Joint Communiqué 4th Africa-türki̇ye Economic and Business Forum
The Fourth Africa-Türkiye Economic and Business Forum was held in Istanbul on 12-13 October 2023, under the theme “Addressing Challenges, Unlocking Opportunities: Building Stronger Türkiye-Africa Economic Partnerships”. The Forum was hosted by the Government of Türkiye in collaboration with the African Union (AU) Commission with a perspective of strengthening economic and commercial ties between Türkiye and African Union Member States as strategic partners. The Forum was honored by H.E. Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN, President of the Republic of Türkiye and H.E. Azali ASSOUMANI, Chairperson of the African Union and President of the Union of Comoros.
In light of the need to deepen the strategic collaboration between Türkiye and Africa, the Forum took note of the strong commitment of the African Union Commission and the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye in cooperation with the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Türkiye (DEIK) to continue organizing the Forum and confirmed support for the inclusive growth and sustainable development efforts of African countries under the Agenda 2063 of the African Union and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations.
The Forum recognized that deepening of Africa’s economic integration will help promoting peace and stability in the continent and appreciated the efforts and contribution of the African Union and Türkiye in these domains.
The Forum welcomed the AU’s recent G20 membership which will grant Africa stronger representation globally.
The Forum congratulated the Turkish nation for the centennial of the Turkish Republic that will be celebrated on October 29th 2023.
The Forum, stressed the urgency to respond to the on-going rising of global commodity prices and food insecurity as well as natural disasters which are affecting the poor and vulnerable people.
Considering these challenges and with a view to building meaningful partnership anchored on mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides, the Forum committed to further strengthen bilateral relations and look forward to continuing Business-to-Business and Business to-Government cooperation and dialogue in the most respectful, constructive and in a win-win context in the following thematic areas;
- Manufacturing and Agro-processing
- Digital Technology, Health Technology and Innovation
- Women and Youth Entrepreneurs
- AfCFTA Opportunities
- Investment and Trade Financing in Africa
- Infrastructure Investment Opportunities: ‘’Energy, Telecommunication and Transportation Networks
- Governance & Food Security: “Creating sustainable food system’’
- Promotion of Tourism
Manufacturing and Agro-processing
The Forum identified investments in logistics including cold chain logistics and modern storage facilities, labs, information and communication technologies as priority areas that will support the creation of regional value chains in manufacturing and agriculture in Africa and reaffirmed the need to deliberately invest in the exchange of best practices, skills and knowledge necessary for developing joint production and exports capacity.
Digital Technology, Health Technology and Innovation
The Forum called for the intensification of collaboration to improve and augment the existing networks of Digital Innovation Hubs in Africa to deal with digital capacity gaps that exist amongst African and Turkish businesses.
The Forum called on the public sector of the Turkish and AU to support the development of an attractive health industries environment in Africa by encouraging local, regional and international private sector investments in the health sector.
The Forum reiterated the need to support growing demand for reliable local markets for healthcare products including locally produced essential medicines and actively encourage voluntary and mutually agreed technology transfer and joint ventures.
Women and Youth Entrepreneurs
The Forum committed to support women and youth entrepreneurs, skills training and development, strengthening existing SME matchmaking mechanisms and supporting business development centers, business incubators and technology hubs in collaboration with the private sector from both sides.
AfCFTA Opportunities
The Forum noted that the African and Turkish private sectors have a shared interest in the successful and effective implementation of the AfCFTA and called for the augmentation of the seamless operation of the AfCFTA to guarantee and to promote increased intra-African trade, expanded African market with the ultimate goal of creating value chains between Africa and Türkiye as well as trading of products and services.
Investment and Trade Financing in Africa
The Forum called upon Turkish and African financial institutions to design financial instruments necessary to finance investments and overall economic development in Africa as well as joint ventures and partnerships between Turkish and African businesses.
Infrastructure Investment Opportunities: ‘’Energy, Telecommunication and Transportation Networks”
The Forum agreed to prioritize infrastructure cooperation between Türkiye and Africa and to focus particularly on transport, electricity, energy and other areas of infrastructural development within the framework of Agenda 2063 and its flagship projects.
The Forum called on Türkiye and the African Union to work together towards establishing partnerships under the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).
The Forum recommended the participating countries to take necessary measures to encourage Turkish and African enterprises as well as financial institutions to expand investment and participate in infrastructure projects through various means, such as Public Private Partnership (PPP) and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) in Africa.
Governance & Food Security “Creating sustainable food system’’
The Forum called for meaningful collaboration in the areas of farm-mechanization, food processing, and fisheries and aquaculture emphasizing the fact that both quality and quantity of agricultural production and food security should be given priority.
Promotion of Tourism
The Forum identified tourism as a priority sector under the Türkiye-Africa Partnership framework for boosting economic and social development through the generation of employment and the development of touristic resources and called on the parties to work on improving connectivity, technology transfer and promotion of cultural exchanges.
Commendation
The Forum expressed its sincere appreciation to H.E President Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN, the Government and the people of the Republic of Türkiye for the warm welcome and hospitality extended to all delegations during the event as well as its gratitude to all attendees for their active participation in the various segments of the Forum.
The Forum further commended the partnership between the African Union Commission through the Department of Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals and the Government of Türkiye through the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye as exemplified by the successful organization of the Forum.
The Forum expressed its satisfaction on the achievements of mutual beneficial results and agreed to hold the next Africa-Türkiye Economic and Business Forum in 2025 to consolidate the partnership.
Done in Istanbul on 12 October 2023.