Jakarta. The 2024 Indonesia-Africa Forum is set to witness the signing of business deals worth $3.5 billion, paving the way for Jakarta’s dream to look for non-traditional markets.

Leaders and business representatives from Africa are gathering in the Indonesian tourist resort of Bali. In an opening speech that highlighted growing global inequalities, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said that Indonesia sought to work with Africa to end global hunger and poverty, among others. And Indonesia is walking the talk in its intentions of working with Africa as the Bali forum recorded billions of American dollars worth of business commitments, according to Jokowi.

“The Indonesia-Africa partnership has borne incredibly concrete results, which lead to a rapid increase in trade volume and various trade agreements,” Jokowi said when kicking off the leaders’ session of the Indonesia-Africa Forum.

This marked an almost sixfold increase compared to the maiden and 2018 edition of the Indonesia-Africa Forum, Jokowi said. The government reported that the 2018 forum had $568 million worth of business deals.

According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, some of the business deals signed at the Bali forum included a “master agreement” for a health technology transfer between the state-owned pharmaceutical firm Biofarma and Atlantic Lifesciences, a Ghanan company that specializes in various sterile dosage forms, including nasal drops and vaccines. Aerospace firm Dirgantara Indonesia has also partnered with AD Trade to facilitate aircraft purchase and maintenance deals in Congo and Senegal. Another major business deal signed at the forum includes a geothermal development partnership between utility firm PLN and its Tanzanian counterpart Tanesco.

While Jokowi did not mention “non-traditional markets” in his speech, the Indonesian government on many occasions has been wanting to expand its export and investment destinations beyond its usual customers. Some state-owned enterprises have also expanded to Africa prior to the Bali forum. As a case in point, the oil company Pertamina operates in the Tanzanian gas field of Mnazi Bay.