REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia should use the platform of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Asian-African Conference (AAC) to focus its economic cooperation plans on African countries, an observer said.

"African countries have yet to gain economic strength like Asian nations, but they have great potential to act as suppliers of required raw materials such as oil, minerals and food," Yose Rizal Damuri, an expert on international economic affairs, stated here on Wednesday (22/4).

China identified these potentials a long time ago. It developed energy assets there 15 years ago through long-term contracts with a number of African countries such as Sudan, Nigeria, Gabon, and Angola, Damuri noted.

By beginning as raw material suppliers, African countries can later develop into interesting markets for investment.

"We have to be keen-eyed to see the potential in Africa for the future," Damuri, who is also the head of the economic center of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, remarked.

Referring to the newly-established Africa Business Council, which was formed by the AAC forum on Tuesday, April 21, the economist stated that it could serve as a gateway for Indonesia to enter Africa.

"Indonesia can use the council as a means to enter African countries because, so far, its presence in the African economy has been small," he pointed out.

Indonesia, he added, can use the business council, which brings together businessmen from 34 African countries, to support its presence in the African market.

"Currently, our products in Africa are still small in number. They include soaps, food items and commodities for household needs," he said.

Furthermore, Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin) for association coordination, Noke Kiroyan, noted that trade between Indonesia and African countries can reach US$20 billion per annum in the next three years. However, to achieve this target, Indonesia needs to open new markets there.

"Indonesia's trade value with African countries can increase significantly---by 80 percent---in the coming three years, from its current value of about US$10.7 billion per annum. But Indonesia should first intensively open new markets in Africa," Kiroyan emphasized on the sidelines of the anniversary celebrations of the AAC at the Jakarta Convention Center here on Tuesday, April 21.

Kiroyan, who was also the chief organizer of the Asian-African Business Summit 2015, revealed that the value of trade between Indonesia and African countries was smaller than that between China and African nations, which reached US$200 billion, and that between India and African countries, which amounted to US$70 billion.

In addition, he observed that only a small number of countries in Africa, namely South Africa and Nigeria, had potential for investment.

In the African continent, South Africa has the highest per capita income of US$6,500 per annum, while that of Nigeria, which is the highest populated country in Africa, is US$3,500 per annum.

Therefore, he stated, Indonesia's trade with African countries needs to be increased. "Kadin can venture into the strategic sectors of industry, manufacturing, plantation, and infrastructure," he affirmed.

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