"This is the right time for Indonesia to see Africa as a development partner. We hope that African countries will also see Indonesia as a partner as well," he remarked during the Panel Discussion I session of the Indonesia-Africa Forum II in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Monday.
Mansury explained that Indonesia and Africa have historical relations rooted in the Asia-Africa Conference in 1955. The spirit of developing global solidarity between Asian and African countries during those 69 years became one of the driving forces for Asian and African countries.
"This is also the beginning of the Global South countries. Apart from historical reasons, we saw many opportunities for Indonesia and Africa to collaborate, especially in four main sectors," he noted.
The first priority sector is the energy sector since Indonesia imports around 500 to 600 thousand barrels of oil per day. Meanwhile, 10-12 percent of the world's oil and gas reserves are located in Africa.
"Apart from fossil fuels or hydrocarbon energy, we also see many opportunities to develop a stronger global supply chain for critical minerals, especially for the future energy transition," Mansury remarked.
The second sector is cooperation in the energy transition sector through the provision of raw materials for electric vehicle batteries. As an important part of the future energy transition, Indonesia will need more nickel and copper to produce batteries.
"We also need other important minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and graphite. Africa has abundant resources of these important minerals," he highlighted.
Furthermore, Mansury noted that cooperation in food security is also an opportunity for both regions, with the total population reaching 1.7 billion. Hence, the need for both regions to produce sufficient food for the population is inevitable for their growth.
"And the fourth sector is healthcare. Currently, Indonesia has produced around one billion vaccines for African countries. The health sector is important to develop and improve the human capital index," he pointed out.
Indonesia and Africa have a shared vision to become more advanced nations, as stated in the Vision of Golden Indonesia 2045 and the Africa Agenda 2063.
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Translator: Kuntum Khaira R, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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