INDIAN Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi in Dar es Salaam to start a two-day visit aimed at boosting ties between the two countries.

INDIAN Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, jetted into Dar es Salaam last night to start a two-day visit aimed at boosting ties between the two countries.

This is his second official visit to Africa as head of government - nine months after the Third India-Africa Summit, attended by about 50 African heads of state, as India eyes to ramp up its Africa engagement.

Foreign Affairs, East Africa, Regional and International Cooperation Minister Augustine Mahiga told reporters in the city that during his visit, Mr Modi will meet with a group of rural women from poor communities trained by a college in India as solar technicians to help light-up their villages.

“The aim of the visit is to further deepen India’s engagement with Africa and provide opportunities to build close contacts at the highest political level and enhance mutual cooperation and understanding on major issues of common interests,” he said.

Dr Mahiga said before he departs to Kenya, Mr Modi will meet with the Indian community living in Tanzania. At the India-Africa summit in October, India pledged 10 billion US dollars in soft loans over the next ten years and 600 million US dollars in grants.

According to Dr Mahiga, the Indian premier will hold talks with President John Magufuli and sign agreements on various areas including industry, water, education science and technology.

Mr Modi is accompanied by 50 big and potential business people from India, some of whom have shown interest to invest in the construction of steel, cement, pharmaceutical and fruit juice factories.

The Indian delegation will also hold talks with local businessmen engaging in agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure, health, education, energy and water sectors. They will also get an opportunity to take part in a conference, which will be hosted by the Prime Minister of Tanzania, Mr Kassim Majaliwa.

Other activities lined up for Mr Modi include taking part in the Tanzania-India Business and Investment Forum, which will be hosted by Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), India Business Forum Tanzania (IBF) and Federation Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The forum is expected to take place on July 10 at the Bank of Tanzania (BoT)’s Kilimanjaro Auditorium in the city.

India is Tanzania’s largest trading partner in Africa, with bilateral trade in 2013-14 reaching more than 4 billion US dollars. The maiden visit by Mr Modi in the country opens a new epoch of Indo-Tanzania relations, which both countries stand to benefit, in terms of fulfilling their ambitions.

As India is working to achieve over 8 per cent growth in the coming years, Tanzania is equally ambitious to embark on industrialisation, which makes India a potential partner to that end.

Being one of the world’s most populous nations, the vast sub-continent has a lot to offer in terms of imparting expertise in various fields. It is a science, technology, agricultural, arts hub all rolled into one.

The technological advancements it has made are surely an area where we stand to benefit. India is the largest trading partner of Tanzania in Africa, with bilateral trade in 2013-14 being more than 4 billion US dollars.

Tanzania and India have a long history of cooperation at political, social and trade levels. According to TIC, a record, from 1990 to June, this year, the centre has registered a total of 442 Investment projects with Indian interest valued at 2.1 billion US dollars.

Large inflows were recorded in the industrial sector, which accounted for almost 53 per cent of registered projects during the period.