Keen to reassert Turkey's international status, and also to help Turkish companies to break into the African market, the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been spearheading a major diplomatic and business drive in Africa. To achieve its goals, the Turkish government is counting on the assistance of its religious networks.
All-powerful under Alpha Condé, the Turkish group Albayrak is continuing to hold its own under the junta despite some tensions. Several figures are keeping the dialogue going between Mamadi Doumbouya and the conglomerate, which has very close ties to the Turkish president.
The Congolese government is still waiting on a delivery of armoured vehicles from Turkish group Katmerciler to ease pressure on the army, which is in need of equipment in its fight against the M23 rebels in the east of the country.
The flagship Turkish defence company Turkish Aerospace Industries is leading a spirited commercial offensive in Central Africa against the backdrop of high tension between DRC and Rwanda.
CEO Melih Tanriverdi has sent his teams to court West Africa's armed forces in the hopes of selling them Sadat's integrated border surveillance system for use in the conflict-prone Sahel region.
Shunned by Western firms, the second International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (IADE), which took place at Enfidha airport, was mainly a showcase for Turkish defence companies.
The 2022 Africa Aerospace & Defence (AAD) expo, slated for 21-25 September at Waterkloof airbase on the outskirts of Pretoria, will host a strong showing of Turkish firms.
The renewed fighting between Abdelhamid Dabaiba and Fathi Bachagha's respective camps on 27 and 28 August in Tripoli showed the limits of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's balancing act. The Turkish president has been trying to mediate between the sparring factions while looking after his own troops on the ground.
The Turkish president wants to host a meeting between the speaker of the Libyan House Of Representatives, Aguila Salah Issa, and the chairman of the High Council of State, Khaled al-Mishri, along with representatives of the main countries involved in the crisis on 21 July.
The private company is taking an interest in the DR Congo's security market, lured by opportunities to train its armed forces and police and by the country's need for military equipment.
Turkish diplomacy continues to send its officials to Ethiopia to intensify its involvement in a region where Western countries are failing to address the crises.
Turkish company Atesci has won a major contract in Nairobi to install ammunition production lines for the Kenya Army
The holding company of Turkish businessman Ahmet Calik, who is said to be close to President Erdogan, is trying to obtain permits in other countries on the continent, having entered the mining sector in Africa via the exploration activities of his company Lidya Madencilik in Guinea and DRC.
To further extend Ankara's influence on the African continent, Turkey's foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has made a number of important changes within the ministry in recent months.
Still engaged in discussions with Turkish manufacturer Baykar Makina, producer of TB2 MALE (medium altitude long endurance) combat drones, the Nigerian government has just finalised the order for a batch consisting of ten small armed tactical Songar UAVs from Nigerian group Asisguard.
Turkey, which last week played host to representatives of the Libyan prime minister-designate Fathi Bashagha, intends to wield its influence on the outgoing head of government Abdelhamid Dabaiba to pressure him to seek a negotiated solution.
Senegal's military operation against separatist bases in northern Casamance over the past two weeks relies heavily on Turkish expertise. But Ankara is also a close ally of Gambia, which has historic ties to the Casamance rebels and has been deeply affected by the crisis.
The airline's huge investment in the construction of the future Kigali airport, the largest ever made by Qatar in Africa, is turning heads in Istanbul. Qatar Airways has launched a call for tenders for which it should announce the winner within a few weeks.
The large-scale military operations carried out over the past two weeks by Senegalese soldiers on the Gambian border against the MFDC separatists have benefited from the strategic alliance between Turkey and Senegal.
The Turkish defence equipment manufacturer Barer has been very proactive in the hope of winning the next contracts that will accompany the expansion of the Ivorian forces. Abidjan is preparing to recruit nearly 10,000 men over three years.
After having chosen Turkish TB2 combat drones and Hurkus attack aircraft, Niamey is also likely to choose armoured vehicles manufacturer Nurol Makina and electronics expert Aselsan to boost its military capability.
The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to pay an official visit to Kinshasa from 20 to 22 February.
The Nigerian army has for several months been looking to buy Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones but sanctions issued by Washington and Ottawa on a key part of the equipment are holding up negotiations. Its only hope for a breakthrough is a 100% Turkish drone that would provide Ankara with its own strategic autonomy.
No less than a dozen African foreign affairs ministers will travel to Turkey's Antalya Diplomatic Forum, from 11 to 13 March, invited by Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
After catching Covid-19, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan was forced to cancel his trip planned on 14 February to Abu Dhabi, where he was hoping to discuss the conflicts in the Horn of Africa with Crown Prince MbZ
Turkey's Recep Tayip Erdogan has invited a dozen African heads of state to the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, which will take place from 11 to 13 March.
The chief of staff of the Ivorian armed forces has just taken delivery of 20 Cobra armoured vehicles from the Turkish manufacturer Otokar, with a view to deployment within MINUSCA in the Central African Republic.
Congo has still not paid its bill for the construction of the monumental conference centre built in Brazzaville by the Turkish group Summa in 2017 - and the matter is poisoning relations between Ankara and Brazzaville.
Turkish manufacturer Katmerciler is struggling to finalise the sale of 20 Hizir armoured vehicles and a dozen logistic support units to the Gambian authorities, as negotiations stall over the question of how to finance them.
The Galaxy school in Bangui, one of the few in Fethullah Gülen's network not to have closed its doors in Africa, is under fresh pressure after Turkey promised to open an embassy in the Central African capital as part of its push to boost its influence there.
TAI, Roketsan, BMC, Otokar, Tais Shipyards, Aselsan were among the 10 or so Turkish arms makers that travelled to Nigeria last week to promote their products and know-how to defence minister Bashir Salihi Magashi and senior military commanders.
Having recently delivered a new batch of twelve armoured vehicles for the Chadian army, the Turkish conglomerate Nurol Holding has consolidated its presence in N'Djamena and is also eyeing opportunities in the construction, infrastructure and mining sectors.
The development of the Nigerian public defence conglomerate could be at the heart of the security cooperation policy outlined by Muhammadu Buhari and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Blocked by the Biden administration, US company Textron's bid to supply 50 armoured vehicles to Nairobi has come to nothing. This could be an opportunity for the two enterprising Turkish manufacturers Otokar and Katmerciler, as well as French company Arquus, to seize the opportunity.
Mohammed VI's army is about to place a second order for armed Bayraktar TB2 drones manufactured by Turkey's Baykar as tensions mount with Western Sahara and neighbouring Algeria. Other suppliers are being solicited too.
The Nigerian Air Force, which is looking for attack helicopters to boost its firepower, is currently conducting negotiations with the European manufacturer Airbus and India's HAL. But the Turkish TAI, solidly supported by Ankara, has a head start with its T-129 model.
The Nigerian Navy has grand ambitions for its naval fleet.
Actively courted by its Turkish ally, which wants to provide it with surveillance aircraft that can also carry out strikes, Niger is negotiating in parallel with the German group Aerodata to buy two Beechcraft equipped with ISR technology.
In the wake of an August military aid accord struck by Turkish President Erdogan and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in recent weeks the Ethiopian army has taken possession of at least six Bayraktar TB2 combat drones.
Eight MPs from the House of Representatives in Tobruk are taking an offcial visit to Turkey. With elections just over a month away, this visit shows the east's desire to improve relations.
The French defence giants, encouraged by Paris, have offered to sell surveillance drones to the Chadian army. But they are put off by N'Djamena's disastrous finances and are keenly aware that they could lose out to Turkey as "Kaka" and Erdogan grow closer.
Following some setbacks with university building sites, Turkish group SKN Group Insaat's Algerian subsidary is getting back on track. On 10 October, it won a contract for 140 housing units in the province of Algiers, in a consortium with the Algerian company SM Fort.
During his official tour of Angola, Nigeria and Togo from 17 to 20 October, the Turkish president will be aiming to strengthen political and economic ties with the countries of the Gulf of Guinea. Central to this strategy will be promoting the interests of Turkey's defence industry ahead of the Turkey-Africa summit scheduled for December in Istanbul.
Photos of the Rwandan army and its deployment to Mozambique have been on the front page for weeks and Rwanda's armed forces awant new weapons.
Fierce competition has broken out between the two giants of the Turkish defence sector over Niger, a market Ankara has had a lock on for the past decade.
Ankara is trying to attract young African diplomats, especially those from Senegal, Niger and Togo, to its diplomatic academies.
Defence companies Aselsan, Havelsan, Otokar and STM woo Rwandan military officials as part of Turkey's plan to become more influential in the Land of a Thousand Hills.
A first batch of Turkish Anka-S drones is expected to be delivered next week to Tunis. The delivery will take place despite the fact Turkey was one of the few countries to have explicitly condemned President Kaïs Saïed's "constitutional" coup.
Turkey's diplomats have been hard-wired to reject military rule ever since the failed 2016 coup attempt in Ankara, but they now find themselves having to make pragmatic choices with Guinea's new leaders to maintain an air of influence.
The Turkish firm has conducted a feasibility study for a project to install surveillance radars along Senegal's coastline.
Over the summer, Turkish construction company Summa, which conducts a lot of business in Africa, began discussing the construction of a new conference centre in Lomé with Togolese authorities.
Just a few weeks after Albayrak, Yildirim is set to enter a bid for the management concession for the port of Misrata in the city's free zone. The two groups are fighting to give Turkey a long-term presence in the Libyan port sector.
Ankara continues to influence the west of the country, despite the Joint Military Committee's little-appreciated request that the country withdraw its troops from Libyan territory. Turkey recently appointed former Libyan defence minister Salaheddine al-Nemroush as commander of a military zone where the main Turkish base is located.
Lidya Madencilik, the Ahmet Calik-led company which set up in Guinea in late 2019 to explore the country's mining potential in partnership with the mines ministry, has given details of the areas it is most interested in developing.
Gambia has signed an agreement with Turkish parastatal Katmerciler in order to respond to the country's intention to increase the number of its peacekeepers in Africa. The armoured vehicle manufacturer is a pillar of President Erdogan's military and diplomatic offensive in East, and now also, West Africa.
An unfailing ally of Omar al-Bashir's regime, Turkey has taken two years to re-establish relations with Sudan's transitional government. Ankara only managed to regain a foothold in Khartoum by promising substantial investments.
Turkey's defence industry trade fair IDEF, the sector's major yearly event, held from 17 to 20 August in Istanbul, saw many African delegations roam the aisles of the Tüyap exhibition centre where models of aircraft, armoured vehicles, and above all drones, were on display.
Everything was all set for Turkish Aerospace Industries to deliver six Anka-S combat drones to the Tunisian army when President Kais Saied seized executive control, ostensibly to undermine Ennahda, the Islamist party long supported by Turkey.
The Turkish armoured vehicle manufacturer, which announced in early June that it had been chosen to deliver more than a hundred vehicles to the Kenya Defence Forces, is currently at a total standstill. The contract's completion is being hampered by technical elements that do not match the project specifications.
The Turkish construction specialist Form Insaat has landed a role as a service provider for the construction of Bamako's new military hospital.
Since his appointment in February, Zimbabwe's foreign minister has been concentrating on cultivating closer relations with Turkey and India to complement the country's longstanding alliances with China and Russia and lessen the impact of Western sanctions.
The Somali president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, aka Farmajo, will be in Turkey from Friday to attend the Antalya Diplomatic Forum from 18 to 20 June.
The Turkish yard is at an advanced stage in talks with the government on a contract to supply a 100 m long logistics vessel to the navy. A major opportunity for the Turkish defence industry which is determined to win greater market share in West Africa.
Belgian businessman Lokman Sever, who made a name for himself acting as an intermediary between Turkish groups and African heads of state, has created a new mining entity and a travel agency in the DRC.
The European Union wants to strengthen its training of the Libyan coastguard, which has been somewhat neglected in recent years, and to stop Turkey using its links with Tripoli to increase migratory pressure on the continent's doorstep.
The Bayraktar-TB2 armed drones that Morocco will receive will be equipped with Canadian-made Wescam LX-15 optronics, despite Ottawa's decision to ban the sale of such equipment to Turkish manufacturer Baykar.
Turkey's Baykar, which has close links with Erdogan, is to supply attack drones to the Moroccan army. The contract will not radically change the military balance between Morocco and Algeria but has been signed just as hostilities are resuming against Polisario in Western Sahara.
International construction companies, especially those based in Turkey, are scrambling to reconstruct Libya.
As the Kenyan armed forces look to strengthen their capacities by acquiring more armoured vehicles, European rivals Excalibur and Mowag are taking a close interest in their plans to acquire 8x8 armoured combat vehicles, while Turkish companies are hoping to land orders for mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles.
Ankara's new military attaché for the Great Lakes will need to maintain Turkish defence industry's excellent relationship with Uganda but also develop opportunities in Rwanda and Burundi, despite these two countries' troubled relations with Kampala.
The Turkish construction conglomerate Albayrak is in talks with the Misrata Free Zone authorities to obtain a port terminal concession held by Bolloré since 2010 in yet another example of how Turkey is tightening its grip on the west Libyan economy.
With the construction of a plant to make prefabricated concrete in Misrata, the Turkish firm Karanfil is hoping to carve itself out a big niche in the Libyan reconstruction market. This venture owes much to Murtaza Karanfil's ties with the new prime minister Abdelhamid Dabaiba and with the mayor of Misrata, Mahmoud Sgoutri.
With the ICJ due to rule on the issue of their maritime borders in a few weeks' time, Nairobi and Mogadishu remain very much at daggers drawn. By dispatching its foreign minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu to the region, Ankara is hoping to become the indispensable mediator between the two countries.
As Denis Sassou NGuesso seeks a fourth term as president, Aksa Enerji, a firm owned by a Turkish oligarch close to Ankara's ruling party, is speeding up its plans to increase electricity supply to Pointe-Noire, a city that has traditionally been hostile to the Congolese leader.
In the run-up to the African Union summit on 6 and 7 February in Addis Ababa, Turkish diplomats are pulling out all the stops to ensure that the third Turkey-Africa summit, scheduled for September, features prominently on the agenda.
Turkish armoured vehicle manufacturer Katmerciler is negotiating a $30m contract to supply 50 Hizir armoured personnel carriers to the Kenyan police as the Kenyan army prepares to take delivery of 100 others. The Katmerci family's energetic sales drive is getting full backing from President Erdogan.
A Turkish protégé since his 2019 election, Guinea-Bissau president Umaro Sissoco Embaló has not returned the favour, preferring to use an Emirati operator rather than a Turkish conglomerate for the future Bissau airport build.
Fezzan has become a major key to the Libyan conflict and Turkey, via an NGO, is trying to make contact with the tribes that control the southern region.
With support from the foreign ministry in Ankara, Turkish business interests, which already control the port of Mogadishu, have got hold of a second port: Hobyo, in Galmudug State.
Süheyla Çebi Karahan, the president of the Turkish External Economic Relations Council in Maputo, was behind a Turkey-Mozambique conference that took place on 19 October in the wake of the Turkey-Africa Economic Forum.
The small private Turkish airliner domiciled in Saint-Marin is picking up cargo traffic to Libya.
West African Energy is planning to barge into the Senegalese energy market with a fast-track build all thanks to the drive of its director, former Senelec boss and former minister of energy under Abdoulaye Wade.
The Turkish government is working all out to win favour with Guinea Buissau and Senegal. It aims to create a pro-Turkish African bloc stretching from Saint Louis in the north to the Nimba mountains in the south.
A delegation from the Turkish defence equipment manufacturer Havelsan travelled to Dakar last week for several days of meetings with the Senegalese army high command to discuss potential collaborations.
The DEIK-sponsored trade fair to be held in mid-October in Istanbul will open up opportunities for Turkish companies to shore up the government of Fayez Sarraj, with the restoration of the electricity supply in the capital being a particular priority.
Businessman Abshir Aden Ferro, who plans to run in the February presidential election, has given his campaign a markedly anti-Turkish flavour. In the meantime, Turkey is giving firm support to the incumbent president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo.
The Senegalese Navy will be receiving a delegation from Turkish defence equipment manufacturer Havelsan this week.
Less than two months after his tour of West Africa, Turkish foreign affairs minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu was back in the region last month to meet with the Mali coup leaders. He hopes to sponge off France's plans but also to consolidate Turkish industrial projects in the country.
A meeting of representatives of eastern and western Libya, hosted by Mohammed VI in Morocco on 6 and 7 September, failed to reach an agreement on how to replace the Government of National Accord, whom Turkey has pledged to save with military aide.
By belatedly vying to equip the patrol boats Dakar ordered from Piriou, Turkish defence giant Havelsan could cause an upset at the expense of Nexeya.
The opening of a new Turkish embassy in Equatorial Guinea has crowned an already vigorous partnership between Ankara and the Obiang family, cemented by numerous contracts for Turkish companies, including the Summa conglomerate.
After eight years of coaxing, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has concluded a major military and economic agreement with Niger - to France's great chagrin.
At a recent investment forum, Ankara highlighted opportunities in Guinea's mining sector. It's part of Turkey's aim to challenge China's position as Conakry's number one partner.
While its American and European competitors have responded to the call for tenders issued by Tunisia's defence ministry, the Turkish defence firm Aselsan is angling for its own solution, which is far removed for the technical specifications of the contract, to be accepted in an over-the-counter arrangement.
The Turkish businessman, who will oversee maritime imports on behalf of Libyan customs, owns a major forwarding agency and is a key player in a score of African countries.
To preserve its economic and security interests in Libya against Ankara, Rome is trying to get closer to Fayez Sarraj's government in Tripoli.
A small group of Turkish and Algerian billionaires are serving as the advance guard for President Erdogan in Algeria. They stand ready to replace French entepreneurs, who are increasingly losing support in the North African country, and compete with the omnipresent Chinese.
The alluring prospect of reconstruction, oil and energy contracts in Libya is attracting the interest of leading Turkish firms, who are taking advantage of the honeymoon between Tripoli and Ankara, an ally of the national unity government in its battle against General Haftar.
Ever since Umaro Sissoco Embalo stepped into power in Guinea-Bissau early last year, the Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been working to build an unexpected and unprecedented connection between the two countries.
Turkey has begun talks with the government in Tripoli on the operating concession for the strategically important port of Misrata as French logistics giant Bolloré fights on for recognition of the contract it signed with Libya in 2010.
With extensive business interests in Somalia, Turkey is discreetly involving itself in discussions between the leaders of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia and Somaliland.
