TRAVELOGUE: Trade and investment mission to Turkey, the Asia–Europe bridging state
The Forum was mainly aimed at promoting Turkish and African investments by analyzing trade and economic relations between Africa and Turkey
Time check, it is 6:45pm, on the 19th of October 2021 and the call for boarding for flight TK 0630 to Istanbul, Turkey can be heard loud and clear through the public address system of the Kotoka International Airport, Terminal Three (3).
The pages of the Travelogue are reopened after a rather long while due to a travel break resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The mission this time, is a visit to the Turkish city of Istanbul for the Turkey–Africa Business and Economic Forum under the theme; ‘Together Stronger, Stronger Together’.
Flight TK 0630 was airborne at about 7:49pm local time in Accra. The 6h 55m flight to the ultra-modern Istanbul International Airport was smooth.
After going through passport control and grabbing my luggage, it was time to look for the appropriate exit point. Thankfully, my choice of exit gate had a representative of the conference facilitator at the gate to offer support.
First Impression
At about 8am local time in Istanbul (5am GMT), the representative informed me that I had been booked to stay at the Hilton Bomonti Hotel and Conference Centre. By now, my first impression about the people of Turkey had been formed and it is, “in God we trust, all others we monitor”.
The highly suspicious nature of the Turks almost instantly caught my attention and it was obvious that the recent years of power struggles between a military-backed secular government and an increasingly popular religious movement have raised concerns about government stability and same had everything to do with the level of policing visibly present at virtually every turn in Turkey.
Terrorist activity in Turkey increased in frequency in 2015 and 2016, claiming hundreds of lives, as strikes occurred in Ankara, (the capital city), Istanbul and the predominantly Kurdish regions of south-eastern Turkey. On Jan. 1, 2017, a terrorist attack at an Istanbul nightclub left 39 dead. These events have certainly informed the kind of security arrangements that need to be in place to secure the territorial integrity of the Turkish state.
Trip from Airport to the Hotel
In my nearly one-hour bus trip from the Istanbul International Airport to the hotel, I made my second observation, which was about the traffic situation in Istanbul. Even though the city of Istanbul can boast of a modern road network, it was obvious that the population of Istanbul (15.45 million) and the number of cars on the streets occasion the gridlock on every corner of the city.
Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and the heart of the country. It is also one of the largest agglomerations in Europe and the fifth largest city in the world in terms of population within city limits.
Arrival at Hilton Bomonti
Attendant: “Can I have your passport?”
Me: “There you go.”
Attendant: “Ok thank you, just a moment.”
Me: “Ok, no problem.”
Attendant: “Mr Asare, the company (conference organizers) has paid for your hotel but you have to deposit one hundred dollars ($100.00)? We will refund it when you check out.”
Me: “Ok, this is it.”
Attendant: “Thank you. Your room is on the 14th floor, room 1406. You can call 9 if you want anything in your room. Enjoy your stay.”
Me: “Many thanks.”
After checking into room 1406 and settling in, it effectively brought a natural end to the arriving day for the 3rd Turkey-Africa Business and Economic Forum.
Day One of TABEF
“Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated for the opening session and ministerial meeting.”
By this announcement, the Master of Ceremony called the gathering of Turkish officials and Trade and Industry Ministers and their delegations from 45 African countries participating, to order. Dr. Mehmet Muş, the Turkish Minister for Trade welcomed all participants to the forum.
Representatives of the African Union Commission and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) also addressed the gathering. Ghana’s Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Michael Okyere Baafi, leader of the government delegation to the forum, was the last but four (4) of the 45 speakers to address the ministerial meeting.
Head of Ghanaian Delegation
Michael Okyere Baafi in his address said Ghana’s current economic outlook and investment climate has deliberately been instituted by government to ensure that investors and their investments are protected.
“Ghana is ready to host Turkish businesses. Ghana is a friendly country and very viable for business. We hope Turkish businesses will be interested to come and settle in Ghana in the areas of Agribusiness, infrastructure development, health care, industrial park development and other key sectors,” Michael Okyere Baafi said.
The Forum
The Forum was mainly aimed at promoting Turkish and African investments by analyzing trade and economic relations between Africa and Turkey.
It was also aimed at highlighting the expectations engendered by Agenda 2063 as a program for social, economic and political transformation that will make Africa a prosperous, united and economically independent continent.
According to official communication from the Turkish government, the four main objectives the Forum aimed to achieve at the end of the two-day engagement, raising the awareness of Turkish-African business circles about the investment and business opportunities in Africa and Turkey; raise awareness on the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and its reflections for public and private sector; identify possible future directions for Turkey-Africa partnership within the trade, investments, technology and logistics nexus, and lastly, channel the private sectors of Turkey and African countries towards commercial, industrial and technological partnerships.
The Forum further aimed to increase interaction among the business communities of Turkey and Africa, in addition to pursuing the strengthening dialogue platform with the African regional economic communities.
Ghana’s Ambassador
Ghana’s ambassador to Turkey, Her Excellency Francisca Ashietey-Odunton, on her part said her primary focus during her current tour of duty is to find strategic ways by which to sell Ghanaian businesses to buyers in Turkey to bridge the current trade imbalance between the two countries.
In 2019 alone, Ghana imported goods and services from Turkey to the tune of US$467 million. Ghana in return exported goods and services worth approximately $102 million. The $300 million-plus trade imbalance between the two countries is remarkable only for its size, in the last non-COVID-affected trading year, but the discrepancy is one of long standing.
Speaking exclusively to me on the sidelines of the Classical Music Forum, Ambassador Ashietey-Odunton said the trade section of Ghana’s Mission in Turkey will be equal to the task. “We are ready to do business with Turkey,” she declared.
“It looks like Turkey is now the business destination of the world. So what Ghana is doing is, we are encouraging [Turkish businesses] to come to Ghana, because not only does Ghana have the natural resources, we also have the human resources and we also have the laws in place to ensure that everything is done.
“Although Ghana and Turkey have active trade relations, there is an imbalance. Ghana imports more from Turkey and exports very little to Turkey. This, needs to be addressed,” she said.
On the immediate steps she is taking to address the trade gap, Ashietey-Odunton explained, “For starters, what we are doing with the trade section is to try and organise trade visits of Turkish businesses to Ghana to see what benefits there are for themselves – so they know that they can comfortably come and invest in Ghana and there will be no problem. So, as a first step, we are organising trade visits back home.”
Panel Discussions
One of the highlights of the forum was the panel discussions. Panel one discussed “Collaboration between Turkey and Africa on Agriculture and Agro-Industries”. Panel two looked at “AfCFTA & New Market Opportunities” and panel three considered the topic, “In Post COVID-19, Sustainable Health Partnerships: Turkey-Africa” on the 21st of October 2021.
Panel four and five on day two, 22nd October 2021, discussed “Turkey’s and Africa’s Approach to Innovation and Increasing Investment” and “Investment & Trade Financing in Africa & Banking Relations with Turkey” respectively.
Selling the GSFP
Ghana had the opportunity to participate in the main Plenary Session on the topic ‘Turkey-Africa Women Leadership Dialogue.’
National Coordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP), Dr Mrs Gertrude Quashigah, represented Ghana on the main plenary session. She told the success story of the school feeding initiative started some 16 years ago during the John Kufuor presidency and emphasized that the GSFP is a multi-sectoral programme that has objectives in education, agriculture, health and nutrition, and most importantly poverty reduction and food security.
The GSFP National Coordinator touted that the main activities of the programme include feeding of school children; health and nutrition; monitoring of feeding; sensitizing stakeholders and the public on the programme; promoting local agricultural production and providing a vehicle for increasing local food production through the school feeding initiative.
Speaking to me after her participation in the panel discussion, Dr Mrs Gertrude Quashigah said it is time to fully institutionalize the School Feeding Programme by passing the GSFP Bill which has been in Parliament since 2015.
“We need to pass the GSFP law. We need to turn the GSFP into a full authority so we can stand on our own to expand the programme to give more permanent jobs to our women,” Madam Quashigah said.
“In doing this, we will be broadening the scope of the GSFP to ensure that the programme gets more attention in order to realize the goals for the School Feeding Programme,” the GSFP National Coordinator added.
Need for GSFP Legal Backing
She emphasised that making the GSFP a statutory body will foster greater collaboration with her stakeholders such as the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ministry of Local Government and Decentralization, among others.
According to Mrs Quashigah, a GSFP law would also mean that the organization would have a governing board that would facilitate the establishment of other technical committees to help transform the entire programme in a multi-million-dollar venture.
Government GSFP Targets
Currently, government spends about GHc 221 million Ghana cedis on the programme per academic term, to feed about 3.5 million school children in the country. Government has tasked the GSFP to ensure that by the end of January 2022, all pupils (about 5.5 million), in primary and JHS in all sixteen regions in the country are covered by the programme.
Ahead of the January 2022 target, the GSFP has also been instructed to digitize all of its operations from accounts, operations, monitoring and evaluation, human resource, among others to make the administration of the programme more attractive to potential investors.
Women Leadership Dialogue
The Turkey-Africa Women Leadership Dialogue’s five-member panel discussion was moderated by Ms Berna Gozbasi, board member, Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey, (DEIK) and Coordinating Chairperson, DEIK/Turkey-Africa Business Council.
The five-member panel was made up of H.E. Nur Sagman, Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey; Ms Aissata Lam, Director General, Investment Promotion Agency of Mauritania; and Dr. Amany Asfour, Interim President of African Business Council (AfBC).
The rest were Dr Mrs Gertrude Essie Quashigah, National Coordinator of Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) and Ms Lebogang Zulu, Chairperson of the South African Chapter of the Women Business Alliance, and CEO of AV Group of Companies.
The Turkish Strongman
I am sure by now, you are wondering if the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, participated at all in this forum. Yes, he did, and yes, at the official closing, the last event of the two-day forum.
In his much anticipated address, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated that Turkey aims to double its bilateral trade volume with Africa from $25bn to $50bn.
.Organised by Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) in cooperation with the Trade Ministry and the African Union Commission (AUC), the Forum took place under the slogan ‘Deepening Turkey-Africa Partnership: Trade, Investment, Technology.’
Stressing that Turkey’s activities in Africa have become richer thanks to Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, Yunus Emre Institute, Turkish Diyanet Foundation, Anadolu Agency, and Turkish Airlines, he said the total value of the projects conducted by Turkish companies on the continent exceeds $70 billion.
The Turkish President indicated that the volume of bilateral trade had reached over $25 billion by the end of 2020, further noting that Ankara is determined to raise this figure to $50 billion.
From 2003 to 2014 when Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was Prime Minister of Turkey and from 2014 to date serving as President of Turkey, the number of Turkish embassies in Africa has risen from 12 in 2003 to 44 in 2021. Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) from Turkey has also risen from USD $100 million in 2003 to USD $6.5 billion in 2021.
If the Turkish President’s Africa relations record is anything to go by, then his pledge of increasing bilateral trade with Africa from USD $25 billion dollars to USD $50 billion dollars is a commitment African countries should pay attention to.
Time to Hit Town
At this point, the official engagements were over and it was time to hit town. Google map came in handy as I walked through town. I came across certain things worthy of note.
Bus Transit
There exits an effective public bus transportation system in Turkey. The heavy traffic situation in the city of Istanbul makes the bus transport option an even more important public good.
‘Okada’ in Turkey
The people of Turkey also rely heavily on motorcycle transportation, what we call “Okada” in Ghana. The difference though is that Turkish “Okada” riders obey all traffic regulations just like regular vehicle users do.
Mouth Organ
What we call “mouth organ” here in Ghana (roasted corn sold with coconut), is a big street business in Turkey. Right at the city centre in Istanbul, men are seen roasting sweet corn for sale. What is not perhaps regarded in Ghana, is a big deal elsewhere I guess.
Classical Music queue
Before leaving the Hilton Hotel to the airport for my return journey, I saw a long queue of young men and women forming on the main street in front of the hotel. When I asked one of the people in the queue what had occasioned the gathering, the answer I got was that, there was a classical music performance by one of the most popular orchestra in Turkey.
The auditorium was not big enough to admit everyone at a go, so there was the need to queue and to wait for their turn to enjoy the 90-minute performance per sitting.
Classical music in Turkey
Classical music in Turkey has a history going back to the late 18th century, when it was very much an aristocratic pursuit. The sultans first heard of opera through reports from their ambassadors, but in 1797 opera singers were brought to Turkey for performances in the courtyard of Topkapi Palace.
In 1828 Giuseppe Donizetti (brother of the composer) became Instructor General of the Imperial Ottoman Music at the court of Sultan Mahmud II, where he stayed until his death in 1866.
He is noted to have trained the European-style military bands of Mahmud’s modern army, taught music to the Ottoman royal family and was involved in the annual Italian opera season and court concerts in addition to playing host to several eminent virtuosi who visited Istanbul.
In the 19th century, Italian opera companies were brought to Turkey and in 1840 a theatre was built in Istanbul, where performances continued intermittently until 1870.
Whilst Sultan Abdulmecid was building the Dolmabahce Palace (which is now a national museum), the Dolmabahce Palace Theatre was also built nearby in 1859. After this was destroyed by fire, performances continued in another theatre in the Yildiz Palace until 1908 with Italian performers joined by the tenor Mehmet Zeki, the first Turkish-trained opera singer. During the 20th century, Turkey also saw visiting classical companies from Germany and Austria.
End of Trip
“Will all passengers travelling on Turkish Air flight TK 0630 to Accra (Akra) complete all formalities and proceed to Boarding Gate C4.”
At about 1: 45am local time Saturday 23rd October 2021 in Istanbul (Friday, 10:45pm in Accra), flight TK 0630, was airborne enroute to Accra.
The trade mission to Turkey had effectively come to an end. Hopefully, Africa, the 21st century continent of choice will reap the benefits of her partnership with Turkey. The pages of the travelogue will now close awaiting the next destination.
Wilberforce Asare
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Here are 10 things to know about Turkey
- More than 99% of the country’s estimated 81 million people identify as Sunni Muslim.
- The country is home to 18 UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sites, including two mixed sites and 16 cultural sites, such as the archaeological site of the former ancient Troy.
- Turkey initially embraced a neutralist policy in its foreign relations from its birth in 1923.
- Turkey remained neutral during most of World War II before declaring war on Germany and Japan in 1945. However, the country did not participate in combat.
- Turkey abandoned its neutralist policies in 1952 by joining NATO.
- In April of 2017 voters approved constitutional amendments changing the country’s government from a parliamentary to a presidential system.
- Years of regional fighting and terrorism have weighed heavily on Turkey. The country hosts the world’s largest number of Syrian refugees.
- Turkey’s accession talks with the European Union have stalled since 2016, with concerns expressed by EU officials and international rights groups about the country’s record on human rights and the rule of law. In March EU lawmakers called for a suspension of membership talks.
- The largest ethnic minority in Turkey are Kurds, an Iranian group whose populations occupy Turkey, northern Syria, northern Iraq and north-western Iran. Estimates of the number of Kurds in Turkey vary, from a government figure of about 16% of the country’s population, to 18% by the U.S. government, to as high as 30% by Kurdish nationalist sources.
- The source of today’s conflict between Turkey’s government and the Kurds, as well as other conflicts across the Middle East, can be traced to the end of World War I. In 1920, the Treaty of Sèvres called for the creation of an independent Kurdish state. That promise was nullified three years later by the Treaty of Lausanne, which set the boundaries of modern-day Turkey and left the Kurds as minorities in various countries in the region. Numerous genocides and rebellions have since ensued, as well as guerilla conflicts in Turkey, Syria and Iran. Kurds have an autonomous region in Iraq.
