Diplomatist Magazine Africa Day Special 2018 | Page 13

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
as in Africa.” Real GDP (5.2% per annum in
Africa and 5.7 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa)
in the past decade has grown by more than
twice the rate in the 1980s and '90s. This
growth, which is widespread in Sub-Saharan
Africa, is expected to continue through till
2020. The study notes that this growth is a
result of improved macroeconomic policies
coupled with rapid expansion in sectors
like tourism, banking, telecommunications,
manufacturing, and agriculture. Africa's
collective GDP is expected to touch $3.6
trillion in 2020, up from $2.1 trillion in 2011.
This fi gure has unfortunately declined in
recent years, mainly due to falling commodity
prices, and was estimated to be at the same
level in 2016. Africa's growing middle class,
already expected to be bigger than India's,
continues to boost consumption, construction
and private investment. Combined consumer
spending in Africa which was $860 billion
in 2008, is expected to touch $1.4 trillion
in 2020. Africa is the home base of twenty
domestic companies with revenues of at least
$3.0 billion each and over 100 companies
have revenues exceeding $1.0 billion each.
In the economic and commercial sphere,
Africa is obviously a region India cannot
afford to take lightly. India is among Africa's
fourth or fi fth largest trading partner ($71.5
billion in 2014-15, which declined to $ 52
billion in 2016-17) after China, France,
Germany, and the USA. Our exposure in
terms of investments is also considerable,
estimated to be about $60 billion cumulatively
from April 1996 to March 2017. Even if we
ignore all other reasons, bilateral trade and
investment compel us to pay attention to
the African market. Moreover, the basket of
goods imported from Africa is dominated
by commodities, particularly crude oil, gas,
pulses and lentils, leather, gold and other
metals, all of which we lack in suffi cient
quantities back home and the diverse sources
in Africa provide some protection against the
vulnerability of depending on just one to two
regions for the supply of such commodities.
Indian exports of manufactured products
2018 • Africa Day Special • 9