Iran Eyes Increased Presence in West Africa Markets: Minister

Iran eyes increased presence in markets in West Africa as the country plans to sign nearly US$2 billion worth of trade contracts and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with countries in the region. Trade minister Reza Fatemi Amin said on Monday that Iranian mining and metals companies have a good opportunity to invest in projects in West Africa.
“Countries in West Africa have good potentials in mines ... which can be used to expand economic and trade ties between Iran and the region,” said Fatemi Amin while addressing a conference held in Tehran to boost scientific and economic cooperation between Iran and West Africa. Some 50 political and business delegates from 10 countries in West Africa are in Tehran to explore opportunities for increased trade with Iran, said the minister.

He added that some US$850 million worth of contracts and around US$1 billion worth of MoUs will be signed during the ongoing forum in Tehran. Fatemi Amin said Iran’s exports to Africa had doubled in 2022, adding that increased presence in the African markets has become a focus of Iran’s trade policies in recent years. Iran has introduced extensive measures to expand foreign trade since 2018 when its crude oil exports came under American sanctions. The policy had led to increased hard currency revenues for the country while enabling the government to diversify the Iranian economy away from oil. Figures by Iran’s customs office released last month showed that non-oil exports from the country had risen by 12.22% year on year in the 11 calendar months to late February to reach US$48.8 billion.

The Head of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPO) said that with the cooperation of the private sector, a regular maritime line between Iran and West Africa will soon be launched. Alireza Payman-Pak said that "One of the programs of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade was to develop the trade between Iran and Africa, which, despite its various potentials, had been neglected for some reasons." Last year, our exports to the whole continent of Africa grew by 100% and this year the figure increased by 10%-15% and reached US$1.2 billion-US$1.3 billion, noted the head of the TPO. Referring to the great potential of West Africa in economy and mineral sources, Payman-Pak continued that the main issue is ship transportation, which will soon be launched with the cooperation of the private sector. The ship has been procured and the permits for launching the line have also been obtained, he added.

Regarding the flight issues, Peyman-Pak said that negotiations took place and permits were obtained adding that one or two airliners will launch flights. According to Payman-Pak 50 people from 10 African countries attended today's Conference, which can lay the ground for more cooperation. "Based on previous plans, we will have an agreement and a contract worth US$2 billion in this meeting, which has been negotiated and agreed upon for several months. We will also send delegations to the African Union," Peyman-Pak, who is also the deputy industry minister further pointed out. Mahdi Safari, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy, who also participated in the Conference, stated that the economy of Iran and the African continent complement each other, and due to their abundant capacities and potentials, significant achievements can be achieved.
"If we have good technology in the mining sector and we can complement the existing capacities and capabilities, we can establish various cases of cooperation," Safari further added. - Mehr, Press TV