Turkey Is Moving Into Africa. In A Big Way

October 4, 2008

(By Martin McCauley.) It seems that the African continent is being targeted by everyone nowadays. Leading nations are forging closer links with the African states, adopting different strategies but pursuing one aim – to widen economic ties and get access to the mineral wealth of Africa.

Britain and some other Western nations are pursuing a policy of providing aid to Africa to battle poverty, in the hope of building bridges of understanding that would in turn help to developing business links. The Department for International Development (DfID) of the British government provides billions of pounds to Africa in aid. But this aid has produced meagre economic growth and done very little to reduce poverty on the continent. What it has done is prop up corrupt regimes such as the one in Uganda where half of the state budget is made up of foreign aid. Much of the aid money that pours into Africa leaves immediately for offshore accounts in Switzerland and elsewhere.

And then there is China. It is coming to the African market in a big way, but uses a different approach from that of the Western nations. In Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo it is directly involved in infrastructural projects. Chinese companies are building roads, railways, hospitals, schools, living accommodation. The best way to fight poverty is to create jobs and this is what China is doing. It is even undercutting the World Bank in Africa. The Washington-based Bank was negotiating with Nigeria to provide the finance for a $5 billion project to develop railways. Nigeria, in turn, was expected to promote democracy and the rule of law. China stepped in and offered $9 billion to modernise and extend the whole Nigerian railway network. Needless to say the Chinese did not include the promotion of human rights or democracy as part of their deal.

The latest country to realise the potential of Africa is Turkey. The former Ottoman Empire used to extend across northern Africa and include Egypt. However, all these countries are Arab or Arab speaking. The Ottomans traded with sub-Saharan Africa but were never masters there. This is important for modern Turkey as it carries with it no colonial baggage in sub-Saharan Africa.

On September 22, President Abdullah Gül, while attending the UN General Assembly in New York, participated in a high level meeting on African development. Later he stated that Turkey was committed to expanding its diplomatic presence in Africa. It is to open 15 new embassies which would mean that Turkey would have diplomatic relations with most African countries. In an upbeat speech the Turkish President pointed out that Africa’s development was inextricably linked to global trends and that moves by African states to resolve their difficulties should be strongly supported. He highlighted agriculture, health, education, environmental issues and infrastructure development as key areas of cooperation.

Gül was well briefed on Africa. Before arriving in New York he had participated in several Turkish-African meetings to promote trade with Africa.

Bilateral Turkish-African trade has been expanding rapidly. Turnover in 2003 was about $5 billion and it has risen to $12 billion in 2007. It is expected to rise to $30 billion in 2010.

In Istanbul in May the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (Tuskon) convened a Turkey-Africa Foreign Trade Bridge which brought together around a thousand businessmen from 45 countries. The fact that Turkish global trade turnover this year is expected to exceed $325 billion raises the significance of expanding ties with Africa. The Tuskom meeting was followed by one hosted by the private sector: at the meeting President Gül met the heads of 42 delegations.

Turkey is, of course, very interested in Africa’s hydrocarbons and minerals. Ankara is keen to reduce its dependency on imported Russian oil and gas. But this would be a long term policy and Turkey is not yet positioned to compete with countries like China in getting access to mineral resourses of Africa.

There is one area in which Turkey has a marked advantage over its competitors: agriculture. Britain’s policy in Africa is to promote and sustain subsistence farming. The weakness of this policy is that this type of farming does not produce significant surpluses which are needed to feed the increasing population. Turkey has been successful in raising yields in adverse conditions. The Turks were quick to point out that their expertise is much more relevant to Africa than Western advice. Whereas China concentrates on high profile industrial and oil and gas projects, Turkey at the moment is keeping a low profile and concentrates on agriculture. This promises to help ordinary Africans whereas Western and Chinese deals mainly benefit corrupt elites.

There is little knowledge of Turkey in Africa and hence not much prejudice. This helps Ankara in its efforts to expand its influence. Another great advantage is that Turkey is a Muslim country. One estimate puts the Muslim population of Africa at 45 per cent. The cultural conflict, which is so evident in relations with Western states and China, is therefore absent.

Turkey’s courting of Africa is also linked to its goal aim of becoming a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Elections are to be held soon and it appears that Turkey has already secured the African vote.

One jarring note was the attendance of the Sudanese President at the Turkey-Africa Cooperation Summit in August. He has been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged atrocities in Darfur. Turkey aspires to become a member of the ICC. His visit did nothing to promote its case for membership.

Turkey would also like to become a member of the European Union. Ankara is hoping that its growing influence in Africa will help it get an entry into the EU.

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