African leaders in Istanbul as Turkey seeks greater influence

dpa Istanbul Several African leaders are attending a Turkey-Africa partnership summit in Istanbul, as Ankara seeks greater influence in the continent. A t...

dpaIstanbul Several African leaders are attending a Turkey-Africa partnership summit in Istanbul, as Ankara seeks greater influence in the continent.A total of 16 leaders and 102 ministers came to Istanbul for a “historical meeting” to cement “strategic and long-term” ties, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told attendees on Friday.Leaders and top diplomats from 39 African countries confirmed their attendance, according to local media.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to deliver a closing speech on Saturday.Erdogan is scheduled to meet eight African leaders, including Nigeria, Somalia and Rwanda, according to the presidency website.This is the third such summit, following similar meetings held in 2008 and 2014. In the meantime, Turkey has expanded its presence in the continent, with key infrastructure and health investments to humanitarian aid, energy and military deals.Turkey has 43 embassies in Africa, meaning it is represented in a large proportion of the continent’s 54 countries.Ankara also invests heavily in humanitarian and social aid projects from Mali to Somalia, building schools, hotels, mosques as well as water supply and transportation systems.Turkish bilateral trade with Africa hit nearly 21 billion dollars in the first nine months of 2021, an increase of more than 27 per cent year-on-year, Turkish Trade Minister Mehmet Mus had told an Afria business forum in Istanbul in October.The goal is to raise this figure to 50 billion dollars.Visiting Angola, Togo and Nigeria in October, Erdogan clinched deals in areas from defence to energy, agreements he described as showing a hand of friendship and brotherhood, in contrast to what he called years of “exploitation” by some Western countries, including France.