AP Chambers organised a seminar here on Wednesday on exploring business/investment opportunities in Africa to create awareness among industrialists and entrepreneurs on how to get better return on investments.

Around 70 exporters, investors from the sectors like agri, food processing, textiles, granites, spices, hospitality, healthcare and poultry participated in the seminar, a spokesman for AP Chambers said on Wednesday. He stated that the response was very good.

A senior executive from ARISE IIP, AK Pramod Kumar, who was the keynote speaker, narrated about the opportunities. ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (ARISE IIP) designs, finances, conceives and operates industrial ecosystems across Africa, in countries such as Gabon, Benin, Togo, Rwanda, Congo, Nigeria, Chad and Sierra Leone.

In his address, Pramod spoke in detail about opportunities for investments like setting up the manufacturing and processing units with ready infrastructure supported by 24x7 power supply. He stated, “Most of the countries have tax free regimes for the manufacturing sector with 100 per cent repatriation benefits. The investors have opportunities to explore 27 LDCs (Least Developed Countries of Africa) with duty free tariff preferences on non-reciprocal basis.”

AP Chambers’ President Potluri Bhaskara Rao said, “The trade between India and Africa goes back thousands of years. India enjoys considerable good will in Africa. The bilateral trade grew to $100 billion with balanced exports and imports. Nigeria was the largest trade partner with India from the African countries. Food and agri, mining and minerals, energy sector, automobiles, pharma and textiles have huge potential for bilateral trade. Indian investors expanded their footprint over the years in African countries. India and Africa have huge young populations and are blessed with demographic dividends.”