Türkiye-Africa Business Forum ground for new collaborations: minister

The current trade and economic relations between Türkiye and African countries will be discussed and the foundation of new cooperation will be laid in Türkiye-Africa Business and Economic Forum, the Turkish Trade Minister has said.

The two-day event, starting on Thursday in Istanbul, is hosting 24 ministers and deputy ministers, high-level representatives from several countries and 3,900 African and Turkish business people, Omer Bolat said on Thursday during the event's opening ceremony.

He said Türkiye and Africa's bilateral business volume was $5.4 billion in 2003 but reached $40.7 billion last year.

Thanks to Türkiye's Africa strategy in the last two decades, the minister recalled that Türkiye's trade volume with the continent rose by 7.5 times and 11.3 times with the Sub-Saharan region.

Turkish business people's investments in the continent reached $10 billion while Turkish contractors assumed projects in Africa worth $85.5 billion so far, Bolat underlined.

He said Türkiye increased the number of embassies in the continent to 44 and the number of trade consultancies to 32 for developing relations with African countries.

After the opening ceremony, four collaboration agreements were signed between African institutions and countries, the Turkish Trade Ministry and Türkiye's Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK).

Business people gather

Representatives, top officials, business people and experts from Türkiye and the African continent are gathering in the Turkish metropolis Istanbul for the two-day Türkiye-Africa Business and Economic Forum.

The event has been jointly organised by the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Türkiye (DEIK), the African Union, and the Turkish Trade Ministry.

Several sessions are being hosted to discuss infrastructure opportunities, agricultural and industrial cooperation between Türkiye and Africa, digital transformation in Africa, medical technologies, defence and aviation sectors, and investing in African countries.

Nail Olpak, the chairman of DEIK, said important steps will be taken to reach the bilateral trade goal of $75 billion between Türkiye and Africa.

Turkish companies have increased their activities in Africa in the last 20 years, he said, adding that the importance of energy, transportation and communication infrastructure investments will increase in the long term.

"We need to broaden our vision and be more open to global cooperation in these investments," Olpak said.

On Friday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to give a speech at the events organised by DEIK, the African Union and the Turkish Trade Ministry jointly in Istanbul.