This year’s Indonesia-Africa Forum 2024 was themed “Bandung Spirit for Africa’s Agenda 2063”, which focused on Indonesia and Africa’s partnership in the sectors of health, energy, food security, and mining. Held from 1st – 3rd September 2024, this was the second meeting after the inaugural forum that was held six years ago.  The forum, despite being held as a pre-taste of the China-Africa Summit, 2024, managed to attract 29 African States and over 1,500 delegates, with many of the African Heads of State attending the Summit in Beijing looking for access to financial support from China.

Africa’s Agenda 2063 is a blueprint developed in 2013 aimed at the development of Africa in transcending its prosperity as a continent. The implementation of Agenda 2063 is through successive 10–year implementation plans, which are customised to the individual African States’ national plans to ensure compatibility with the individual countries’ development initiatives, regional and international obligations such as the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

What is in it for Indonesia?

Indonesia is one of the emerging market economies in the world and the largest in Southeast Asia and is classified as a newly industrialised country. According to the World Bank, Indonesia is in the final phase of a 20-year development plan, which it has been pursuing since 2005. The final phase is strengthening its economy by improving the country’s human capital and competitiveness in the global market. In terms of strengthening its competitiveness in the global market, Indonesia has positioned itself as a potential link between Africa and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, which is not influenced by geopolitics.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced the forum’s success, stating that trade agreements worth over US$3.5 billion had been concluded, compared to the US$586 million reached during the inaugural meeting held in 2018. Notably, trade agreements concluded in the energy sector were worth approximately US$1.5 billion, while US$1.2 billion in investment was recorded in the agricultural sector.  

The government of Indonesia set an ambitious target of becoming the third largest producer of electric batteries in the world by 2027 and producing approximately 140GWh per year of electric vehicle battery capacity by 2030. It aims to achieve this by taking advantage of the fact that it has one of the world’s largest deposits of nickel to develop an integrated domestic electric vehicle supply chain. However, what became clear during the forum is that Indonesia looked at Africa as a potential resource for lithium, which is a critical mineral in achieving its target.

In addition to supporting achieving the ambitious target in the electric vehicle industry, the forum presents an opportunity for Indonesia to seek support from African nations in its campaign for the United Nations Human Rights Council membership for 2024-2026 at elections to be held during the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York from September 10th to 30th, 2024.

What is in it for Kenya?

According to Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, most African countries were looking at  Indonesia for support in the agriculture sector and downstream industries, management of geothermal and solar power, pharmacy, and transfer of vaccine technology.

Kenya and Indonesia enjoy bilateral trade agreements in various sectors, including mining, health, textiles and apparel, energy and oil production and refining. 

Last year, President Widodo visited Kenya and signed various sector investment portfolio agreements. Kenya was keen on foreign investment from Indonesia in edible oil processing in rural areas. While President William Ruto attended the China-Africa Summit, the newly appointed Cabinet Secretary in charge of energy, Hon. Opiyo Wandayi, attended the forum.

During the forum, Kenya signed a cooperation agreement affirming the MoU signed when President Joko was in Kenya for technology transfer for human vaccines as well as workforce development and technical cooperation in biomanufacturing. Additionally, Kenya is set to benefit from a sustainable energy bilateral agreement with Indonesia that will accelerate the development of the Suswa Geothermal Project. Bringing down the cost of electricity connectivity and improving reliability is among Kenya Kwanza’s commitments, which the government hopes to achieve by accelerating the development of geothermal resources. Certainly, the relationship between Kenya and Indonesia may be pivotal for the Kenya Kwanza government in achieving its political pledges.