#Tata in #Africa: pioneer forges ahead | beyondbrics

India, is eyeing Africa – and India’s most prominent industrial house, Tata group, is leading the pack.

Tata in Africa: pioneer forges ahead | beyondbrics

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When anyone speaks about investment into Africa, China comes to mind. It’s the familiar and contentious story of a developing power drawn to a resource-rich continent.
But now another growing economy, India, is eyeing Africa – and India’s most prominent industrial house, Tata group, is leading the pack.
Raman Dhawan, managing director of Tata Africa Holdings, the group’s strategic investment arm, tolda media briefing this week that revenues from Africa are expected to grow 30 per cent per year – up from $2.3bn in the 2012 fiscal year.
Tata Group’s activities in Africa are executed both through the subsidiary, which was set up in 1994, and through the individual companies themselves. So, there are several plans for the continent.
For instance, Tata Hotels Resorts and Palaces currently has a 166-room hotel in Cape Town and the Taj Pamodzi Hotel in Zambia with another 193 rooms. Dhawan told reporters on Monday that the hospitality business is looking to expand on the continent: “We are considering proposals from three or four countries. All of these properties may not necessarily be in the luxury segment but they would be appropriate for the African market.”
Likewise, Tata Motors, which was responsible for the group’s first foray into Africa when it entered Zambia in 1977, wants to grow into new African markets. Tata Automobiles Corporation SA currently distributes Tata Motors’ vehicles across the country and certain commercial vehicles are assembled in Pretoria too.
R T Wasan, head of international business for commercial vehicles at Tata Motors, told the briefing on Monday: “We are looking at new assembly operations in Tunisia and Kenya through local partners. We are focusing on small, light and medium commercial vehicles.”
Egypt has cottoned on to the group’s plans and is keen to get in on the action. An Egyptian delegation to India is approaching Tata group on Wednesday, hoping for some investment into its troubled economy. The Egyptian minister of investment, Osama Saleh, told the Economic Times:

We will be meeting senior officials from the Tata Group to discuss investments in both automobiles and hotels segment… We do not have any Indian automobile manufacturer in Egypt…We import two-wheelers from Bajaj Auto… So now we hope to see Tatas manufacturing in Egypt.

So far, the group has invested a total $1.7bn in Africa – including both operational and upcoming projects – and the planned expansion will occur in the power, telecommunications, automotive, mining and hospitality businesses. That sounds like a significant inflow into key sectors for a developing market.
Tata’s plans are just one part of wider cooperation between Africa and India. Indian investment into Africa is now close to $50bn. Anand Sharma, union minister for commerce and industry, this week upped the trade target for Africa to $100bn by 2015. The minister added that India is also studying the possibility of a free trade agreement between India and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the largest economic grouping in the region.
This is just the beginning of an important south-south relationship.
Related reading:
Exxaro, Tata Power team up in Africa, beyondbrics
Africa calling, FT
Africa must get real about Chinese ties, FT

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