Türkiye-Africa Forum draws nearly all African nations

Fifty of 54 African sovereign states attended the Türkiye-Africa Business and Economic Forum (TABEF) in Istanbul, which was hosted Thursday by the Turkish Trade Ministry.

Nail Olpak, president of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), told the media that the forum hosted "almost all of Africa" at the Istanbul Congress Center.

The forum, coordinated by the African Union (AU) and organized by the DEIK, with Anadolu as its global communications partner, is being held this year under the theme, "Leveraging Türkiye-Africa Relations for Mutual Gains."

"Ministerial dialogue is currently underway with ministers, deputy ministers and official state representatives from a total of 29 African countries," said Olpak. "This is a significant aspect of the event, as both intergovernmental talks and business-to-business talks take place here."

Olpak said advisors from 37 countries are also attending, where around 50 panelists in nine separate panels will cover topics ranging from civil aviation to health.

"There are over 4,000 registrations of the forum, which is very important," he said. "We're at the beginning of a wonderful event."

"As we're halfway through the first day of the two-day forum, I had the opportunity to visit the participant booths, business-to-business meetings, advisors and more; the feedback so far is positive and I hope the results of the forum will also be positive," he added.

At the fifth iteration of the forum, panels will explore themes such as competitive and collaborative textile value chains, financing Africa's infrastructure needs, pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, Türkiye-Africa logistics hub, women's leadership and entrepreneurship, food security, energy and mining, civil aviation cooperation and digital trade and manufacturing.