Deepening South Africa–India private-sector relations

The document analyzes the strategic and economic relationship between South Africa and India, noting a significant increase in bilateral trade from US$2.5 billion in 2003/04 to US$13.18 billion in 2012/13. While relations are positive, the authors identify bottlenecks such as inadequate infrastructure, visa difficulties, and a lack of self-sustainable South African business structures. It highlights the role of platforms like the India-South Africa CEO Forum and the Focus Africa Programme, while arguing that civil society should be more actively engaged to ensure sustainable development and transparency in economic diplomacy.

• Bilateral trade between South Africa and India grew substantially over a decade, rising from US$2.5 billion in 2003/04 to US$13.18 billion in 2012/13. South Africa serves as India's largest export market in Africa, representing more than 22% of India's merchandise exports.
• Indian investment in South Africa is more prevalent than South African investment in India. Over 100 Indian companies operated in South Africa by 2015, primarily in mining, IT, financial services, and pharmaceuticals, whereas fewer than 50 South African companies operated in India.
• Several obstacles hinder Indian investment in South Africa, including inefficient infrastructure, low human-capital development, non-conducive investment policies, and difficulties in obtaining business visas.
• South African business structures are described as weaker and less organized than their Indian counterparts, remaining overly reliant on government support rather than being self-sustainable.
• The India-South Africa CEO Forum, relaunched in 2010, has established four sectoral working groups focusing on infrastructure, mining, financial services, and energy.
• Despite a duty-free, quota-free system that allows 90% of goods to be exported from African countries to India without these restrictions, few African nations utilize this exemption.
• Civil society has historically played a very limited or non-existent role in business-government initiatives, but could contribute by conducting research on policy effectiveness and monitoring sustainable development.

APA

Lucey, A., & Makokera, C. G. (2015). Deepening South Africa–India private-sector relations. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper284.pdf

Chicago

Lucey, Amanda, and Catherine Grant Makokera. Deepening South Africa–India private-sector relations. Institute for Security Studies, 2015. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper284.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lucey |first1=Amanda |last2=Makokera |first2=Catherine Grant |title=Deepening South Africa–India private-sector relations |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=October 2015 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper284.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lucey2015deepening, author = {Lucey, Amanda and Makokera, Catherine Grant}, title = {{Deepening South Africa–India private-sector relations}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2015}, month = oct, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper284.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }