India to help Africans start small businesses

NEW DELHI: India will set up 10 incubation centres for Rs 50 crore this year with an aim to provide a platform for people in Africa to start small units.

National Small Industries Corporation ( NSIC) will execute the project in 10 African countries, including Zimbabwe.

The Corporation has about 45 such centres in India. "We are setting up 10 similar incubation centres in Africa, one of them will be in Zimbabwe," NSIC CMD H P Kumar said.

Several African countries have expressed desire for Indian incubation centres as they are facing problems of unemployment, he said.

"They need a package which can really turn the unemployed people into entrepreneurs," Kumar said.

The centres were announced during the India-Africa Forum Summit.

Further, Arab countries like Iran, Oman and the UAE have approached NSIC to assist them in enhancing the productivity of their SME sector.

"A lot of governments have approached us ... they want to implement some policies which India has successfully implemented," he said.