Indonesian President to Visit Kenya on Monday

The ambassador of Indonesia to Kenya, Dr Hery Saripudin, has confirmed that the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, will be making a state visit to Kenya on Monday. 

President Widodo will be meeting with President William Ruto and the visit is aimed at strengthening relations between Indonesia and countries it has connections with in Africa. The President highlights the significance of Indonesia's role in the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung, which aimed to avoid involvement in the Cold War by establishing the Non-Aligned Movement. 

As Indonesia's President visits African countries, he carries the spirit of Bandung with him to strengthen solidarity and collaboration among nations of the Global South. Kenya opened its diplomatic mission in Jakarta last year and it is expected that a Preferential Trade Agreement with Indonesia will be signed during talks at State House in Nairobi tomorrow.

The most recent economic survey for Kenya shows that the country's imports from Indonesia decreased by 38.8% from Sh44.4 billion in the previous year to Sh27.13 billion in 2022. On the other hand, Kenya's exports to Indonesia increased slightly to Sh1.14 billion in 2022. President Widodo of Indonesia is scheduled to visit several African countries, including Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa, where he will attend the 2023 BRICS summit. During the summit, he will hold bilateral meetings with various state leaders.

The 15th summit of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) will be held in Johannesburg from August 22 to August 24. Leaders from South Africa, China, Brazil, and India are set to attend the meeting. Though Russian President Vladimir Putin is not attending in person, he will participate virtually and have Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov represent him.