Turkey Moves To Broaden Its Africa Reach

Text size

Turkey is expanding its reach into Africa, banking on its defence projects and widespread trade network, its prospects enhanced by the lack of colonial history weighing on Europe, diplomatic sources say.

Speaking ahead of a ministerial meeting at the weekend in Djibouti, a diplomatic source in Ankara said Turkey was a “sought-after partner” in Africa thanks to its “non-colonial” past.

Top diplomat Hakan Fidan will be in the tiny Horn of Africa nation on November 2 and 3 for the meeting between Turkey and 14 African nations in a body that was set up in 2008.

“Turkey’s biggest advantage is its non-colonial past. When anti-imperialist leaders are looking for new partners, they think first and foremost of us,” the source said.

Although the Ottoman Empire ruled over many territories in Africa, it lost control of them in the 19th and early 20th centuries before the Turkish republic emerged from the ashes of its collapse in 1923.

In a sign of its growing influence, Ankara has since June taken on the role of mediator in talks between Ethiopia and Somalia who have been locked in a feud over access to the ocean.

And with a significant level of regional mistrust towards “both major powers and the Gulf states”, Turkey was “best-suited” to lead such negotiations as “no other actor had the confidence of both parties,” the source said.

Despite difficulties, talks between Ethiopia and Somalia were moving forward “at their own pace”.

Such confidence was born of a well-established Turkish foothold in Somalia for the past two decades where it has invested in agriculture and built the airport in Mogadishu, a military training centre, schools and a hospital.

Last week, Turkish exploration vessel the Oruc Reis arrived in the Somali capital to start searching for oil and natural gas under an agreement which allows it to drill in three areas, each measuring roughly 5,000 square kilometres (1,930 square miles).

Similar exploration agreements for oil and gas, as well as mining, were also signed between Turkey and Niger in July and October.

Turkish mining company MTA has three gold mines in this Sahel nation which is also rich in uranium.

“There is also the potential for oil and natural gas,” said Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar this summer.

The mines are protected by Niger military, and Turkey is widely regarded as a “security partner” by many countries in the region.

Over the years, Ankara has signed military cooperation agreements with more than 25 African countries, supplying them with Turkish-made weapons, including drones, helicopters, training aircraft and armoured vehicles.

And its hostile stance towards West-imposed sanctions on the military regimes of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali has also helped its ties with these nations.

Turkey is also the fourth largest arms supplier to sub-Saharan Africa, according to a study published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in March.

Ankara is involved in training the armed forces in many African countries, according to Turkish diplomatic sources who refused to specify which nations were involved.

“In this way, we’re also contributing to the fight against terrorism,” the sources said, stressing the need to “simultaneously invest in economic development”, particularly in the Sahel.

“West Africa is a region dominated by security problems,” said Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on meeting his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, saying it was “necessary to strengthen defence cooperation”.

Turkish construction companies, which are heavily involved in infrastructure projects like developing a $6.5 billion railway network in Tanzania, are also helping strengthen their nation’s reputation.

Trade between Turkey and African countries in 2022 is set to exceed $40 billion.

And Turkish Airlines operates flights to some 50 destinations across the continent.