India and Africa are natural trade partners. Africa’s abundant natural resources and raw materials are in high demand in resource-poor but human-capital-intensive countries like India. India imports raw materials, refines them, and exports them back to Africa as consumer goods, predominantly in the form of refined petroleum and pharmaceutical products.

The southern and western regions of Africa are the largest importers of Indian pharmaceuticals

INDIA-SOUTH AFRICA TRADE.

• In 2021, bilateral trade between the two countries reached around US$ 17 billion.
• South Africa occupies the 35th position in FDI equity inflows into India with a cumulative FDI amount of US$ 589.76 million from April 2000 – September 2022.
• In 2022 (January 2022 – November 2022), bilateral trade between India and South Africa reached around US$ 17,981 million.

MAJOR EXPORTED ITEMS FROM INDIA TO SOUTH AFRICA WITH AMOUNT & QUANTITY

• India exported 4,873 commodities to South Africa in FY 2021-22.
• India’s export to South Africa stood at US$ 6.08 billion in FY 2021-22.
• Major exported items from India to South Africa include mineral oils & products, bituminous substances, and mineral waxes (US$ 1,420.68 million); followed by road vehicles and parts (US$ 1,318.16 million) in FY 2021-22.
• India’s export to South Africa stood at US$ 6.06 billion from April-November 2022.
• Major exported items from India to South Africa include petroleum products (US$ 2,991 million) followed by motor vehicles (US$ 941 million) etc. from April-November 2022.

India, Africa, and the Health care trade

After China, India has become the second largest trading partner with sub-Saharan Africa, growing to about 6.4 percent of total trade. India-Africa trade wasn’t always this strong.

India’s pharmaceutical exports to different regions in Africa

Cross-border trade, where services are supplied from one country to another via the use of ICT. One such example is the Pan-African e-network.

Medical tourism of patients traveling from Africa to other countries in search of medical care that is either unavailable or unaffordable in the home-country health care systems. According to the World Bank statistics, Africa is expected to lose over $1 billion a year to medical tourism abroad, mainly to India.

ECONOMIC RELATIONS AND INVESTMENTS

• So far, India’s cumulative investments in Africa stand at US$ 70 billion, while the country has extended lines of credit (LoCs) worth US$ 12.26 billion to African countries; 193 projects have been completed and 66 are under execution, while 88 are in their pre-execution stage in various sectors.
• The investments are related to oil and gas, mining, banking, pharma, textiles, the automotive sector, and agriculture.
• South Africa occupies the 35th position in FDI equity inflows into India with a cumulative FDI amount of US$ 589.76 million from April 2000 – September 2022. According to data from the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), approved cumulative India’s investments in Africa from April 1996 to March 2022 amounted to US$ 73.9 billion. Setting up a Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS) is the most preferred route of investment for Indian investors in Africa, with nearly 81.6% of the total approved investments from April 2010- March 2022.
• Joint Ventures accounted for 18.4% of the total approved investments during the same period. Africa’s manufacturing sector attracted the highest Indian investments from April 2010-March 2022. Other major sectors attracting Indian investments include financial, insurance, real estate, and business services, agriculture and allied sectors, transport, storage, and communication services.
• South Africa occupies the 35th position in FDI equity inflows into India with a cumulative FDI amount of US$ 589.76 million from April 2000 – September 2022.