The inaugural Indo-Africa Virtual Summit took place from the 4th to the 6th of November 2020, with the aim of bringing together leaders from both India and sub-Saharan Africa to participate in virtual discussions around opportunities for collaboration within various key sectors like banking and finance, geopolitics, infrastructure, big pharma, digital and communication.
During his opening address, India’s Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Honourable Piyush Goyal, said that the two countries need to work on strengthening their relationship, and also build more robust and resilient supply chain between Africa and India to make it easier to trade with each other. “I have no doubt that Africa and India working together in the spirit of oneness; will only result in success and give people prosperity and better quality of life for all.” The minister also commented on India’s ongoing commitment to support Africa, referring to a number of projects they were implementing in Africa. “We are currently executing worth more than 5 million projects and this will expand with time.” Kenya’s Honourable Minister of Sports, Heritage and Culture, Dr. Amina Mohamed, also expanded on the relationship between India and Africa. “Kenya and India have placed priority on concreting their relationship through focusing on health, manufacturing, ICT, education and more.” says Dr. Mohamed. She encouraged both countries to continue high-level visits.
#INDOAFRICA PANEL HIGHLIGHTS
Day 1:
Panel 1 – The Changing Landscape of Indo-African Geopolitics
The aim of this panel was to examine whether there was an opportunity for collaboration between the sub-continent of India and the Africa. The discussions highlighted the historic partnership between Africa and India and the opportunity to form strategic partnerships, instead of competing for raw material. Some key insights delivered also focused on Africa’s investment potential as well as the need to offer attractive investment opportunities. The digital revolution was identified as one of the key areas where Africa could benefit and learn from India’s progress.
“Three critical sectors for us would be pharmaceutical, ICT and agriculture. So what can we do in the content and India to make sure that we invest in these critical sectors of the economy? We need companies to invest in projects from these sectors.” says Mduduzi Mbada, Head of Policy Unit; Gauteng Premier Office. He also noted that our response to the COVID pandemic required more partnerships, through both domestic and foreign investment, that we needed to invest in the growth of our young people, and women in order to help us solve the problems of poverty, unemployment and inequality.
“We can bring about the necessary changes that will benefit all, irrespective of a person’s geographical location. That is why we are working very closely with the African Development Bank as part of their “High 5’s”, to make sure that we respond to the challenges of Africa, but also the issues of investing in the real resources of Africa and the rest of the world, which are people.” Mbada concluded.
Panel 2 – Expansion of Trade – an Economic Overview
This panel evaluated opportunities for mutual inter-dependence, with reference to the historic strategic partnership and cultural ties between India and African countries, which unravelled great untapped potential for trade and investment. Some key insights that stemmed from this panel discussion were the entrepreneurial energy present in the cities of India, taking advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), relaxing policies that hinder trade, and Africa as a market that rewards problem solvers.
When asked if she thought that Africa has done enough to collaborate with India, Busi Mabuza said that Africa can’t afford to ignore India as an important partner for Africa’s economic growth “India has shown tremendous GDP growth over the last few years, it’s an engine for global economic growth” says Busi Mabuza, Chairperson at IDC and BRICS. She believes that a lot of focus has been paid to opportunities that presented themselves, however we haven’t reached the targets that was set in 2014.
Day 2:
Panel 3 – Big Pharma – Innovation and New Business Models
With India being known as the largest provider of generic medications globally, and South Africa’s pharmaceutical industry worth approximately R20-billion annually, it presented an opportunity to discuss the opportunities for drug development, pricing models, innovation and breaking monopolies. The pharma sector has been one of the most resilient industries throughout the pandemic, however not without its challenges. Some factors which were addressed during this panel included the effects of COVID on the pharma industry, specifically in Africa and how it stacks up to the rest of the world.
Aspen recently concluded a technology transfer and proposed a commercial factoring agreement with Johnson & Johnson in respect of J&J’s candidate COVID vaccine, an exciting opportunity not only for Aspen, but South Africa and global markets. “It is estimated that the world will require between 4-5 billion global citizens to be vaccinated. The J&J arrangement means that Aspen will contribute 300 million doses of the total targeted estimate that J&J are looking at, which are a billion doses. Aspen will be contributing towards 30% of J&J’s target.” says Stavros Nicolaou, Snr. Executive: Strategic Trade, Aspen Pharmacare.
“Even markets become bigger, raw material is still imported. There needs to be a conducive regulatory environment & IP protection, which help countries bring its expertise. India has made affordable medicine in the past like tuberculosis, malarial and water-borne drugs, and there will be more to come, hopefully.” says Yogesh Agrawal, Managing Director, Ajanta Pharma Ltd.
Panel 4 – Banking & Finance – Bilateral opportunities
The panel unpacked current and future collaborations in the banking and finance space between India and Africa. India has been at the forefront of embracing technology to enhance its consumers’ banking experience. Some of the highlights of this panel included India’s zero cost banking for all adults, India’s efforts to increase financial inclusion and contribute to the digital revolution through its unique biometric ID, and low data costs, and the ability to send money via Whatsapp in India.
In 2014 the Indian Government, as part of their mission for financial inclusion and to ensure access to financial services, it launched its JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) initiative, offering zero cost banking for all adults. “JAM is powered by UPI, a super highway of digital payments; it’s a real-time interbank payment system that is interoperable between banks and any services provider can structure tailored solutions for their clients. You can use a phone number to pay and receive money, ID card, or thumb print to do a transaction, without a USSD or a smartphone.” says Rohit Wahi, CEO and Country Head, First Rand Bank India.
Day 3:
Panel 5 –Infrastructure – Paving the Way for Expanded Trade
This panel unravelled trading opportunities, building of business networks & potential partnerships in the infrastructure space. Key talking points which derived from this session were the funding of infrastructure, and the need to develop bankable projects to attract private investors.
“In partnership with Africa50, we continue to innovate, including on infrastructure asset recycling opportunities, in order to attract later-stage private infrastructure investors into brownfield projects, thereby releasing capital for governments to invest in new infrastructure PPPs in their infrastructure development plans.” says Solomon Quaynor, the African Development Bank’s Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization
Panel 6 –Opportunities for Collaboration in Digital & Communication
The final panel for the summit explored the potential opportunities for collaboration in this sector between India and Africa. Polls conducted on the virtual event platform also suggested that this panel discussion attracted the most interest amongst the attendees. One of the major pain points from this discussion was the high data costs, specifically in South Africa which limits the access to information especially for the poorer communities.
“Countries like India are really at the forefront of the digital revolution, and in many cases leapfrogging already digitized economies. From an African perspective there are a lot of opportunities, given the fact that on the African continent we still have a lot more work to do in term of being in line with the digitized world.” Says Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa, CEO, Naspers.
“We are honoured to have had the opportunity to present this summit with the IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It is vital for businesses and governments to form strategic partnerships in order to help and support each other during these economically challenging times. Within India and the countries of Africa lie a plethora of opportunities for trade and investment. By strengthening ties between both countries, we are able to tap into these potential areas to boost growth and development.” said Roberta Naicker, MD, ABN Group. She also noted that there were talks in the pipeline to host another summit early in 2021.
The Indo-Africa Summit was presented by CNBC Africa in partnership with the IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, together with its esteemed sponsors, Ajanta Pharma Ltd, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Inspira Enterprise, Export-Import Bank of India, and FirstRand Bank India.
If you missed the event, see full panel discussions below:
· Inaugural Ceremony:
· Panel 1 – The Changing Landscape of Indo-African Geopolitics
· Panel 2 – Expansion of trade – An economic overview:
https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2020/11/06/indoafrica2020-expansion-of-trade-an-economic-overview/
· Panel 3 – Big Pharma – Innovation and new business models:
· Panel 4 – Banking & Finance – Bilateral opportunities:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYzPH2vMVOI
· Panel 5 – Infrastructure – Paving the way for expanded trade:
· Panel 6 – Opportunities for collaboration in digital and communication:
