One such perspective comes from Saalai Manikam, Managing Director of the Ghana-based Arima Group, whose work spans agriculture, mining, MSME collaboration and education. Her experience offers a compelling roadmap for how Tamil Nadu’s enterprises, especially MSMEs, can think beyond traditional markets and build sustainable global partnerships.
Arima Group, in agriculture works with nearly 70,000 small-holding farmers, by providing back-to-back support including insurance, assured offtake, farm-gate aggregation and bulk processing. This structure reduces volatility while improving incomes and productivity.
Africa: An Untapped Growth Frontier
For Tamil Nadu, the opportunity lies for the MSME sector. While Indian businesses have historically focused on exports to the Middle East, Europe, or the USA, Africa especially West Africa remains under-engaged despite its rapidly growing consumer base. Countries such as Ghana offer political stability, strong legal and auditing systems, improving infrastructure and a clear single-window mechanism for investors. “Africa should not be seen only as a buyer. It can be a manufacturing and assembly base for Tamil Nadu’s MSMEs,” highlighted Saalai Manikam. She advocates a hybrid production model where components are manufactured in Tamil Nadu and assembled closer to African markets. This approach offers several benefits like reduced logistics costs, price competitiveness and regional trade access. Sectors such as agri-equipment, pumps, packaging, automobile components, textiles, food processing and mining support services can be focussed on.
Hybrid Production Advantage
However, success in Africa requires more than technology or capital. From her experience in Ghana, traditional leadership and community organisations coexist alongside democratic systems. Saalai Manikam shared how her organisation leveraged church networks and youth groups to disseminate knowledge, build trust and organise farmers. This approach proved far more effective than conventional top-down interventions.
Lessons from China…
China has mastered the trade in this region. Saalai Manikam points that Chinese MSMEs deal with African buyers as a group. They work through industry associations, state-supported trading bodies and local coordinators who aggregate orders, manage credit risk and ensure product consistency. Payments are often secured through structured arrangements, reducing uncertainty for both sides. Importantly, Chinese companies maintain a physical presence on the ground, enabling faster resolution of disputes and closer alignment with local market needs. This ecosystem-led approach has allowed China to scale rapidly across African markets. For Indian and Tamil Nadu MSMEs, the lesson is clear: competing in Africa requires not just competitive products, but collective platforms, institutional support and long-term commitment.
MSMEs as Global Value-Chain Partner
For policymakers in Tamil Nadu, the state must continue strengthening its MSME ecosystem through easier access to finance, export facilitation and global market intelligence. At the same time, there is an opportunity to actively utilise the diaspora’s strength to connect entrepreneurs from the state with trusted partners in emerging markets like Africa. “Global investment today is a two-way street. Tamil Nadu’s growth will come from helping its MSMEs go global,” stressed Saalai Manikam. By encouraging outward-looking MSMEs and supporting collaborative global models, Tamil Nadu can move beyond traditional investment attraction. n
