Piyush Goyal to address first-ever virtual Indo-Africa Summit

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will address the first-ever virtual Indo-Africa Summit, aimed to bring leaders from India and sub-Saharan Africa together while showcasing opportunities for collaboration within finance, geopolitics, infrastructure, pharma, technology and communication.

New Delhi: Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will address the first-ever virtual Indo-Africa Summit, which will be held between November 4 to 6, 2020, an official statement said here on Monday.

The summit, aimed to bring leaders from India and sub-Saharan Africa together while showcasing opportunities for collaboration within finance, geopolitics, infrastructure, pharma, technology and communication, is being organised by the IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IMC) and Africa Business News (CNBC Africa).

Apart from Goyal, the other prominent speakers slated to address the summit include Busi Mabuza, the Chairperson of the Industrial Development Corporation and Chairperson of the South Africa Chapter of the BRICS Business Council and NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, among others.

Speaking about the summit, Roberta Naicker, Group Managing Director, ABN Group said, "India and the African sub-continent have a long history of productive collaboration, and with the economic stagnation that has resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic, it's vital that we enter into bilateral discussions around potential areas of growth."

Further Rajiv Podar, President, IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, "The summit aims to take forward the vision set by our Honourable PradhanMantri ji during his visit to Uganda in 2018 to empower Africa and enhance bilateral ties. Our mission is to enhance ties to 100*100 matrix by 2025, that is, a target of 100 billion USD of bilateral trade and 100 billion USD of investment between India and Africa."

Madhusudan Agrawal, Chairman, Summit Organizing Committee said Africa is home to some of the fastest-growing economies in the world, which offer promising investment opportunities in high growth sectors. The three-day summit will discuss such opportunities, he said.

Meanwhile, Busi Mabuza, Chairperson IDC added, "The long-lasting social and cultural ties between India and South Africa provide fertile ground for further strengthening of the two nations trade and investment ties. We have never needed each other more."

(ANI)