by Burak Akinci
ANKARA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Turkey is planning to focus extensively on Africa by further strengthening and diversifying trade relations with the continent with immense investment and cooperation potential.
Turkey's trade with Africa has seen a 12-percent increase in 2019 as Turkey is trying to recover from a painful recession, Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said last week in Ankara following a tour to African nations, semi-official Anadolu agency reported.
Ankara is eager to ink agreements with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on economic and trade collaboration, Pekcan noted.
A Turkey-Africa summit is set to be held in April in addition to the Turkey-Africa Economy and Business Forum organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey and Turkey's Trade Ministry.
According to official data, Turkish exports to the African continent reached 121 billion dollars in 2019 while its imports hit 58 billion dollars.
Turkey launched a diplomatic offensive toward Africa some two decades ago to promote political, cultural and trade ties with the continent.
Since his rise to power in 2003, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made it a priority to establish new ties with emerging economies in Africa.
Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been very active on investment in Africa, contributing to development projects of up to 1 billion dollars, with a particular emphasis on the Horn of Africa.
Erdogan said on Monday that Somalia had invited Turkey to conduct energy drilling and exploration operations in its seas, a move that would considerably increase Ankara's growing cooperation with the country.
"We had a proposal from Somalia. They said Somalia had oil in its seas," Erdogan told journalists on the presidential plane returning from a summit in Berlin on Jan. 19, where world powers discussed the situation in Libya.
"We will take steps there. This is something beneficial for us," he said.
Turkey has also built a military base in Mogadishu to train local forces. The Mogadishu international airport and the sea port in the capital are run by Turkish companies.
According to seismic data processing firm Seismic Geo, there is a high potential for hydrocarbon exploration off Somalia's shores. The country recently passed a new petroleum law to attract foreign investment in the energy sector.
In West Africa, Turkey will conduct mineral exploration activities in Niger under a recently reached agreement between the two countries, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez said Monday.
Donmez noted that Turkey has so far signed agreements with 17 African countries in the field of energy and mining and wants to further cooperate with other African nations in the coming years.
"Following the AKP period, Turkey's relations with the continent have lived their golden years and substantially gained momentum," said Muhammed Tandogan, an academic at Istanbul Medeniyet University.
Turkey now has more than 40 embassies in Africa, while over 30 African states have opened embassies in the Turkish capital in fewer than a decade.
Many bilateral agreements have been signed between Turkey and African countries and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency currently operates 21 offices across the continent, managing a wide range of development and humanitarian projects.
Furthermore, some 5,000 African university students were granted scholarships in Turkey.
Turkish Airlines, the nation's flagship carrier, added new African destinations in 2018 and 2019, creating one of the largest flight network on the continent.
