New Delhi, March 11 (IANS): African companies have identified major investment opportunities in the upcoming National Investment & Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) and large industrial corridors in India, E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan, India's minister of state for commerce & industry, said here Tuesday.

The government has already notified 16 NIMZs till now and a single window mechanism has been created to give clearances to those interested in setting up units in these zones.

He said learning and doing business are two-way processes and that India has much to learn from Africa's development experience in the same way as African countries have been learning from India in various developmental and industrial sectors.

Natchiappan was speaking at the closing session of the 10th CII-Exim Bank Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership.

He urged the African governments to send a greater number of students to India to pursue technical training and education.

This year's conclave saw over 500 delegates from 45 African countries participating. In terms of business, 549 projects worth about $85.37 billion had been discussed. Over 900 registered business-to-business (B2B) meetings were also conducted.

The 11th edition of the conclave will be held March 22-24, 2015.