With a view to spur investments from India in the East African region in areas such as ICT, textiles and tourism, East African Community (EAC), an economic body comprising representatives of East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Burundi met members of India Inc on Wednesday.
“We need to see more and more private investment in areas such as ICT (information, communication and technology), roads, textile, cotton production and tourism among others, Juma V. Mwapachu (ambassador), secretary general, EAC, told an interactive session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The East African countries, which are rich in natural resources, jointly boast of a market of more than 160 million people. The EAC, which is regarded as one of the pillars of the African economic community, urged the captains of Indian industry to explore investment opportunities in the region.
Commenting on the growing mobile telephony market in the region, Mwapachu stated “Our mobile telephony is growing but we want to reach out to the rural areas and here India can help us in capacity building.“
According to him, Indian companies should also take advantage of the vast natural resources in the East Africa region and effectively utilise them for their growth. “We are deficient in energy and we have vast unexplored areas which I am sure will reap great benefits“.
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