AfDB moves to improve ties between India and Africa
The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, last month, embarked on a fourday official visit to India. The visit was conceived to help improve relations between the AfDB and the South Asian country, and strengthen ties between India and Africa.
Afro-Indian trade reportedly grew at almost 32% per annum from 2005 to 2011, spurred by Indian private investments in ICT, energy, automobile manufacturing, and telecommunications. The value of bilateral trade between Africa and India nearly tripled from $25 billion in 2007 to $70 billion in 2014 and was projected to reach $90 billion in 2015.
However, the vast majority of exports from Africa to India are raw materials such as crude oil, gold, raw cotton, and precious stones.
India is a key member of the 24 nonregional member States of the AfDB Group. The country became a part of the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional arm of the AfDB, in 1982, and the African Development Bank in the following year.