Economic Relations Between Turkey And Africa: Challenges And Prospects

Abstract

African affairs occupied a secondary status in Turkish foreign policy until
very recently. However, following the adoption of the Action Plan for Opening
up to Africa in the late 1990s, Turkish politicians started to assign a higher
priority to relations with African countries. The incumbent Turkish government
now attaches great importance to developing long-term relations with those
countries. We can also see that Africa’s image in Turkey is changing with
journalists presenting new narratives about the continent and supporting
Turkish involvement in African affairs. There is also an increasing interest in
African studies in the academia, although scholarly work produced on African
issues remains limited. This study explores the evolution of Turkish-African
relations and concentrates mostly on Turkey’s economic engagement in African
countries. It also seeks to analyse recent Turkish initiatives in Africa’s energy
sector. The article argues, among other things, that although the low level of
attention paid to African issues has changed, the pace of the development of
relations with Africa is still slow and more steps have to be taken to further
improve relations with African countries.