Indian government to send special trade envoy to Africa

The Indian government has designated 15 ministers of states (MoSs) as special envoys to 53 African countries to strengthen trade relations.

According to Indian daily newspaper, The Financial Express, the special envoys will travel to Africa to personally issue an invitation to the third India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) to be held in Delhi in October this year.

The newspaper cited “diplomatic sources” as saying: “This is the biggest diplomatic event India has hosted in three decades. The five-day event is expected to be attended by nearly 1 000 delegates including heads of government, ministers, government officials, business leaders and others.”

Bilateral trade between India and Africa has been targeted to reach US$90 billion this year.