President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived Tuesday in Nigeria’s capital Abuja for a two-day official visit. He was accompanied by his wife and First Lady, Emine Erdogan.
Turkish leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan began a 4-day tour of 3 African countries Sunday. President Erdogan has previously visited Angola, Togo and now in Nigeria. The tour is considered significant for new cooperation opportunities in Africa.
He was welcomed by Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffery Onyeama at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. Others in attendance were Federal Capital Territory Minister Muhammad Musa Bello, Nigerian Ambassador to Turkey Ismail Yusuf Abba and Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria Hidayet Bayraktar.
The Muslim Voice NG learnt that, President Erdogan was accompanied to Nigeria by first lady Emine Erdogan, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Trade Minister Mehmet Mus, Omer Celik, the spokesman for Turkey’s Justice and Development (AK) Party, AK Party Deputy Chairman for Foreign Affairs Efkan Ala, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun and presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin.
The Turkish president will start his official talks today. Erdogan will be welcomed by his Nigerian counterpart Muhammadu Buhari with an official ceremony at the Presidential Palace, joint press conference after one-on-one talks and delegation meetings.
Nigeria-Turkish Relations
After Nigeria’s independence in 1960, Turkey opened an Embassy in Lagos, then capital of Nigeria, in August 1962. Turkish Embassy moved to Abuja in 2001 after the proclamation of Abuja as the new capital in 1991.
Over the years, commercial and economic relations between the two countries have also been improving rapidly. In 2019, bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Nigeria was 725,654 million US Dollars.
Turkish Airlines has 7 direct flights per week to Lagos and Abuja. Flights to Port-Harcourt has started as of 29 June 2019. Turkish Airlines also has cargo flights to Lagos and Kano 3 times per week. Since 1992, Turkey grants scholarships to Nigerian students. In recent times, Turkish government has been participating in the economy and the humanitarian efforts in the Northeast region of the country.
Nigeria is one Turkey’s largest trading partner in the African continent. The commercial relations between Turkey and Nigeria began to blossom with a trade agreement signed in Lagos, the former capital of the West African country, in 1982. The deal allowed Turkey to import cacao, cola nut, rubber, zinc, crude oil, coal, palm nut and tinstone while it enabled Nigeria to purchase construction material, electronic goods and agricultural tools from Turkey.
Nigeria’s main imports from Turkey currently are clothes, food, engine, automobile parts, pharmaceutical and more, while exports include sesame seeds, raw and semi-processed leather and rubber. Oil and LNG account for 90% of Turkish imports from Nigeria while oilseed, fruits, sesame, charcoal and cacao make up other Nigerian goods Turkey purchases. Turkey became the top sesame purchaser from Nigeria in 2018.
Last year, over 40 Turkish firms operate in Nigeria. These firms employ more than 500 Turkish citizens and over 2,500 Nigerians. Turkish companies also organize commercial fairs in different regions of the country, particularly in Lagos.
Nigeria and Turkey are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Developing Eight (D-8) and they maintain close cooperation in international organizations. While Nigeria hopes to expand her trade and business with Turkey in different sectors of the economy, including mining, textiles, oil, food security, the Turkish authorities want to increase its investment in Nigeria, particularly in energy and construction.
