JakartaPost-Aug 24, 2023
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo embarked on his maiden trip to sub-Saharan Africa this week, bringing with him the “Bandung Spirit” as well as dozens of bilateral deals from state visits in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique – all in the name of advancing global South-South cooperation. The timing for Jokowi’s first tour of duty on the continent lines up with Indonesia’s quest to expand its trade and investment portfolio into “non-traditional markets”, while also dovetailing into the prevailing sense that the current world order dominated by wealthy Western powers has failed to champion the interests of developing countries. The Africa trip is built around the 15th BRICS Summit, which is entertaining the possibility of admitting new member states to make good on a pledge to become a counterweight to status quo forums such as the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations. But the Africa connection runs especially deep for Jakarta, due to the historical connection that many countries from the continent have with Indonesia as host of the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung, West Java, which galvanized the postcolonial movement and planted the seeds for nonalignment during the Cold War. As a precursor to his attendance at a summit grouping together Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, Jokowi traveled to Nairobi, Dar Es Salaam and Maputo, where he announced new cooperation initiatives mostly in trade, investment, infrastructure and health. Read more at:
