By Ebubekir Yahya
A major international business forum has opened in the Turkish city of Istanbul aimed at boosting economic ties between Türkiye and Africa.
The Africa Business Forum and Expo brings more than 40 Turkish companies showcasing their products and services in textile, beverages, technology, energy and education sectors as well as business and financial consultancy services.
Organised by the Turkish-African Business Association (TABA) and sponsored by Turkish firm Beam and Kenya’s NCBA Bank, the two-day event kicked off on Tuesday with participants stressing the importance of the growing ties between Türkiye and African countries.
“Türkiye is a strategic location. When you check Europe, Asia and Africa, you can find an intersection between all the three sides, which is Istanbul,” President of TABA Mr Fatih Akbulut told the gathering.
Trade volume between Türkiye and Africa has increased to about $30 billion now from $4.5 billion in 2005 with investments flourishing from both sides, Mr Akbulut said. Türkiye is hoping the trade volume will reach $50 billion in the coming years.
Successful result
He said Türkiye has become a strategic partner of Africa - thanks to initiatives of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan towards deepening Turkish-African relations in the past 20 years.
“Presently, the number of destinations that Turkish Airlines fly in Africa are 64. This is a very important development,’’ Mr. Akbulut added.
This contributes significantly to movement of goods and services between African countries and Türkiye. With 44 Embassies across Africa, Türkiye has also boosted its ties with the continent.
“Türkiye -Africa relations gained considerable momentum over the last 20 years. Our Africa initiatives and subsequent partnership brought successful result in deepening our relationship and cooperation with the continent,” the Chairperson, Justice Committee of the Türkiye Grand National Assembly, Professor Cuneyt Yuksel said at the event.
Opportunities
“Türkiye stands with African people in their quest for further development and prosperity, which is why our diplomatic representations is all over the continent,” Yuksel added.
He noted that Türkiye continues to contribute to stability, socio-economic and infrastructural development of Africa through its public institutions, non-governmental organisations and private sector business initiatives. “We also have a lot to learn from Africa,” he stressed.
Guinea-Bissau’s minister of commerce and industry Joao S. Handem Junior urged Turkish investors to harness the business potentials of Africa especially in his country through cooperation for mutual benefits citing agriculture as a key sector.
“We want to learn how to boost our agricultural sector from Türkiye. Guinea Bissau has an arable land and its major source of income is agriculture,” the minister said.
Game changer
Mr. Junior also said, his country would continue its partnership with Türkiye in all sectors and noted Türkiye’s ‘’win-win relationship’’ with the African continent.
Numerous participants from Africa are attending the business forum in Turkiye’s commercial hub. Dr. Adamu Abdullahi Dabo, a businessman from Cameroon expressed his happiness given how African continent is increasingly becoming a focal point of Turkish investors.
“We need to do more to harness the best of the business potentials that exist between Africa and Türkiye. Africa has much of what Türkiye needs, also Africa needs to learn a lot from Türkiye for its development,” he told TRT Afrika.
On his part, the Libyan Ambassador to Ankara Hassan El-Gelaib noted that with its vast natural resources and human capital, Africa could become a global game changer in the near future.
