The India Africa Trade Council-COMESA organized the India Ethiopia Trade Conference which was attended by the Business community in South India especially Tamilnadu. The President of Indian Economic Trade Organization Dr. Asif Iqbal welcomed the Ambassador of Ethiopia in India HE Dr. Tizita Mulugeta and pledged the commitment of support between the two nations for a robust partnership. Mr. Demesev Kebede Tekle, Minister (Business) also attended the event. There is a huge interest in India for Ethiopia, a country with great scope for bilateral trading opportunities in Pharma, Medicines, IT development, Textiles, Garments and Industrial development by Indian companies.
The event was attended by the Head of MEA Secretariat Mr. Venkatachalam Murugan IFS who also spoke about accelerating India’s relationship with the African region and welcomed from Tamilnadu state to pledge support for the various other island nations around the region. Previously he was heading the East and South Africa (ESA) division in the Ministry of External Affairs, Govt of India. Dr. B. Ramakrishnan (BRK), Director of COMESA spoke about India’s efforts in strengthening relations especially when India is celebrating 75 years of India’s Independence. India has also in the past extended various credit lines to Ethiopia through the Exim Bank a line of credit of USD 75 million (over Rs 500 crore) for financing Industrial parks. An agreement was signed between Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) in July 2020. Modern diplomatic relations between India and Ethiopia were established at the level of legations in July 1948, after the independence of India.
Some of the major Indian companies in Ethiopia are Cadila Pharmaceuticals PLC, S & P Energy Solution PLC, Tata International Limited, Karuturi Global PLC, Kanoria Africa Textiles PLC, Mohan Group of companies, Anmol Products Ethiopia PLC, Arvind Envisol Limited, Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL), EXIM Bank of India, SCM Garment, Raj Agro Industries, Jay Jay Textile, Roto PLC, Whitefield Cotton Farm PLC, Ruchi Agri PLC, Verdanta Harvests PLC, Neha International PLC, Asian Paintings, Arvind Mills, Allanasons Ltd., Kanoria, SVP Group, Fontana Flower PLC, Balaji Manufacturing PLC, Samaka Stones Pvt. Ltd. Co., Velocity Apparel etc.
The ongoing Government of India assistance in developmental projects in Ethiopia continued with sanctioned Lines of Credit worth more than US$1 billion to the Government of Ethiopia for construction of sugar factories and power transmission lines. Ethiopia is one of the largest recipients of long-term concessional credit from India in Africa. Finchaa and Wonji Shoa sugar factories and Phase I of the Tendaho sugar factory being built in Ethiopia under the Indian EXIM Bank’s Lines of Credit of US$ 640 million are almost complete. India has also donated to Ethiopia a 64-Slice CT Scan Machine to Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa as part of our Grant Assistance.
The Ambassador also presented the opportunities to the main guests from Tamilnadu and also expressed great interest in supporting the trade relations between the two countries and invited the trade community to explore all the available choices for investors.
“As the Director of COMESA, my goal is to build bilateral relations reach new heights between India and Ethiopia and our forthcoming Indian delegation in May 2022 will see tremendous interest from the Indian side” said Dr. B. Ramakrishnan who is looking to connect the companies for business in Ethiopia. Indian delegation will explore opportunities in areas of Pharma, Vaccines, farming, poultry industry, meat processing and agricultural collaborations and they will also identify other opportunities for building up a robust infrastructure needs of the country in the field of setting up education institutions.
India Africa Trade Council (IATC) is working on building bilateral trade relations by assisting Indian companies that are looking at various projects coming up in African region for promoting growth in commerce and trade, especially in Indian Pharma which likely to increase as the Ethiopia market expands. The India Africa Trade Council previously hosted the Additional Secretary of the Africa region, Ministry of External Affairs during which the mechanisms between India and Africa were concluded.
