is appropriate to and consistent with this friendly country’s developmental model. The coming together of these complementary strengths augurs well for the bilateral economic cooperation between India and Ghana.”
Shubham Maheshwari, director of Shashwat Cables in Dehradun in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand, said his company was looking for opportunities in Ethiopia and Ghana even though they have their sights set across the African continent as a whole to invest.
“We want to partner with companies in the power industry initially to supply our products but will be looking at joint ventures that will eventually lead to setting up production facility in Africa,” Maheshwari added.
