Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked on Friday June 7 the deputies of the parties allied to his party, the BJP, for having agreed to support “ unanimously » his third term. Closer than expected results in the legislative elections forced his party to negotiate with other parties in order to remain in power. Will this mixed victory of Narendra Modi have consequences on economic relations between India and the African continent?
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Behind the European Union, and behind the China, India is Africa’s third largest trading partner, explains Mario Pezzini, economist, former director of the OECD Development Center. “ L’India supplies the African continent with medicines, IT technologies and afterwards, there is trade in food products and agriculture “, he said.
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For him, the fact that Narendra Modi no longer has a majority changes nothing in economic relations with the African continent.
“ In India, there are very large groups in the pharmaceutical, metal and steel production sectors. These large groups have an industrial strategy that is not closely linked to national policy », underlines Mario Pezzini. He even predicts that Africa will become increasingly important to India.
“ Africa is a continent which has a certain economic growth and therefore expresses a demand, a need for new markets and India is in approximately the same conditions. So there is a strong possibility of integration », Estimates the economist.
For twenty years, trade relations between India and Africa have increased by almost 20% per year to reach more than 100 billion dollars last year.
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