Africa 2020: An Indian Perspective

Abstract

The African consumer market is expected to grow to more than US$ 400 billion by 2020. Another big driver in this market is Africa is the world's fastest growing population that would account for more than 40% of the population growth by 2030 as per the UN studies. This market is going to have the world's youngest population that is emerging as an optimistic consuming class with an estimated 45 million households being added in the group having discretionary income by 2020. Global investors are also seeing Africa as the next opportunity horizon as six of the world's fastest growing economies in the last decade were from Africa. Entrepreneurs have several incubators all over the African continent. Added to this is the fact that Africa has embraced a lot of technologies quiet readily and quickly. This will hasten international business opportunities in this continent. The mega cities like Cairo, Johannesburg and Lagos are now giving way to the faster growing middleweight cities like Abidjan, Khartoum and Rabat. India's bilateral trade with Africa touched US$ 60 billion that is a 20 fold increase in little over a decade. India has always had a stakeholder interest in Africa's sustained prosperity as seen in the trade that provides a lifeline to African societies. This paper looks at how Indian companies are translating the growth opportunity into action.