As part of his ambition to strengthen the relations his country has with Africa, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan initiated a visit to Africa. President Erdogan, who is one of the most regular foreign heads of state in Africa, landed on the continent yesterday February 20 for a three-day tour starting in DR Congo.

This new visit comes less than three months after the Turkey-Africa summit that brought together African and Turkish leaders in December.  In Kinshasa, the Turkish President has already discussed and signed “several bilateral agreements in the fields of defense and security, infrastructure and transport, as well as agreements on the non-double taxation and the promotion of investments" with Congolese authorities. He also donated 100,000 doses of the anti-covid-19 vaccine to his Congolese counterpart, according to official information.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to visit two other countries, namely Senegal, which currently holds the presidency of the African Union (AU), and Guinea-Bissau. In Dakar and Bissau, discussions should cover the economic and health sectors, two major areas in which African countries are seeking to attract investment.

Let’s note that this visit comes two days after the EU-AU Summit held on February 17 and 18 in Brussels, Belgium. During this summit, European countries committed to strengthening their investments on the continent, particularly to regain market share lost in recent years to other competitors (including Turkey, ed).

Last December, Turkey also held a summit with its African partners and signed several agreements with them. In recent years, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has increased his visits to Africa to tap into the opportunities the continent offers. His goal is to promote the export of Turkish products to Africa. Since 2004, when he was Prime Minister, he has visited Africa 15 times, the latest tour having taken place last October in Togo, Nigeria, and Angola.  

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou