Vom geopolitischen Wettbewerb zur strategischen Zusammenarbeit im Bereich CRM: Das Dreieck EU-Indonesien-Afrika

The document analyzes the strategic interests of the EU and Indonesia in Africa's critical raw materials sector, arguing that their differing strengths—the EU's financial and regulatory capacity and Indonesia's downstream industrialisation experience—could be combined through triangular cooperation to support African development and reduce mutual dependence on China.

• African countries struggle to convert mineral wealth into development gains, with 73% of greenfield foreign direct investment in sub-Saharan Africa between 2016 and 2022 focused on extraction and only 26% on processing and manufacturing.
• Indonesia leverages its dominance in nickel production (approximately 51% of global supply) and its experience with export bans to promote downstream industrialisation, which it offers as a model for African partners to capture more value from their own resources.
• The EU's strategy for critical raw materials in Africa focuses on diversifying supply chains to reduce dependence on China through the Critical Raw Materials Act and Global Gateway, though it has struggled to mobilise its private sector competitively compared to Indonesia's state-owned enterprises.
• While the EU and Indonesia both target several of the same African countries—including the DRC, Namibia, Rwanda, and South Africa—their specific mineral focuses and value chain segments currently do not overlap.
• Triangular cooperation could combine the EU's strengths in ESG regulation and blended finance with Indonesia's technical expertise in accelerating up- and downstream processing to transition African economies from ore exports to mineral refining.
• Successful triangular cooperation requires five key measures: incentivising the EU private sector through price-stabilisation mechanisms, ensuring safeguards for blended finance to avoid escalating public debt, implementing clear ESG frameworks in Indonesia, establishing a common African regional agenda for partnership terms, and embedding mutual accountability mechanisms.

APA

Eszter, & Hertanti, R. (2026). Vom geopolitischen Wettbewerb zur strategischen Zusammenarbeit im Bereich CRM: Das Dreieck EU-Indonesien-Afrika. Africa Policy Research Institute. https://afripoli.org/de/vom-geopolitischen-wettbewerb-zur-strategischen-zusammenarbeit-im-bereich-crm-das-dreieck-euindonesienafrika-en

Chicago

Eszter, and Rachmi Hertanti. Vom geopolitischen Wettbewerb zur strategischen Zusammenarbeit im Bereich CRM: Das Dreieck EU-Indonesien-Afrika. Africa Policy Research Institute, 2026. https://afripoli.org/de/vom-geopolitischen-wettbewerb-zur-strategischen-zusammenarbeit-im-bereich-crm-das-dreieck-euindonesienafrika-en.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Eszter |last2=Hertanti |first2=Rachmi |title=Vom geopolitischen Wettbewerb zur strategischen Zusammenarbeit im Bereich CRM: Das Dreieck EU-Indonesien-Afrika |publisher=Africa Policy Research Institute |date=16 April 2026 |url=https://afripoli.org/de/vom-geopolitischen-wettbewerb-zur-strategischen-zusammenarbeit-im-bereich-crm-das-dreieck-euindonesienafrika-en |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{eszter2026vom, author = {Eszter and Hertanti, Rachmi}, title = {{Vom geopolitischen Wettbewerb zur strategischen Zusammenarbeit im Bereich CRM: Das Dreieck EU-Indonesien-Afrika}}, institution = {Africa Policy Research Institute}, year = {2026}, month = apr, url = {https://afripoli.org/de/vom-geopolitischen-wettbewerb-zur-strategischen-zusammenarbeit-im-bereich-crm-das-dreieck-euindonesienafrika-en}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }