Turkey, Africa should forge closer ties: Businessman

Turkey and Africa need to forge closer political, economic and social ties, Erol Yarar, president of the International Business Forum (IBF), said on Thursday.

"There is huge potential in Turkey-Africa cooperation," he told the Turkey-Africa Summit which was held as part of the 17th Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MUSIAD) Expo in Istanbul.

Yarar, who is the founding president of MUSIAD, said his association wanted to reach out to African nations. "Western countries exploited Africa, but the continent has now woken up," he said.

Yarar said the coming century in Africa is crucial as it has the highest population growth rate in the world.

"Nations should have economic and political freedom," he said.

Turkey started its Africa outreach program in 2003 when bilateral trade was $5.4 billion. Last year, bilateral trade reached nearly $19 billion, data from TurkStat showed.

In its 15-year period, Turkish contractors undertook hundreds of projects worth $55 billion in Africa, Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said last month.

The four-day expo which kicked off Wednesday is being attended by businesspeople, academics, journalists, non-governmental organizations, and politicians.

As part of the expo under the auspices of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the International Business Forum's (IBF) 22nd Annual Congress, high technology and defense industry event “the High-Tech Port” and International Young Businessmen Congress (UGIK) are also set to be held.