India South Africa Trade

Economic Relations and Investments

• Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi unveiled six global development initiatives on November 23, 2025, the opening day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa. The initiatives were designed to promote inclusive, sustainable and resilient growth worldwide.
• The six initiatives proposed were:
  • Global Traditional Knowledge Repository to preserve and use collective human knowledge for future generations.
  • The Africa Skills Multiplier Program to develop a pool of one million certified trainers to skill youth in Africa.
  • G20 Global Healthcare Response Team comprising health experts from member countries to address global health challenges.
  • Initiative on Countering the Drug-Terror Nexus aimed at combating drug trafficking linked to terrorism.
  • Open Satellite Data Partnership to share space agency satellite data with developing countries for agriculture, disaster management and other uses.
  • Critical Minerals Circularity Initiative to promote recycling, urban mining and sustainable mineral supply chains.
• Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi emphasized that these initiatives reflect India’s approach to equitable development and will contribute to all-around growth and resilience. And highlighted the need for collective global action on climate change, food security and disaster resilience, while noting India’s efforts through large-scale programmes and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
• On 7 October 2025, export performance data released by the Government of India showed that India’s exports surged during April-August 2025, reflecting growth in both merchandise and services exports and an expanding global trade footprint. India’s merchandise exports to South Africa increased from about US$ 611 million in July 2025 to US$ 655 million in August 2025, reflecting strengthening bilateral trade momentum. South Africa continues to emerge as an important destination for Indian exports among key global markets. In the pharmaceutical sector, India’s drugs and pharmaceuticals exports increased from US$ 11.89 billion to US$ 12.76 billion during April-August 2025, with South Africa listed among the top buyers, alongside the USA, the UK, Brazil and France.
• An Indian delegation visited Pretoria, South Africa, on April 22-23, 2025 to participate in the 2nd session of the India-South Africa Joint Working Group on Trade and Investment (JWGTI). The Indian side was led by the Department of Commerce and included representatives from DPIIT, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Indian High Commission, while the South African side was co-chaired by officials from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition. Discussions focused on enhancing bilateral trade and investment, resolving market-access issues, reviving the CEO Forum, promoting pharmaceuticals, agriculture, MSMEs and jewellery manufacturing, and exploring local currency settlement mechanisms.
• In January 2025, India launched the National Critical Minerals Mission to secure overseas mineral assets, aligning with Southern Africa’s vast reserves, which hold 30% of the world’s critical minerals. With demand expected to quadruple by 2030, India is investing US$ 4.1 billion to deepen sustainable mining and value-added partnerships across the region.
• On January 26, 2025, Indian High Commissioner Mr. Prabhat Kumar highlighted efforts to boost India-South Africa trade and cultural ties during Republic Day celebrations in Pretoria. He reaffirmed the focus on strengthening bilateral investment and people-to-people relations.
• India-South Africa has completed a meaningful bilateral relationship for 30 years. Both nations have been the other's staunchest supporters and closest allies in fostering reciprocal growth.
• The Indian Navy and the South African Navy have signed an Implementing Agreement to enhance bilateral naval cooperation and ensure the safety of South African submarine crews in emergencies. Signed by Mr. Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi and Vice Admiral Monde Lobese, the agreement highlights a commitment to maritime safety and mutual support. The Indian Navy will deploy its Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) when needed, further strengthening the longstanding maritime relationship between India and South Africa.
• So far, India’s cumulative investments in Africa stand at US$ 70 billion, while the country has extended lines of credit (LoCs) worth US$ 12.26 billion to African countries; 193 projects have been completed and 66 are under execution, while 88 are in their pre-execution stage in various sectors. The investments are related to oil and gas, mining, banking, pharma, textiles, the automotive sector, and agriculture.
• According to data from the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), approved cumulative India’s investments in Africa from April 1996 to March 2022 amounted to US$ 73.9 billion. Setting up a Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS) is the most preferred route of investment for Indian investors in Africa, with nearly 81.6% of the total approved investments from April 2010-March 2022. Joint Ventures accounted for 18.4% of the total approved investments during the same period. Africa’s manufacturing sector attracted the highest Indian investments from April 2010-March 2022. Other major sectors attracting Indian investments include financial, insurance, real estate, and business services, agriculture and allied sectors, transport, storage, and communication services.
• Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi met the President of South Africa, H.E. Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, on June 27, 2022, on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit in Schloss Elmau, Germany. They expressed satisfaction at the progress achieved in defence, education, and agriculture sectors, and reiterated the need for further deepening bilateral cooperation in areas like trade and investment, food security, defence, pharmaceuticals, digital financial inclusion, skill development, insurance, health, and people-to-people contacts. Both leaders also welcomed the WTO agreement reached in June 2022 that supports the production of COVID-19 vaccines in developing countries.
• The 17th edition of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Export-Import (EXIM) Bank Conclave on India-Africa Growth Partnership took place on July 19-20, 2022. Over 1,000 representatives from governments and businesses from various African countries attended the conclave
• The 11th Session of India-South Africa Foreign Office Consultations was held on August 3, 2022, in New Delhi. The Consultations were co-chaired by Mr. Puneet R. Kundal, JS (East & Southern Africa), Ministry of External Affairs, and Ms. Ntombizodwa Msutukazi Lallie, Acting Deputy Director-General Asia and Middle East, Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Republic of South Africa.
• The India-Africa Defence Dialogue (IADD) was held on the sidelines of DefExpo 2022 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on October 18, 2022. The dialogue successfully brought out various aspects of the IADD’s theme ‘Adopting Strategy for Synergizing and Strengthening Defence and Security Cooperation’. Delivering the keynote address, Raksha Mantri, Mr. Rajnath Singh defined the theme of IADD as the underlying commitment of India and African countries to explore new areas of convergence for defence engagements, including capacity building, training, cyber security, maritime security, and counter-terrorism.
• Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi visited South Africa from 22-24 August 2023 to participate in the 15th BRICS Summit and in the BRICS-Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogue. Prime Minister also met H.E. Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa on 23 August in Johannesburg on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit.
• An MoU on Cooperation in the Reintroduction of Cheetah in India was signed between the Republic of India and the Republic of South Africa on 17 January 2023. The MoU facilitates cooperation between the two countries, inter alia, to establish a viable and secure cheetah population in India. A first batch of 12 cheetahs (7 males, 5 females) were translocated from South Africa to India on 18th February 2023.