Common Futures

growth
India and Africa have a history of partnership in agricultural trade issues such as
agricultural subsidies at the multilateral level. African countries and India have
moved several joint proposals such as the Agricultural Framework Proposal
and Protection of Geographical Indications in World Trade Organisation (WTO)
and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
After a long period of relative stagnation, bilateral trade between India and
Africa grew rapidly from mid 2000s (Figure 1). There was a fivefold increase
in Indian exports to sub-Saharan Africa from US$ 5,274.4 million in 2004
to US$ 28,412.3 million in 2014. 2 The increase in imports from sub-Saharan
Africa was even more pronounced. India’s imports from sub-Saharan Africa
grew by a factor of twelve from US$ 2,876.2 million in 2004 to US$ 35,288.7
million in 2014. 3 As a result, the share of African countries in India’s total
exports and imports also increased rapidly during this period. According to
data from the Export and Import Bank of India, Africa’s share in India’s total
exports increased from 7% in 2004 to 11% in 2014. Similarly, Africa’s share
in India’s total imports rose from a mere 3% in 2004 to about 8% in 2014. 4
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
Exports
Imports
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Figure 1: Bilateral trade between India and sub-Saharan Africa (in US$
million)
Source: UNCOMTRADE Database 5
1 Mohanty SK & Sachin Chaturvedi, “India-Africa Economic Partnership: Trends and Prospects”,
Discussion Paper. New Delhi: Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS),
March 2008, http://ris.org.in/images/RIS_images/pdf/dp134_pap.pdf.
2 Author’s estimates from UNCOMTRADE data.
3 Ibid.
4 “Export and Import Bank of India: Catalysing India’s Trade and Investment”, July 2015, accessed
October 7 th 2015 http://www.eximbankindia.in/sites/default/files/indias-international-trade-andinvestment.pdf
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