According to reliable sources, India wants to strengthen its relationship with Africa on favourable terms for the continent's economy. Although the potential for new enterprises have diverted the timing of talks, insiders said India is prepared to quickly engage decision-makers in African nations for the benefit of both parties.

 

India has started conversations with a number of industrialised and developing nations, and negotiations with some of them are already advanced. The negotiations with Canada, the European Union, Israel, and other countries are going well and are intended to strengthen business relationships. India wants to engage with some wealthy nations more deeply. India continued this approach by signing a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and it is now eager to broaden the partnership's scope with additional Middle Eastern nations.

 

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal stated, "There is a need for a trade and investment pact between India and Africa," when discussing the potential of economic partnerships with Africa. In the long run, both India and Africa's economies are expected to prosper. The markets and opportunities are located here.

 

India will be able to provide new technology for the development of Africa that will aid in increasing trade, commerce, business, investment, and possibilities for African inhabitants. The terms of India's development cooperation with Africa will be agreeable to Africans and will free their potential rather than limiting it. Goyal stated, "We want Africa to grow.

 

Top buyers and importers of plastic goods in Africa include Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.

 

India now exports tarpaulin, films, sheets, woven sacks, and raw ingredients for the production of plastic. The Indian government wants to triple the growth of the nation's whole plastic sector from its current level of Rs 3 lakh crore (US$ 37.8 billion) to Rs 10 lakh crore (US$ 126 billion) in the next four to five years.

 

Overall plastic exports from India not only recovered from the pandemic-related slowdown but also flourished to experience a significant increase. As a result, India's exports of plastics, which had been ranging between US$ 9 and 11 billion for a number of years, saw a significant spike to US$ 13.34 billion in the fiscal year 2021–22, up 33.4 percent from the pre–pandemic level of US$ 10 billion in the fiscal year 2019–20. The Commerce and Industry Ministry of India was encouraged by this success and set goals of US$ 16 billion for the current fiscal year 2022–2023 and US$ 25 billion for the next fiscal year 2024–2025.

 

The largest export category of these was plastic raw materials, which made up 30.7% of all exports in 2021–2022, an increase of 26.5 percent from the previous year. The second-largest category, plastic films and sheets, accounted for 15.2 percent of all exports and increased 32.7 percent over the previous year.

 

India exported plastics and linoleum for US$ 1.07 billion in May 2022, with total exports for April and May totaling US$ 2.17 billion, an increase of 2.6 percent from the same time last year.