President Farmajo travels to Istanbul for the Turkey-Africa Summit

Somalia’s president Mohamed Farmaajo has officially begun his visit to Turkey at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The President was accompanied by the First lady and other senior officials. He will join fellow African Heads of State & government officials for the two-day TurkeyAfricaSummit in Istanbul.

The summit, which will be hosted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is expected to launch a new stage in Turkey’s relations with the African Union and African countries, according to Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

The theme of the summit is “Enhanced Partnership for Common Development and Prosperity”. According to the AU, this summit is expected to adopt a “Turkey-Africa Partnership Joint Action Plan 2021-2026″ containing concrete actions to be implemented jointly by Turkey, the AU and its Member States.

It is expected to cover the following areas:

• Peace, security and governance;
• Trade, investment and industry;
• Education, STI skills, youth and women’s Development;
• Infrastructure development and agriculture; and
• Promoting resilient health systems.

Ankara’s presence has grown rapidly on the continent under President Erdoğan and Turkish companies have become increasingly present across Africa.

The main sectors for Turksih trade and investment are construction, steel and cement, followed by textiles, household goods and electronic devices.