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The Turkey-Africa Economic and Business Forum held in Istanbul from 21-22 October, aims to provide a platform for Turkish businesses to gain a foothold on the continent
| SHOSHANA KEDEM | Turkey aims to double its bilateral trade volume with Africa from $25bn to $50bn, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Turkey-Africa Economic and Business Forum.
The Forum, held in Istanbul on October 21-22 was attended by some 3,000 businessmen and women from Turkey and across Africa, 30 African ministers and representatives of regional organisations.
Organised by Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) in cooperation with the Trade Ministry and the African Union Commission (AUC), the Forum took place under the slogan “Deepening Turkey-Africa Partnership: Trade, Investment, Technology and Logistics.”
Speaking on the first day of the Forum, Turkey’s trade minister, Mehmet Muş, recalled that the country’s trade volume with Africa had risen to its present $25bn level from just $5.4bn in 2003. He said that Turkey’s aim in the region was to establish relations based on mutual respect and a win-win strategy.
The first day saw Turkish and African ministers of trade, investment, technology and logistics hold closed door meetings on deepening the Turkey-Africa partnership.
The agenda for day one also scheduled bilateral meetings with business leaders and ministers, as well as panel discussions on emerging opportunities in agriculture, healthcare and the new regional free-trade zone – the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The second day saw hosted sessions promoting innovation, Turkish-African banking cooperation, trade finance and women’s leadership.
“Raising the Turkish-African trade volume to $50bn must be our main goal,” the chairman of DEIK, Nail Olpak, said in his address on the second day of the Forum. “Signing free trade agreements, agreements to reciprocally strengthen and protect investments, besides cooperation and knowledge-sharing in the fields of industrialisation, agriculture, construction, textiles and health, are our priorities.”
Erdogan’s Africa tour
Ahead of the Forum, Erdogan undertook a tour of three African countries in four days, meeting leaders and investors in Angola, Nigeria and Togo.
During his visit to Angola, the Turkish president said there were significant bilateral opportunities in the energy and defence sectors, with seven deals signed so far between the two countries. He also attempted to differentiate Turkey’s offering to Africa from the West.
“There are still those who cannot accept the independence, freedom and equality gains of the African peoples. We have been witnessing the recurrence of this indigestion recently,” he said in a speech to the country’s parliament.
“As Turkey, we reject Western-centred Orientalist approaches to the African continent. We embrace the peoples of the African continent without discrimination.”
The second country on his tour was Togo, where Turkey recently opened its 43rd embassy in Africa (see below). Erdogan was greeted by President Faure Gnassingbé, who hosted a working dinner at which they were joined by President Roch Kaboré of Burkina Faso and President George Weah of Liberia.
His final stop was Nigeria, where he signed eight bilateral agreements with President Muhammadu Buhari. Nigeria is already Turkey’s biggest trade partner in sub-Saharan Africa, but the Nigerian president expressed the wish that the volume of trade would soon increase from $2bn to $5bn.
