India, South Africa Revive Push For Trade Pact

India and South Africa are moving to revive negotiations on a long-delayed Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), with both sides seeking to finalise the Terms of Reference (ToRs) and accelerate talks that have been under discussion for nearly two decades.

The renewed push followed a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and South Africa’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, on the sidelines of the BRICS Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Jaipur on August 6.

The two ministers reviewed progress on the proposed India-Southern African Customs Union (SACU) PTA and agreed to work towards signing the ToRs at the earliest.

The proposed agreement is expected to go beyond tariff reductions, with critical minerals, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing identified as priority areas for deeper cooperation.

SACU comprises South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini. The customs union is one of Africa’s oldest and offers India a potential gateway to the wider southern African market.

The renewed negotiations also come as India seeks to diversify supply chains for strategically important resources, expand its manufacturing footprint and deepen economic ties with Africa.

Dr Manish Karmwar of the Department of African Studies at the University of Delhi said the renewed negotiations have acquired added significance at a time when the next India-Africa Forum Summit has yet to materialise.

“At a time when the next India–Africa Forum Summit has faced delays, the renewed India–SACU PTA negotiations assume even greater significance. SACU can provide India with a focused sub-regional platform for sustaining the momentum of India–Africa engagement. The PTA should therefore be understood not simply as a trade arrangement, but as an opportunity to strengthen India’s long-term partnership with Southern Africa through critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, agriculture and resilient value chains,” he said.

Formal negotiations for the PTA began in 2008 after India and SACU signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Both sides exchanged product lists in 2011, but negotiations subsequently slowed over differences on tariff concessions and market access.

India sought improved access for sectors such as textiles, while SACU countries pushed for greater opportunities for agricultural products and minerals.

Recent diplomatic exchanges and the broader BRICS framework have now helped revive efforts to bridge those longstanding differences.

Trade between India and the SACU bloc is estimated at around US$20 billion, while South Africa remains India’s principal economic partner in the region. More than 150 Indian companies operate in South Africa across sectors including pharmaceuticals, information technology, automotive manufacturing and infrastructure.

Karmwar said the proposed agreement should be viewed within the wider framework of Africa’s economic integration rather than simply as a conventional trade arrangement.

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“The India–SACU PTA represents a potentially transformative step in India–Africa economic relations. After nearly two decades of negotiations, the renewed political momentum under India’s BRICS Presidency is particularly significant. SACU offers India not merely a market-access arrangement but a strategic economic gateway to Southern Africa,” he said.

Critical minerals could form an important part of the proposed partnership. Karmwar pointed to platinum-group metals, manganese and vanadium as resources that could support India’s clean energy transition, electric mobility and advanced manufacturing ambitions.

At the same time, he said Indian strengths in pharmaceuticals, digital technologies and industrial production could complement Southern Africa’s development priorities.

Karmwar argued that the agreement should promote joint manufacturing, mineral processing, technology transfer, resilient supply chains and greater participation by small and medium enterprises. He also called for expanded cooperation in agriculture, logistics, fintech, artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure, saying these areas could diversify the relationship and generate longer-term economic benefits for both sides.

But he said the partnership should extend beyond commerce.

“India should not restrict this engagement to trade and investment alone. The five SACU countries can become important centres for a broader India–Africa partnership encompassing culture, education and knowledge diplomacy.

“India could promote Indian cultural and academic hubs, university-to-university partnerships, student and faculty exchanges, joint research programmes, language and cultural studies, youth engagement and collaborative centres focusing on India–Africa relations. Such initiatives would give the economic partnership a stronger social and intellectual foundation.”

The proposed PTA could therefore become a platform for greater value addition, industrial capacity building and broader economic cooperation between India and Southern Africa, rather than being measured only by trade volumes.

Karmwar said the immediate priority should be to finalise the negotiating framework while addressing the market-access concerns that have slowed the process in the past.

“If the Terms of Reference are finalised quickly and negotiations address longstanding market-access sensitivities pragmatically, the agreement could become an important building block in India’s wider economic engagement with Africa and provide new substance to the India–Africa partnership in the coming decade,” he said.

The renewed push comes as India seeks to expand economic partnerships across the Global South while building more resilient supply chains and securing access to strategically important resources.

For SACU, an agreement with India could provide greater access to one of the world’s largest markets while creating opportunities for investment, manufacturing and value-added production across Southern Africa.