Former Trade Minister Lutfi: Like Bung Karno, Jokowi's Success Also Inspired Africa

JAKARTA - Former Minister of Trade, Muhammad Lutfi, said that President Joko Widodo's leadership is almost equal to Bung Karno. This is because the strategic policies taken inspire Africa.

This was proven by Lutfi's invitation as a speaker at a seminar organized by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace World Institute at The Westin Cape Town, South Africa, on February 8, 2024.

"Of course this is our pride as a nation. If in the past Bung Karno through his ideology and thoughts initiated the spirit of independence of the African nation, currently Pak Jokowi through the policy of inspiring Africa related to downstreaming of natural resources."

"Africa wants to imitate Indonesia, which is the host in processing its own wealth," said Lutfi in his statement on Saturday, January 3, 2024.

As a former minister who understands the downstream policy of Jokowi, Lutfi often talks on social media about government policies.

Not only that, in a number of world forums such as the WTO meeting, the former Japanese and American Ambassadors were often speakers.

"This Carnegie Ebdowment agency met me at the WTO forum. Because of some content on social media where I explained about Indonesia's downstream policy, they then gave an invitation so that Indonesia could share its successful experience of downstreaming," said Lutfi.

Africa considers Indonesia a role model for downstream projects for developing mining-producing countries in the world. Similar to Indonesia, Africa is rich in natural resources, especially mining.

The African state wants to imitate Indonesia's success story which was able to downstream its mines, especially nickel and gold, resulting in a much larger added value.

In the Jokowi era, the blessings of downstream mining carried out, Indonesia benefited 43.9 times greater than before.

Director of African Program founders at Carnegie Endowment, Zainab Usman, invited Lutfi to participate in a closed workshop to discuss developments in global interest in important minerals in Africa and how the African government can make the best approach to the challenges faced in the contract negotiations process.

This workshop will bring together government officials, representatives from multilateral organizations, and non-governmental organizations, as well as major stakeholders.

"I am writing this in my capacity as the founding director of the African Program at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to invite you personally to participate in this activity," Zainab said in his letter.

This reminds the first President of the Republic of Indonesia, Sukarno, who has ideas and thoughts about the struggle for independence capable of inspiring and uniting Asian-African nations.

In fact, the freedom fighters in the Middle East learned a lot and studied with Bung Karno to realize his independence.

The event will seek to review specific ways in which African countries can maximize their global interest in minerals on the continent.

Participants are expected to share the challenges, successes, opportunities faced by stakeholders in Africa during the negotiation process of important mineral deals.

In addition, it is also to determine the best practices and main strategies for future negotiations.

"We will be happy to receive you in Cape Town for this important conversation. We really hope you can join us. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have a question," he said.

Carnegie Endowment is the oldest and most prestigious think tank in the United States. This workshop will be hosted by Dr. Fola happened Soule.

Dr. Soule is a senior researcher at the University of Oxford, a guest researcher at the University of Ghana, and a non-resident researcher on the Carnegie Endowment Africa program.