Indonesia is Ready to Discuss Four Priority Issues at the Indonesia Africa Forum 2024
Bali – Indonesia is ready to discuss four priority issues at the 2nd Indonesia Africa Forum (IAF) taking place in Nusa Dua, Bali, from September 1-3, 2024. In this event, Indonesia, as the host, raised four priority issues focusing on the economic sector, with a target of business agreements reaching 3.5 billion US dollars or around 54.69 trillion rupiah.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, Pahala N Mansury, revealed that to date, the business agreements between Indonesia and Africa are nearing 3 billion US dollars. “The target for private and state-owned enterprise cooperation between Indonesia and Africa is 3.5 billion US dollars. So far, we are close to 3 billion,” said Pahala.
Four priority issues discussed at this forum include food security, energy security, the health sector, and critical mineral resilience. In the food security sector, Indonesia views Africa as a non-traditional market with significant potential.
“Africa has potential such as vast land and a good climate, as well as trade potential and supply chains in the food sector, namely fertilizers and biofuel development,” explained Pahala.
The energy resilience sector is the second important issue for cooperation. According to Pahala, Africa holds 10 percent of the world’s oil reserves, making it a significant opportunity for Indonesia to develop cooperation in the energy sector, both fossil and renewable.
“We hope there will be some developments in new renewable energy such as solar or geothermal, which are still being explored, and we hope to finalize them,” he said.
In the health sector, Pahala mentioned that the demand for medicines, vaccines, and medical devices in Africa is quite high. He highlighted the collaboration between Biofarma and Kimia Farma with African countries.
“In the healthcare sector, there are quite a few opportunities, and we are also involving Biofarma and Kimia Farma. Kimia Farma has already started in several specific countries. We hope that this can continue,” said Pahala.
The fourth priority issue is the resilience of critical minerals, which is essential in the global energy transition. Indonesia and Africa have mineral reserves such as nickel, cobalt, graphite, and manganese, which are essential for the production of components and batteries for electric vehicles.
“So, 55 percent of the world’s cobalt reserves are in Africa.” “This is one of the efforts by Indonesia to develop downstream processing, particularly related to critical mineral downstreaming,” he stated.
This forum was attended by heads of state and high-ranking officials from various African countries, and it was officially opened by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. Pahala emphasizes the importance of cooperation between Indonesia and African countries as part of the Global South, with the theme “Bandung Spirit for Africa’s Agenda 2063” presented at this 2nd IAF.
The IAF is inviting 28 heads of state/government from Africa, as well as 800 participants from government representatives, international and regional organizations, and the business sector.
“Media participation is very important to ensure that the messages and goals of this forum can be well received by a wide audience,” concluded Pahala, inviting media colleagues to actively participate in publicizing the series of events for the 2nd IAF across various platforms. []
