TIKA IN TURKIYE’S AFRICA INITIATIVE

In our interview for Business Diplomacy magazine, we spoke with TIKA President Abdullah Eren about Türkiye’s development pro jects and strategies in Africa and the ‘Turkish Development Model’.

HOW DO YOU ASSESS TIKA’S ROLE IN TÜRKIYE’S AFRICA INITIATIVE?

Our country’s Africa Initiative Policy, launched in 1998, is a com prehensive policy encompassing many political, economic, humanitarian, and cultural dimensions. In terms of development, our Presidency has played a significant role as the main imple menting agency for our country’s international development cooperation activities in Africa for nearly a quarter of a century.

As TIKA, in line with our entrepreneurial and humanitarian for eign policy, we have actively played a role in strengthening our country’s presence on the continent through both our devel opment-focused projects and our humanitarian aid activities, and we continue to do so. The most concrete manifestations of this are the number of program coordination offices, which has reached 23 since we opened our first office in Ethiopia in 2005, and our parallel increase in activities. In this regard, we strive to operate across the entire continent with the valuable support of our regional offices and embassies in countries where we do not have offices. To date, we have implemented approximately 7,000 projects, programs, and activities in Africa. As stated by our President, we are developing our multifaceted cooperation with African countries in the field of development, guided by the principle of leaving no friend unvisited, no heart unhealed, and no country without cooperation in Africa.

We carry out projects and activities across a wide range of are as, from education to health, agriculture to production, cultural heritage preservation to institutional capacity building, and green economy to employment, with the aim of supporting African countries in their development efforts. Annually, we implement approximately 300 projects across the continent, sharing our country’s accumulated knowledge and experience with African countries. These efforts, which can be considered within the scope of public diplomacy, directly contribute to strengthening our diplomatic and development presence on the continent as mutually reinforcing processes.

HOW ARE DIPLOMACY AND LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS SHAPED IN TIKA PROJECTS? WHAT ARE THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS ACHIEVED IN TÜRKIYE-AFRICA RELATIONS THROUGH THESE PROJECTS?

As TIKA, we implement our projects within the frame work of our country’s humanitarian and entrepreneurial foreign policy; we attach great importance to establish ing local partnerships in the countries with which we cooperate for development. In this regard, we can say that our country being seen as a reputable actor by the countries of the continent increases our institution’s mobility and capacity.

In the field of public diplomacy, which encompasses a wide range of activities from humanitarian aid to development-oriented projects, TIKA stands out as one of our country’s most reputable institutions. In this sense, TIKA can be said to be one of the foremost elements of Türkiye’s soft power in foreign policy, defining the framework for Türkiye’s international development cooperation efforts, coordinating them, and implementing them through its projects and programs.

Through the projects we implement, we touch the lives of people in Africa and directly contribute to our coun try’s public diplomacy activities. As the driving force behind our country’s foreign aid policy, we stand by African countries to provide all possible support within our means. Based on our development cooperation approach, which focuses on local needs and priorities, we work together with both African public institutions and civil society organizations in project development and implementation processes, sharing our experience. Essen tially, this is the result of our sincere efforts to find solutions to the continent’s development problems by listening to the continent’s voice, without any hidden agenda.

In terms of long-term effects, the cooperation we have developed with continental countries contributes to our country’s efforts in many areas. The projects we have implemented increase our diplomatic visibility on the continent and enable Turkish entre preneurs to gain new business opportunities.

WHAT ARE THE CONCRETE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED IN THE FIELDS OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND AGRICULTURE THROUGH TIKA FOR BOTH TÜRKIYE AND AFRICAN COUNTRIES?

Africa, home to approximately 20% of the world’s population, has a population exceeding 1.5 billion, offering a human opportunity window unmatched by any other continent. With its growing economy and population, Africa has the potential to become a global power and is one of the regions where TIKA has the most offices and implements the most projects.

At this point, we are striving to provide fast, effective, and sus tainable solutions to the continent’s development challenges through projects in the fields of health, education, infrastructure, and agriculture; most importantly, we are working to unlock Africa’s potential. By sharing the expertise and experience of Türkiye’s public institutions, universities, local governments, and civil society organizations with African countries, we strive to reach the people of Africa directly through our people-centered projects and contribute to the continent’s people looking to the future with hope.

From our country’s perspective, the procurement of goods and services and construction works within the scope of our Presi dency’s projects are facilitating the entry of Turkish entrepreneurs into African markets, and the projects undertaken are offering new opportunities for developing new economic relations. In short, we aspire to move forward together with Africa and achieve mutual success.

WHAT ARE THE NEW AREAS OR COUNTRIES THAT WILL BE PRIORITIZED IN TIKA’S AFRICA STRATEGY IN THE COMING PERIOD? WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF TÜRKIYE-AFRICA DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS?

Africa occupies an important place on the world stage with its rich cultural heritage, dynamic young population, and econom ic potential, as well as the importance it has gained in global geopolitics. With its natural resources, the world’s largest free trade area, and a market of 1.5 billion people, the continent has the potential to achieve inclusive growth and eradicate poverty by utilizing its resources and human capacity.

At this point, the main factor that will determine the direction of our work in the coming period will be a people-centered development cooperation strategy that will unlock the continent’s potential. Food security and the climate crisis, the effective use of digital technologies, affordable and clean energy, the empowerment of women and youth, the strengthening of administrative infra structure, and effective public administration will be the priority areas in the coming period. Taking into account the special importance of North and East African countries with which we have historical ties, particularly the “least developed” African countries experiencing humanitarian crises such as Sudan, Libya, and Somalia, we will continue to extend our country’s helping hand to all countries within our means and capacity.

HOW IS THE “TURKISH DEVELOPMENT MODEL” APPROACH REFLECTED IN TIKA’S ACTIVITIES IN AFRICA?

Through the model it implements, TIKA carries out sustainable development-oriented projects with sincere and transparent understanding, without expecting anything in return, taking into account the priorities of countries, and producing locally-based solutions to local problems with its people-centered activities. Without placing itself in a hegemonic relationship, imposing con ditions, or demanding reciprocity, TIKA follows a unique roadmap based on the potential of the African people and geography, taking into account regional and global considerations through its approach based on equal partnership and mutual learning.

Our country’s approach in this regard is based on supporting countries’ production capacity and physical infrastructure, while establishing human infrastructure that enables each country to use its own resources efficiently and developing a new develop ment cooperation model that facilitates structural transformation. In this sense, while many international organizations, primarily the United Nations, are still calling for temporary emergency aid for Africa, Türkiye is prioritizing efforts that will produce more lasting solutions. With a new model that could be called “Turkish-style development,” projects are being implemented in all areas where countries need basic infrastructure, through the collaboration of all institutions and NGOs, with our 23 offices operating in Africa.

TIKA acts with sensitivity in transferring our country’s development experience, implementing projects and activities in light of the development goals and priorities of countries in Africa. In this regard, Türkiye, which stands alongside continental countries striving to produce sustainable and inclusive solutions to develop ment problems, stands out from other actors in many ways. Our country, which has no colonial past, is changing the approach to countries whose image has been tarnished for centuries by the term “dark continent” through its cooperation with Africa, offering new possibilities, methods, and opportunities in the field of development outside the usual patterns. The establishment of a relationship based on equal partnership and mutual benefit, as an extension of Türkiye’s active and principled foreign policy, is welcomed by African countries.

HOW DO TIKA’S FIELD ACTIVITIES STRENGTHEN TÜRKIYE’S DIPLOMATIC VISIBILITY AND REPUTATION IN AFRICA? WHAT KIND OF LONG TERM CONTRIBUTIONS DO YOU EXPECT FROM THE COOPERATION CARRIED OUT IN THE AREAS OF YOUTH, CULTURE, AND HUMAN CAPACITY TO TÜRKIYE-AFRICA RELATIONS?

TIKA’s work in African countries is not only project-focused support but also part of public diplomacy activities that increase our country’s diplomatic visibility and strengthen its reputation on the continent. In light of our country’s regional vision, TIKA has gone beyond being a development cooperation organization to become a powerful diplomatic actor on the continent.

In this context, we attach particular importance to youth, human capacity building, and culture-focused projects, which have a multiplier effect. We believe that Africa’s future is bright; we see the continent’s future in its youth and design projects to channel this potential into the most appropriate areas. The theme of youth constitutes one of the important dimensions of our partnership policy with the African Union. Again, we are implementing train ing programs aimed at using the continent’s resources in the most efficient way through projects focused on human capacity building. Another important dimension of our projects is the cul tural sphere. Our efforts to revive our shared cultural heritage in African countries with which we have cultural and historical ties strengthen the bond between our country and the countries of the continent. Therefore, both our accumulated experience from the past and our vision for the future strengthen our relations in a multidimensional way in the long term. Our efforts on the ground nourish our strong diplomatic approach at the table. As stated by our President, our goal is to win together with Africa, develop together, grow together, and walk together. This is the result of our vision, which prioritizes long-term, mutual development and aims to build a shared future.