Like the large countries of Europe and China, Turkey also has its periodic economic meeting with African countries, including Algeria, which has become an important partner for Ankara.
The 3rd Turkey-Africa summit is being held this Saturday, December 18 in Istanbul. A sign of the size of the Turkish presence on the continent, around forty senior officials, including 13 heads of state and two prime ministers, are participating in this summit which not only concerns the economy, but also security and cultural cooperation.
Ankara’s interest in Africa responds to a double concern: to get a head start in a continent for which specialists predict strong growth rates over time, and to find immediate outlets for its economy stifled by a crisis. which has reduced the value of the local pound by 45% since the start of the year, all the more so in a context of multiple dissensions with Europe and many Arab countries, especially Egypt and the Gulf countries.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s interest in Africa does not, however, date from today. Since coming to power, as Prime Minister in 2003 and then as President of the Republic in 2014, he has made 46 visits to 30 countries, the number of Turkish embassies has increased from 12 to 43 and Turkish Airlines now serves 61 African cities.
The volume of trade between Turkey and the continent has multiplied by 5 during this period (5.5 billion dollars in 2003 to 25.3 billion in 2020).
Algeria, an important link in Turkey’s rapprochement with Africa, is represented at the Istanbul summit by Prime Minister Aymane Benabderrahmane.
During his visit to Algiers in February 2020 – the first of a foreign head of state after the election of Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune – President Erdogan said that his country considered Algeria “the most important access to the Maghreb and Africa ”, adding that he counted a lot on Algeria for the success of the Turkey-Africa summit in progress.
An example for Algeria?
In recent months, relations between Algeria and Turkey have been excellent, being in particular on the same wavelength vis-à-vis the Libyan crisis.
Contrary to what happens with France, the memorial liability does not arise with Turkey despite the long Ottoman presence in Algeria which lasted more than three centuries (1518-1830).
It is mainly through the economy that the two countries have strengthened their ties with a presence of Turkish companies in Algeria, which has experienced a meteoric rise since the signing of a friendship and cooperation treaty in 2006.
We may not talk much about it compared to the Chinese, but the Turks were strongly present in the production markets in Algeria for the past two decades.
According to the official APS agency, “Turkish companies have carried out 550 infrastructure and housing projects worth 20 billion dollars to date (without specifying the period, Editor’s note) in Algeria”.
In 2020, Turkey appeared in the top 10 of the main suppliers of Algeria with nearly 1.5 billion dollars, far behind China (1 st , 5.7 billion USD) and France (2 nd , 3 , 6 billion USD). During the same period, Turkey has bought for 2.1 billion of Algerian products, finishing in 4 th position in client countries of Algeria, behind Italy (1, 34 billion), France (2nd , 3.2 billion) and Spain (3rd, 2.3 billion).
More than 1,300 companies with Turkish partners are registered in Algeria and, for the year 2020 alone, marked by the health crisis, more than 130 Turkish companies have been created in Algeria in different sectors, according to the same source.
If, in the rest of Africa, the main criticism addressed to Turkey is not to invest massively, this country is one of the biggest foreign investors in Algeria with 5 billion dollars already invested in the steel industry, the products chemicals, textiles, medicine and construction.
Some of the projects concretized by Turkish investors are structuring and already participate in the diversification of Algerian exports, such as the steel complex of the company Tosyali in Oran, carried out for 1.7 billion dollars and which should export at the end of this year for $ 700 million.
A significant sum compared to the total of Algerian non-hydrocarbon exports which should reach 4.5 billion dollars this year, against two billion dollars in previous years.
Algeria, which has set the objective of its diplomacy to recover the ground lost in Africa in recent years, could draw inspiration from the strategy of Turkey, which was able, in a relatively short period of time, to shake up the former colonial powers and China.
