East Africa, India and Europe: Norms to enhance Indian ocean commerce

Authored by
Mihir Sharma, Tuneer Mukherjee, Gareth Price & John-Joseph Wilkins

Published on
07 January 2019

The paper seeks to identify key trade linkages in Indian Ocean littoral states in East Africa along with Indian Ocean island states as a means of understanding the scope for India and the European Union to cooperate in establishing transparent rules-based norms for supply chains in the region. Both India and the European Union are key trading partners for the African nations analysed in this paper, and as the region develops economically, the trade regime in the Indian Ocean will witness substantial changes. The paper sources data on the trade in commodities between India and the European Union with eight African nations in the Indian Ocean, and analyses the data to reveal key commodities traded between them. The paper identifies vital trends in the trade while noting the lack of commonalities. The recommendations in the end are suggested accordingly.