Businesses call for a quick decision

Bangladeshi investors have called for a quick decision from the government on investment in Africa as China and India are fast spreading their businesses there.

“This is the right time to go to Africa for investment,” said Amin Helali, secretary of the Bangladesh Africa Investment Forum.

The forum's demand comes at a time when private investment to GDP remains stagnant around the 23 percent mark: this fiscal year the ratio is expected to increase marginally to 23.25 percent from 23.1 percent in fiscal 2016-17.

“If we go there after five years, we will have to make do with only sub-contracting work from China and India,” Helali said, adding that there are ample opportunities to invest in different sectors of African countries.

The Chinese and Indian companies are acquiring thousands of hectares of land in different African countries like Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Rwanda and Congo. But, Bangladeshi investors are lagging far behind although they had taken the call to invest in Africa before the others.

For instance, in 2011, Helali, also the chairman of the Dosh Disha Group, signed an agreement with the Ugandan agricultural ministry to acquire 20,000 hectares of land for farming paddy and other agricultural products.

The project is yet to be implemented as the government is delaying the approval for foreign investment.

“Had the agreement gone through, I would have produced paddy in Uganda. Of the total produce, 60 percent would have been brought to Bangladesh and 40 percent would have been sold in the Ugandan markets.”

The idea behind investing in African nations' agriculture sector was mainly to fortify Bangladesh's food security.

The population of Bangladesh is growing at an alarming rate and cultivable land is shrinking every day for rapid urbanisation, housing and industrialisation across the country.

“We can easily create employment for a huge number of Bangladeshis if we are allowed to invest in agriculture, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and housing in African countries.”

A few hundred Bangladeshi entrepreneurs have shown interest in investing in Africa when the two-way forum was formally launched, he added.

Like Helali, Abdul Matlub Ahmad, chairman of Nitol Niloy Group, said he wanted to invest in farming in African countries for producing paddy and open a bank in Uganda.

But the government's approval never came through. “I lost my interest in opening any venture in Africa as it is a lengthy process.”

But Ahmad, also a former president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), urged the government to allow Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to invest abroad so that illegal capital flight can be stopped.

If foreign investment is allowed in formal channels, the money will go through the central bank and it will have accountability, he added.

The demand for Bangladeshi goods in African countries is very high, said Abul Hossain, honorary consul of Uganda in Bangladesh.

Apart from agriculture, Bangladeshi entrepreneurs have the opportunity to invest in sectors like pharmaceuticals, ceramics, jute and jute goods and food processing, he said.

“The medicines of Bangladeshi companies are very popular in African countries. Those companies can also manufacture the medicines there.”

He said a team of businesspeople from the FBCCI will go to Africa soon for exploring the potential in the agriculture sector.

Currently, only the local DBL Group has managed to invest in Africa: it put in nearly $100 million for setting up a knitwear factory in Ethiopia.