The two-day 4th Türkiye-Africa Business and Economic Forum kicked off in Istanbul Thursday, bringing together business representatives and high state officials while highlighting collaboration and trade potential between Türkiye and the African continent.
The event, organized by the Turkish Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) in coordination with the African Union and hosted by the Trade Ministry, is expected to see 3,000 participants, while President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan along with the head of African Union Azzali Assoumani is expected to attend its closing ceremony.
The forum with the main theme, “Addressing Challenges, Unlocking Opportunities: Building Stronger Türkiye-Africa Economic Partnerships,” prioritizes the energy, infrastructure, agriculture, agribusiness, health care, tourism and digital marketing sectors.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, DEIK President Nail Olpak emphasized the importance of increasing collaboration with African partners, especially in infrastructure projects related to transportation, energy and health care, within the framework of a win-win principle.
He further mentioned that the forum’s discussions, panels, B2B and G2B meetings, as well as the agreements to be signed, would establish new bridges between Türkiye and Africa and pave the way toward reaching the goal of first $50 billion (TL 1.39 trillion) and then $75 billion in trade volume between the two regions.
Olpak highlighted the remarkable growth of the Turkish economy over the last 20 years and the expanding activities of Turkish construction companies in sub-Saharan Africa in addition to their long-standing presence in North Africa.
“Undoubtedly Türkiye’s emphasis on infrastructure lies beneath this. Transportation and telecommunication investments such as roads, railways, bridges, airports, ports, data centers and GSM networks, and infrastructure projects such as energy production,transmission and distribution, especially renewable energy, played an important role in increasing our economic performance,” he noted.
Furthermore, he stressed the importance of infrastructure investments in addressing global economic challenges and noted that green and digital transformations are currently at the forefront of the global agenda.
“Our priority is to increase our cooperation with our African friends in infrastructure projects, especially transportation, energy and health, within the framework of the win-win principle,” he said.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the significance of supply chains, accessibility, energy, food and communication became more evident, leading to increased use of digital technologies, Olpak said. He noted that deploying networks, expanding coverage, improving accessibility and reducing data costs are essential for the development of the continent.
“We believe that this two-day forum, whose closing ceremony will be held tomorrow with the presence of our president and the President of the Union of Comoros, President of the African Union, Mr. Azali Assoumani, will be an important platform to take the cooperation between Türkiye and African countries to further levels,” Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said on X, formerly Twitter.
Meanwhile, Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Mining at the African Union Commission (AUC) Albert Muchanga in a joint news conference held with Bolat and Union of Comoros Communications and Telecommunications Minister Kamalidini Souef touched upon the importance of the forum and further development of the partnership in key sectors.
Stating that the forum, which was held for the fourth time this year, aims to establish new partnerships and deepen unity, Muchanga said, “The forum is an indicator of Türkiye-Africa unity and support of peace and stability in Africa.”
Emphasizing that the African free trade zone offers great opportunities for Turkish investors, Muchanga said: “In order to increase the import and export of products and services, the necessary financial instruments should be established in Africa. Partnerships should be established between Turkish and African companies.”
The forum’s first edition was held in 2016, the second in 2018 and the third in 2021, while there was a virtual meeting in 2020 under the pandemic conditions.
The trade volume between Türkiye and Africa amounted to $40.7 billion in 2022, up from $1.35 billion in 2003. The figure is projected to hit $50 billion by the end of this year.