India pitches for wider financial sector engagement with Africa
He was speaking at the FICCI-India Exim Bank Conference on Strengthening India-Africa Trade through Innovative Finance.
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Dalela emphasized that strengthening development and economic cooperation in line with African priorities remains the fundamental principle of India’s relationship with Africa. “From Lines of Credit for infrastructure and development projects, to high-impact community development projects, to the training of thousands of African professionals and youth, there has been a constant emphasis on building human and physical capacity, empowering local communities and skills,” said Dalela.
Addressing India’s growing engagement with Africa across all pillars, in line with the government’s priority of strengthening partnerships with countries in the Global South, the Secretary (ER) pointed to India’s rapidly expanding presence on the continent as evidence of strategic commitment: 17 new missions have been opened across Africa in the last seven to eight years, covering all sub-regions. India is now Africa’s fourth largest trading partner and among its top five investors. The African continent is the second largest recipient of India’s overseas development assistance.
The financing issue was further highlighted by Deepali Agrawal, Deputy Managing Director, Exim Bank of India, who stated: “Africa requires annual infrastructure investments worth US$ 155 billion by 2040 for sustainable economic growth and improved living standards” but “financing constraints are hindering the region’s infrastructure development as current spending levels are insufficient to meet the region’s total infrastructure investment demand.”
Agrawal outlined the scale of Exim Bank’s current financing architecture in Africa: 308 projects supported under Lines of Credit worth $8.9 billion in 39 countries, facilitating access to basic infrastructure, improving livelihoods, increasing agricultural productivity, increasing industrial production and supporting sustainable development. These projects have also created business opportunities worth $7.1 billion for more than 160 Indian companies. It also highlighted Africa’s persistent trade finance deficit (estimated at between $80 and $120 billion annually); Only 40 percent of financing requests from African businesses were approved, while the global average was between 60 and 70 percent. Exim Bank’s Trade Assistance Program, launched in 2022, supported 150 transactions in 25 countries and achieved a $1.4 billion increase in bilateral trade.
He said commercial trade between India and Africa will reach $85 billion by 2025, registering an annual growth of 10.7 percent; This is more than double the 4.6 percent growth in India’s overall trade over the same period. Agrawal reported that India’s foreign investment in Africa was $91 billion from 1996 to March 2025.
FICCI Director General Jyoti Vij called for changes in both scale and urgency. “As Indian industry continues to expand its footprint across Africa, the need for robust and innovative financing solutions becomes most critical,” he said, arguing that stronger collaboration between financial institutions, government and industry is now required to build what he called a “resilient and enabling ecosystem”.
