Ethiopia and Turkey signed five cooperation agreements to boost trade between the two countries and strengthen cooperation in several sectors such as industry, energy, telecommunications and banking.

The agreements were initialed in Addis Ababa, the Capital city, by Nihat Zeybekci (photo), the Turkish Minister of Economy and various Ethiopian high officials.

Regarding industry, “both sides agreed to strengthen the technical and capacity building cooperation between the Ministry of Industry of Ethiopia and the Ministry of Economy of Turkey to strengthen the manufacturing sector’s productivity, competitiveness and export capacity”.

“Both sides agreed to mutual cooperation in the fields of energy, mining and hydrocarbon,” the agreement said in regards to the power sector. In this framework, Turkey will work with Ethiopian institutions to improve their skills in geothermal and coal field surveys.

In regards to telecommunications, cooperation between the two countries will focus on public TV channels. These concern the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation and the Ethiopian Broadcast Corporation.

As for Banking, Turkey wants to, according to Mehmet Buyukeksi, head of Turkey’s exporters’ council, present at the agreements’ signing, “given the growth of businesses between the countries, have an office which could facilitate banking services”.

In 2016, Turkey has invested about $2.5 billion in Ethiopia over $6 billion dedicated to Africa.