Platform Africa caught up with Baljinder Sharma, Convenor of the India Africa Entrepreneurship Forum, who shares the rationale behind the creation of this Forum, which began life as an informal group and which has grown into an active community of entrepreneurs and investors. He charts the evolution of the India-Africa Entrepreneurship & Investment Summit, which has evolved into a catalyst for fostering business relationships and investments, which will return for its fourth edition on 18-19 July at the InterContinental Resort in Mauritius.
This year’s Summit is set to bring together industry leaders, entrepreneurs and investors to explore sustainable growth opportunities and deepen economic ties between the two vibrant regions, with Baljinder noting that India and Africa have similar developmental needs and predicting that new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, can help Africa to ‘leapfrog’ into a new future.
Before we dive deeper into the Summit, how did the idea for the India-Africa Entrepreneurship Forum come about? Who are the founding pillars of this association that evinces the huge belief that India has in the continent’s destiny, and showcases the resilience and resourcefulness that Indian and African entrepreneurs have in common?
In 2014, my Singapore based friend, Atim and I were toying with the idea of incubating a portfolio of startups in Africa, utilising the intellectual property developed by successful Indian online businesses. Given the extensive network in the sector that we both enjoyed in India, coupled with some knowledge of the emerging tech opportunity on the African continent, we began to solicit potential deals on both sides of the Indian Ocean, as a first step. This required actively collaborating with Angels Networks and other early stage investment networks in India and Africa. The Indian Angels Network led by Padmaja and the Africa Business Angels Network led by Tomi strongly believed in the idea and became our early partners. Ecosystem Influencers such as Vu and Craig helped us extend our reach across the entire African continent and in all the major tech hubs in India such as Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Lagos, Cape Town and Nairobi.
Then one day, I happened to meet Zach, a former Wall St banker who had moved to Cape Town to start a Corporate backed venture accelerator called StartUpBootCamp AfriTech. We ended up investing in the platform; simply to wet our feet and obtain a better understanding of the landscape.
Over the next three years, our network expanded. By 2017, we had created an informal group whose common interest was to invest in Africa, mostly in the startup space. We connected on WhatsApp regularly. In 2019, we decided to organise a MeetUp in Mauritius. It was the shortest and most convenient place to travel for people spread over India and Sub Saharan Africa. We were pleasantly surprised by the interest it generated within the local business community. The Economic Development Board was extremely supportive of the initiative and has stood by the group since the beginning. The MIFC has benefited tremendously from our activities.
Amongst the most fervent believers in Africa is my other friend Satya – the Founder of an EdTech business in India who joined the group early. When we hosted our first MeetUp in September 2019, in Mauritius, nearly 80 people show up. There were no paid speakers. Everyone who came to the MeetUp paid his/her own travel and accommodation. It was a form of validation that the idea had legs; and that Indian and African entrepreneurs could mutually benefit from knowing each other, developing friendly acquaintances and collaborating.
India traded with Africa centuries before the continent was discovered by the Western world. Unsurprisingly, therefore, Africa has the second largest Indian diaspora population after the United States. One of the members of our group told me that his family, based in Mumbai and Surat, has trade relations with East Africa going back six hundred years. It is a pity that Africa’s bilateral trade with India has dropped over time to less than 10% ($103B of the $1.2T overall after China and EU). The potential remains huge. And untapped. Our forum and this Event is just a little attempt at reconnecting with that glorious past.
A community, by definition promotes goodwill and trust. Trust was the only basis of trade and commerce before the invention of the modern corporation. When doing business in Africa, even consulting companies and professional advisors often misread the landscape, the cultural and social specificities. Having someone who is willing to share his impartial and objective views is a great value. The Forum exactly encourages such behaviour. There is a lot of goodwill and positive energy in the group which in turn promotes friendship and bonhomie. It is our belief that when you put a bunch of motivated, smart individuals in a room – magic happens, innovation flowers and creativity blooms.
We are doubly blessed to have very generous benefactors. The Economic Development Board, TiE, Africa Business Angels Network, Indian Angels Network, MIFC and Indiaspora are our standing partners. We have built relationships with institutions such as SIDBI, NPCI and StartUp India and InvestIndia etc. They provide valuable support and local guidance in India, in Africa and in Mauritius. We have extended our partnership network with AfriLabs and AfricArena this time, which means we have direct access to economic opportunities in 53 out of 54 African countries.
What were the key takeaways from the 3rd Edition of the India-Africa Entrepreneurship and Investment Summit? How do you intend to build on learnings from the previous Summit to make the upcoming 4th edition on 18/19 July a grand success? In particular, could you elaborate on the four key areas that the summit seeks to address to promote entrepreneurship across India and Africa?
The third edition of our Event turned out to be a particularly successful one. We had over 200 attendees against the anticipated 120 – equally split between India, Africa and Mauritius. One could easily sense the positive energy in the conference room and in the galleries where people met and discussed business. While we do not track outcomes, the fact that over 80% of those who participated in the first edition were also present for the third edition, is a sign of stickiness within community members. Everyone who attended has benefited one way or another.
Since the beginning of 2024, we have rolled out plans for regular online interactions between entrepreneurs in India and Africa – in collaboration with StartUp India and ABAN and AfriLabs. The areas we have identified are a) Energy b) Healthcare c) Education d) Agri/BioTech e) Mobility f) Digital Public Infrastructure. In fact, we are launching a series of co-creating programs where we intend to pair up Indian and African entrepreneurs to solve global problems such as Climate Change and Generative Artificial Intelligence.
As you mentioned in the follow up to the summit last year, you personally prefer the term India-Africa over India for Africa ‘because it’s a partnership of equals.’ How can India and Africa work with each other to help spur entrepreneurship in the respective regions, despite the significant decline in startup funding raised – from $25bn in 2022 to $7bn in 2023 for India and from $5bn to $3bn for Africa?
If you look at the data, despite a visible downturn in funding in 2023 which has spilt into 2024, the number of startups in India has still gone up. Expectedly, the decline in funding has affected mostly overvalued companies, so it should be seen as a correction of sorts and healthy for the ecosystem. Funding is not the cause of entrepreneurship – at best it is a facilitator. At worst it is its enemy. Startups and ventures built on easy money do not go very far. Often they fail due to undisciplined funding. When you are solving real problems you can never go wrong. We believe that working together both India and African can equally benefit.
This event’s pre-release notes that rapid developments in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics have made available cost-effective solutions, that offer to ‘leapfrog’ Africa into a new future. Could you let us know how this summit plans to go about encouraging co-creation, co-development and co-investment into such innovative ventures amongst participating individuals and institution?
Let us start with Education/Skills – at a certain level ChatGPT is a great teacher. So is YouTube. And TikTok. These are some of the inexpensive tools available to even the poorest African even today. Companies like AMP Global are working towards paying users for consuming entertainment through a tokenised rewards program. The cost of connecting to internet will be near free for retail users.
Can ChatGPT replace teachers – the answer is No, but can children learn using ChatGPT in the absence of teachers – the answer is Yes. I can cite numerous similar examples in the healthcare and AgriTech space where new technologies have begun to eliminate the need for conventional resources. Zoom killed conventional business travel. Now business travel serves other needs.
Africa does not have the time or the resources to build millions of schools and colleges to educate its growing population, it must rely on technology to meet those urgent needs. AI can not only teach, it can also access the individual learning requirement and deliver customised content.
India and Africa have similar developmental needs. Can you eliminate hunger using Agritech/BioTech while dealing with Climate change – these are big questions being addressed by both Indian and African entrepreneurs and active collaboration can benefit not just a combined population of 2.5 billion but the 8 billion around the world.
I am a great admirer of ‘frugal innovation’ which when combined with advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence can allow developing countries to leapfrog. For instance, more and more African countries are demanding greater value for their resources to be produced locally. This will spur manufacturing and processing industries. Availability of appropriate high tech but affordable machinery for such industries will be a key success factor. Companies like Zetwerk, Toolsvilla and KG AgroTech are pioneers in this space. They are disrupting industrial and agricultural production massively.
Speaking of digital innovations, India has recently successfully launched RuPay cards and UPI services in Mauritius. What are the implications in the payments arena for businesses and consumers in Africa?
UPI is just one application of Digital Public Infrastructure. India is now working towards developing unified interfaces in Health, Education. Logistics etc. These efforts have no parallel in the world and are uniquely Indian. The unappreciated part of this huge development is the successful navigation of the issues surrounding data privacy, ethics and public policy.
Finally, it is significant to note that the economic growth of Africa, estimated to be 3.2% in 2024, counts six of the world’s fastest-growing economies. With agreements like the CEPCA and AfCFTA in operation, how can Mauritius help India to build on its historically strong relations with Africa to truly bring trade and development to the masses, given that Africa’s growth must take stock of an increasingly young and active population?
Until the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, Mauritius played as an important role in the maritime trade in the Indian Ocean. When this strategic advantage was taken away, it developed other economic activities such as agriculture, outsourced manufacturing and tourism. Freeport and offshore were later added. Even as such of these advantages are being challenged a huge opportunity has emerged – the opportunity to serve a large part of the massive $3.2T African economy with high-value-added services. Coupled with ease of doing business and generally forward looking government policies, a lot of international corporations still want to establish a base in Mauritius for their activities in Sub Saharan Africa. Form infrastructure to International trade everything is an opportunity from which Mauritius can only benefit. We are glad to be contributing our tiny effort to it.
