India and the African continent have a strong economic relationship. Velogic, which has had a strong presence in both markets for many years, is positioned to strategically support the growth that unites them and facilitate their trade flows.
Relations between India and Africa go beyond mere cordiality. As the continent’s second-largest trading partner, India recorded $89.5 billion of trade in goods with Africa in 2021, ahead of France and the United States. Since a few years, India is asserting its ambitions by making Africa the new Eldorado for its companies. The third largest incubator of start-ups in the world, India now hosts nearly 66,000 recognised start-ups. Africa, for its part, is attracting international attention: perceived as being on the cusp of a true entrepreneurial revolution, African start-ups raised record funding ranging between $4.3 and $5 billion in 2021. The partnerships that are emerging between these two regions look promising.
With this in mind, a series of initiatives has been created to strengthen understanding and collaboration between India and the African continent: the India-Africa Forum Summit in 2008, the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor in 2017, the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) in 2021… The most recent of these exchanges and forums is the Indian African Entrepreneurship Summit, the second edition of which was held in Nairobi last July. This platform of meetings and discussions aims to support Indian and African entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders as they seek to multiply opportunities by promoting networking and creating commercial partnerships.
We believe that the right investments in value-adding opportunities can make all the difference for entrepreneurs and investors
Mehul Bhatt, Managing Director – East Africa at Velogic and Chief Strategy & Sustainable Development Executive of Rogers, represented Velogic at the event to showcase the company’s logistics expertise and identify development opportunities for the Rogers Group. Commenting on the importance of the forum, he said, “The Indian African Entrepreneurship Summit allowed us to discuss the opportunities and challenges of investing in Africa and India. At Velogic, we believe that the right investments in value-adding opportunities can make all the difference for entrepreneurs and investors, especially in these two fastgrowing subcontinents.”
Velogic is already wellpositioned as an expert in facilitating trade between these two regions. The company has an established presence in India, with ten offices and some 70 employees in major cities from Mumbai to Delhi.
In Kenya, Velogic has two offices, 568 employees and, as an added bonus, a fleet of around 100 trucks and heavy vehicles between Nairobi and Mombasa. “Both present and well established in these two regions, Velogic is bringing its expertise to bear in furthering trade and investment in India as in Africa,” Mehul Bhatt concludes.
