Indonesia hosted a gathering of African leaders in Bali this week in a bid to grow economic and trade ties. But many African countries were not represented, with leaders opting to attend a separate forum in China.
The Indonesia-Africa Forum was seen as an opportunity for Southeast Asia’s largest country to boost trade ties with Africa and seek out new export markets, but the three-day forum struggled to attract a large showing of African countries.
Even so, the Indonesian forum wasn’t a wasted effort, with important discussions and outcomes, said Christophe Dorigne-Thomson, a foreign affairs academic based in Jakarta.
“But symbolically, for sure, the choice was made for China,” he said.
Delegates from 29 nations made their way to the resort island of Bali for the summit, well short of the 47 African countries that were represented at the inaugural forum in 2018.
Despite the smaller turnout, Indonesia hopes to have sealed $3.5 billion in business deals from the summit. That would be nearly six times the amount generated in agreements during the first forum six years ago.
Dewi Fortuna Anwar, senior researcher at Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency, tracked the deals at the summit.
“There seem to be some concrete ... letters of intent, like Indonesia’s aircraft industry signing deals with several countries and the oil companies also signing deals,” Anwar said.
While some leaders skipped Bali for Beijing, there remains a strong sense of cooperation between Indonesia and the African continent.
Their ties date back to 1955 when the first Asian-Africa conference was held in the Indonesian city of Bandung.
Elina Noor, senior fellow in the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Indonesia can use this history to its advantage.
“Jakarta can boast history and a legacy of relationship that stretches back to the Bandung conference. Indonesia has really sought to leverage on that historical relationship,” Noor said.
At the forum in Bali, business was a key focus, but politics were also at play.
President Joko Widodo has looked to enhance Indonesia’s standing on the international stage, promoting his country as a voice of the Global South. He is also keeping his country’s options open as U.S.-China tensions simmer, said Dorigne-Thomson.
“It's a way for Indonesia to find a new way and not be stuck in that kind of geopolitical tension,” he said. “Africa is, for them ... a new way to serve their interests.”
