Turkish investments in Africa: new competition for Europe?

            After Russia and China, a new regional player is increasingly imposing itself in Africa: Turkey. Indeed, since the 2000s and on the basis of a 1998 governmental action plan, Turkish economic, infrastructural, military and cultural investments have multiplied throughout the continent, well beyond the traditional zones of influence such as the Mediterranean and the Red Sea[1].

            Turkish authorities and companies have observed a great potential in the African market and have multiplied contacts with it, through several meetings and initiatives.

            For example, the "Year of Africa" (2005), declared in Ankara[2].

Indeed, in January 2008, the African Union declared Turkey a strategic partner for Africa[3]. In the same year, the first international meeting on Turkey-Africa cooperation took place in Istanbul, marked by bilateral discussions with forty-two state representatives^[4]. It follows other summits held in the same city, such as the Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit (2005), which was followed by several others, such as the one held in Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) in 2014[5].

            The Turkish investment strategy in Africa is based on three pillars: (1) the deployment of embassies on the continent (today there are 43, whereas there were only nine in 2003); (2) the opening of Turkish Airlines routes, which serve some fifty African cities; and (3) the action of the TIKA agency, which finances numerous projects in the fields of construction, health, agriculture, etc.^[6]. The Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) has 30 coordination centres across the continent[7].

            In addition to TIKA, there are other bodies involved such as the Council for Foreign Economic Relations (DEIK), which is responsible for the international relations of the Turkish private sector, and the Confederation of Turkish Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), which brings together almost thirty thousand companies and one hundred and fifty local traders' organisations[8].

            Current Turkish investments include the largest arena in East Africa in Rwanda (Kigali Arena), a national mosque in Ghana, a military base in Somalia (TURKSOM), as well as a 400 km railway project linking Ethiopia to the port of Djibouti (Awash-Weldiya)[9]. In Senegal, Turkish companies are working on the construction of a new city near Dakar as well as a railway line. They have even been awarded the management of the new Dakar International Airport, which opened in 2017.^[10]. 

            Turkish companies are also investing in natural resources, hydrocarbons, agriculture and industry[11]. Like Nigeria and Somalia, Angola is coveted for its gas and mineral deposits[12].

            Arms sales (military attack drones) are also flourishing, such as in Nigeria, which is plagued by Boko Haram[13]. Even with neighbouring Niger, Turkey had signed a defence agreement in July 2020[14]. The country is also expanding its cooperation in the educational and socio-cultural sectors[15].

            Finally, Turkey is still investing in the food sector: Africa accounts for 10 % of Turkey's agricultural and food sales in the world[16].

            According to statistics, Ankara's trade volume with the African continent has increased from 5.4 billion $ in 2003 to over 25 billion $ in 2020[17]. The Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX) has indicated that Turkey has already concluded ten free trade agreements - involving the elimination of tariffs and taxes on trade in goods and services between Turkey and its partners - with the African countries: Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Somalia, Rwanda, Mozambique, Mauritius and Sudan (in the process of ratification)[18]. Other negotiations are currently underway with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Seychelles, Cameroon, Chad, Libya and Djibouti. Turkey is also exploring free trade agreements with Algeria and South Africa.[19].

            Turkish investments are promoted and supported through multiple ministerial and presidential visits to African countries[20]. As prime minister and current president, Erdogan has visited 30 African countries since 2004[21]. Recently, he visited Angola, Nigeria and Togo from 17 to 21 October 2021^[22]. A mini-summit was also held on 19 October in Lomé, between Erdogan and his Togolese, Burkinabe and Liberian counterparts[23].

            Conversely, African leaders and entrepreneurs are working to better reach the Turkish market and to cooperate more with Turkish companies as alternative players to Europe[24]. For this reason, the African Investment Forum in Turkey, organised in June 2021[25]and in October 2021 in Istanbul the 3rd Africa-Turkey Economic Forum (Turkey-Africa Business Summit), in which some thirty African ministers participated[26]. A third Turkey-Africa summit is planned for December 2021[27].           

            Future investments remain mainly economic, energy, infrastructure, but also focus on culture, religious affairs and the medical field.

            To date, aid for the supply of medical devices and equipment has been provided to 44 African countries[28]. Hospitals have been inaugurated by Turkish investors, including two in the Sahel countries; one in Bamako (Mali) and the other in Niamey (Niger)[29]. 

            In the Sahel, Turkish companies are working on the construction of a mosque for the High Islamic Council of Mali in Bamako, as well as on the restoration of the Great Mosque of Agadez in the Nigerian Sahara[30]. In Senegal, mosques are also financed by Turkey^[31]. Even the Red Sea countries remain in the crosshairs; this is the case of Sudan with the port of Suakin - located just opposite the port of Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) -, today managed by Ankara thanks to a long lease granted by Khartoum[32]. In addition to restoring the architectural and historical heritage of the site, Ankara aims to make Suakin a new tourist and transit area for Muslim pilgrims[33]. 

            Education continues to be an important part of Turkish-African relations, with the participation of the Diyanet (Presidency of Religious Affairs), the Maarif Foundation (TMV) and the Yunus Emre Institute (YEE)^[34]. Like Erasmus in Europe, the Maarif Foundation has an International Programme, as well as an Early Childhood Education Programme[35]. Then, following the example of the European language institutes (Goethe for German, Cervantes for Spanish), Turkey has the Yunus Emre Institute which organises work on teaching the Turkish language to foreigners in centres founded abroad. It also contributes to scientific work, and runs cultural and artistic activities with the aim of representing the country itself[36]. Today, there is a network of Turkish schools and high schools in African countries, namely in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, with plans to expand to Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mauritius[37].

            Turkish investments in Africa represent a competition for Europe in general, but also economically for China and militarily for Russia[38].

            Moreover, other regional players such as India, Japan and Brazil are trying to enter the African market more deeply[39]. At a meeting of the Turkish-Angolan Joint Economic Committee, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez reported that the value of Turkish investments in the African continent reached 6 billion dollars, and that the number of projects implemented by Turkish entrepreneurs in Africa had reached 1,500, stressing that the economic volume of these projects exceeded 70 billion dollars[40].

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