Safeguarding the Seas through Regional Cooperation: Indonesia’s Role in Advancing Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy 2050
- ISI Secretariat
- Oct 28
- 8 min read
By: Dr. Surya Wiranto, SH MH[1]
Dr. Surya Wiranto, SH, MH is a retired Rear Admiral of the Indonesian Navy, Senior Advisor at Indo-Pacific Strategic Intelligence (ISI), Senior Advisory Group Member of IKAHAN Indonesia–Australia, and Lecturer in Maritime Security Studies at the Indonesian Defense University (Unhan). He also serves as Head of the National Resilience Department at PEPABRI, Secretary General of the IKAL Strategic Center, and Executive Director of the Indonesia Institute for Maritime Studies (IIMS). He is an active Advocate, Curator, and Mediator at Legal Jangkar Indonesia.
Abstract
The maritime futures of Indonesia and Africa are inseparable, bound by their shared geography and destiny as archipelagic and coastal regions. Both face parallel challenges, ranging from maritime security threats and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing to the need for modern port infrastructure and sustainable ocean governance. This paper examines the strategic imperatives for cooperation between Indonesia and Africa within the frameworks of the Africa Integrated Maritime Strategy (AIMS) 2050 and Indonesia’s Maritime Outlook. It argues that regional collaboration through coordinated patrols, information exchange, joint maritime training, and infrastructure investment can transform the seas from spaces of vulnerability into arenas of opportunity. A shared maritime vision can strengthen sovereignty, promote the blue economy, and reinforce South–South solidarity in safeguarding the oceans.
Keywords: Indonesia, Africa, Maritime Security, AIMS 2050, Blue Economy, IUU Fishing, Regional Cooperation, Global South
Context: A Shared Maritime Destiny between Indonesia and Africa
The sea has always been both the frontier and the foundation of civilization. For nations such as Indonesia and nations of Africa, the maritime domain defines not only geography but also identity, connectivity, and security. Indonesia’s archipelagic character, spanning over 17,000 islands along vital global sea lanes, and Africa’s more than 30,000 kilometers of coastline make both regions strategically significant yet equally vulnerable. The Indian Ocean, which physically separates but historically connects them, has long served as a corridor of trade, ideas, and geopolitics. Within this space, challenges such as piracy, IUU fishing, and climate change intersect with opportunities for sustainable development, port expansion, and regional integration.
Indonesia’s Global Maritime Fulcrum (Poros Maritim Dunia) vision, first articulated in 2014, seeks to restore the nation’s maritime consciousness and strategic relevance. Similarly, Africa’s AIMS 2050 embodies a continental renaissance: transforming 38 coastal and 6 island states into a cohesive maritime community that integrates economic growth with ocean governance. Both strategies share a core philosophy that prosperity and security at sea are inseparable.
In the twenty-first century, this understanding must evolve into tangible collaboration. The sea should no longer be viewed as a boundary that divides nations but as a bridge linking shared destinies. Yet despite converging interests, Indonesia–Africa maritime cooperation remains limited, often confined to trade or diplomacy rather than sustained strategic initiatives. This gap reflects both a challenge and an opportunity: to transform shared visions into shared institutions.
Problem Analysis: Infrastructure Gaps and Governance Deficits
Maritime infrastructure forms the backbone of economic growth and regional connectivity. In Indonesia, the Coordinating Ministry for Infrastructure and Regional Development has prioritized investments in ports, maritime logistics, and professional training. However, out of 2,459 registered ports and terminals, only 111 are commercial, with a handful—such as Tanjung Priok, Tanjung Perak, Bitung, and Kuala Tanjung—functioning as international hubs.
A parallel situation exists in Africa. Despite having roughly 90 major ports, the continent handles only about 6 percent of global maritime trade. While container traffic is projected to grow by 4–6 percent annually through 2030, the average cargo dwell time remains around 20 days—five times longer than the global average. Such inefficiency increases costs and undermines Africa’s economic competitiveness.
The Revised African Maritime Transport Charter, which entered into force in August 2025, signals a collective determination to modernize Africa’s ports, enhance safety and efficiency, and promote inclusive maritime employment. The charter calls for integrated multimodal corridors connecting coastal and landlocked nations—a vision aligned with Indonesia’s Sea Toll Program. Yet both regions face structural constraints: limited investment, weak public–private partnerships, and fragmented regulatory regimes.
The absence of an Indonesia–Africa platform for port or logistics development reflects a deeper systemic issue: maritime governance in the Global South remains nationally oriented, whereas the ocean itself is transnational. The resulting paradox is clear—both aspire to connectivity, yet act in isolation. The challenge ahead lies in shifting from parallel strategies to joint action, transforming the Indian Ocean from a dividing expanse into a stage for cooperative port development, logistics, and blue economy growth.
Ocean Resource Management and the Blue Economy
Sustainable resource management lies at the heart of maritime cooperation. Exploiting the ocean’s wealth—fish, minerals, and energy—has yielded immense benefits but also mounting pressures. IUU fishing remains a persistent threat, estimated globally at 26 million tons of fish annually, worth approximately USD 23 billion.
In Indonesia, law enforcement efforts by the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries between 2020 and 2025 prevented losses exceeding IDR 13 trillion. Yet even flagship conservation areas such as Raja Ampat remain vulnerable. In Africa, nearly half of the world’s industrial IUU fleet operates in its waters, with 40 percent concentrated in West Africa. The continent loses an estimated USD 11.5 billion annually due to IUU fishing—an economic and ecological disaster.
Meanwhile, deep-sea mining represents a new frontier of both opportunity and risk. Namibia’s ocean economy contributes about 5 percent of its GDP, largely through fisheries and maritime industries. However, operations by companies such as Debmarine Namibia and the Venus deepwater project by TotalEnergies have sparked environmental and ethical concerns. Indonesia faces similar dilemmas regarding seabed exploration and coral mining.
Both regions thus confront the same dilemma: balancing development with preservation. Indonesia’s Blue Economy Roadmap and Africa’s AIMS 2050 offer normative frameworks for sustainable ocean governance, yet implementation remains uneven. The solution lies in collaborative enforcement—through joint surveillance, data sharing, and capacity building under regional information hubs such as the Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC–IOR). Integrating such systems could foster a transparent and accountable transoceanic regime for resource management, essential to a viable blue economy future.
Maritime Security and Geopolitical Dynamics
Indonesia’s long-standing commitment to peacekeeping in Africa—through missions such as MONUSCO in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and UNIFIL in Lebanon—reflects its dedication to stability beyond its immediate region. The Indonesia–Africa Forum (IAF), launched in 2018, further strengthened economic and diplomatic ties through trade, investment, and capacity building. However, as both regions depend on secure sea lanes for prosperity, their partnership must now evolve beyond economics and peacekeeping toward coordinated maritime security collaboration, grounded in mutual welfare and Global South solidarity.
Maritime security is a prerequisite for all other maritime aspirations. Without secure seas, trade falters and sustainability collapses. Both Indonesia and Africa have long confronted maritime security threats in various forms. The Gulf of Guinea, which accounted for 90 percent of global crew kidnappings in 2020, remains a piracy hotspot despite ECOWAS and the Yaoundé Architecture initiatives. In East Africa, waters off Somalia still demand vigilant patrols. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia continues to face recurring threats in the Strait of Malacca, one of the world’s most strategic chokepoints. According to the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC), nearly 80 incidents of piracy and armed robbery occurred during the first half of 2025—up significantly from 21 incidents during the same period in 2024.
These security challenges now intersect with great power rivalries. The militarization of the Indian Ocean—marked by the naval presence of the United States, France, Japan, and China in Djibouti—illustrates how external powers project influence in the name of stability. Similarly, tensions in the South China Sea underscore how unresolved maritime boundaries can ignite geopolitical flashpoints.
Yet, structured naval cooperation between Indonesia and African states remains limited. While Indonesia conducts Coordinated Patrols (CORPAT) with India and other partners, no similar mechanism exists with African nations—a significant strategic gap. The Indian Ocean is not the backyard of major powers but the shared front yard of the Global South.
Regular Indonesia–Africa coordinated patrols could enhance maritime domain awareness, build mutual trust, and symbolize developing countries’ autonomy in safeguarding their own waters. Maritime security should be seen not as an end in itself but as an enabler of sovereignty, trade, and national resilience.
Policy Recommendations: Building Bridges across the Indian Ocean
The convergence between Indonesia’s Maritime Outlook and Africa’s AIMS 2050 offers a rare opportunity to institutionalize sustainable cooperation. Several strategic steps are recommended:
Establish a Joint Maritime Cooperation Framework (JMCF) to coordinate training, intelligence sharing, and maritime surveillance. This framework should be digitally interoperable with existing centers such as IFC–IOR and the Yaoundé Architecture.
Pursue collaborative investment in green port development—energy-efficient, digitally managed, and environmentally friendly ports that modernize logistics, generate employment, and reduce carbon footprints. Synergies between Indonesia’s Sea Toll initiative and Africa’s AfCFTA could be realized through port-twinning pilot projects, e.g., linking Tanjung Priok with Durban or Mombasa.
Establish a joint maritime academy and officer exchange programs focusing on emerging areas such as maritime cybersecurity, hydrography, and autonomous vessel management—ensuring that future generations of Indonesians and Africans become maritime peers, not strangers.
Promote inclusion of women and youth in the maritime workforce. According to the UN, women comprise less than 2 percent of seafarers globally. Inclusive education and career programs can turn this imbalance into a new productive force.
Strengthen South–South maritime diplomacy, building a shared narrative of resilience, equality, and mutual benefit. Rather than competing for great power attention, Indonesia and Africa should set their own maritime norms grounded in cooperation and mutual respect.
Conclusion: A Maritime Future to Be Pursued Together
The time has come for Indonesia and Africa to move from dialogue to decisive action. Coordinated patrols must translate into data exchange; data exchange into mutual trust; and mutual trust into shared prosperity. The seas between these two regions are not barriers—they are bridges. The Indian Ocean can serve as a corridor of cooperation that embodies the spirit of the Global South, proving that developing nations are not passive participants in global maritime affairs but active architects of their own destiny.
If Indonesia can conduct annual CORPAT exercises with India, there is no reason similar initiatives cannot be undertaken with African nations. If Africa can implement AIMS 2050, Indonesia stands as its natural partner in port development, fisheries governance, and maritime education. Strategic geography, economic complementarity, and shared vulnerabilities make such cooperation not only logical but indispensable.
The future of global maritime governance will not be shaped solely by the policies of Washington, Beijing, or Brussels—but also by initiatives emerging from Jakarta, Nairobi, Cape Town, and Lagos. The Indo–African maritime partnership embodies a vision in which the Global South stands as an equal pillar in shaping the world’s maritime order. Let us therefore act with conviction—to protect our seas, empower our people, and build a maritime future grounded in shared dignity and sovereignty.
Note:
This paper, titled “Safeguarding the Seas through Regional Cooperation: Indonesia’s Role in Advancing Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy 2050”, was presented by the author at the 2025 Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD–2025), held at the Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi, on 28–30 October 2025, under the theme “Promoting Holistic Maritime Security and Growth: Regional Capacity-Building and Capability-Enhancement.”
References
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6. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). (2024). Review of Maritime Transport 2024. Geneva: UNCTAD.
7. Yaoundé Architecture. (2023). Regional Maritime Security Coordination Framework for the Gulf of Guinea. Yaoundé: ECOWAS Secretariat.