Business
Chinese and Indians actively competing for Africa trade
India and China are actively competing for business on the increasingly important African continent.
The demand for resources to fuel their rapidly growing economies is playing out visibly in Africa. The Chinese presence now very visible – at building sites, on the street, and at ports and airports. However, China has dwarfed India in terms of the volume of trade – in 2012 Sino-Africa trade hit the US$200 billion as compared to Indo-Africa trade which totalled $US64 billion.
Chinese companies are active across the continent with big infrastructure projects, including ports, railways and sports stadiums. By contrast, Indian initiatives are led by individual companies looking to expand in sectors such as telecommunications, agriculture, the automotive industry and education.
“Indian companies do the risk assessment in a more systematic manner whereas the Chinese just jump upon the work and they do it very fast. And they get the result,” says Manoj Gupta, head of Indian multinational Jindal Steel and Power in Mozambique.
Read more: BBC