The partnership between Indian and African companies continued to grow on Tuesday as African Finance Corporation (AFC) announced it was teaming up with Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) in an effort to provide investment advice and financing to Indian companies looking to invest in Africa.
The move is likely to see the bolstering of Indian telecommunications companies looking to gain a foothold in Africa, analysts said.
“I fully expect this to continue the trend of Indian telecom operators looking to finance efforts to increase their presence in Africa and build on infrastructure,” said John Gbhalo, a leading analyst based in Bangalore and who has been following the rise of the telecom relationship between the two countries.
AFC President and CEO Andrew Alli said in a statement that the new agreement is expected to “start off soon,” adding that he hoped to deal with “one or two companies in the first year.
“Financing capacity in Africa is quite high,” he told reporters in an effort to alleviate any impression of a shortage of financing in African countries.
He gave the example of the recent instance of eight Nigerian banks jointly providing financing worth $650 million for the expansion of Etisalat Nigeria, the main mobile telecom operator in the region.
By Staff
