African Heads of State and government on the one hand and the Republic of Turkey on the other, are meeting on 21 November 2014 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, in the second summit of the Africa-Turkey partnership, where they are expected to adopt a joint 4 year implementation plan to further strengthen their cooperation. The first summit between the two sides was held in 2008.

Africa and Turkey see their partnership as a historic opportunity to create a united front to serve socio economic development objectives. In the joint plan of action, the leaders are expected to have agreements across the following areas: institutional cooperation; trade and investment; agriculture, business, rural development, water resource management, small and medium scale enterprises; health; peace and security; conflict resolution and mediation; migration; infrastructure, energy, mining and transport; culture, tourism and education; media, information and communication technologies; environment; and youth and employment.

The two sides are expected to review progress made since the first summit, address the issues of how to accelerate implementation of projects and programmes agreed upon, and plan together on the vision as well as challenges of the future and how to overcome them.

As they deliberate and make recommendations for the future, the leaders will be conscious of the changing realities that have taken place since the first Summit of the Africa-Turkey Cooperation forum. For example, over the past five years, Africa has consistently posted 7 out of the world’s 10 fastest growing economies. In the same period, Africa has seen the emergence of the world’s fastest growing consumer class. More children are in school and girls’ enrolment has increased considerably. At the same time, Turkey’s footprint on the continent has grown, with the establishment of more diplomatic and consular offices as well as stronger air links among other major developments

AUC Chairperson announces sms campaign to mobilise resources to fight Ebola

But amidst the positives, there have been challenges, which the continent is taking concrete steps to resolve:

“More recently, we have been grappling with an outbreak of the Ebola pandemic. Our continent is seized with efforts to extinguish it”, said African Union Commission Chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma when she addressed the summit’s opening ceremony. She announced the launch, on December 1st, of a platform by telecommunication’s companies, through which every citizen may contribute to the fight against Ebola by sending an SMS, and called on Turkey to partnerwith Africa on this initiative.

The AUC Chairperson thanked African Heads of State and Government who heeded the AU’s call for human and other resources. She extended the Union’s gratitude to the African business community that has so far come up with nearly $33 million to support the AU’s intervention through its African Union Support to Ebola Outbreak in West Africa (ASEOWA), and encouraged all Africans to do the same at all levels of society.

Dr Dlamini-Zuma reported on the main issues that were raised on her mission to the Ebola affected countries in October. Specifically, she referred to the isolation they felt, with the restrictions that have been imposed by some countries on air and shipping transportation. She called on Africa not to stigmatise affected countries and their peoples.

In the context of Agenda 2063, Dr Dlamini-Zuma explained that Africa’s top most priority is investing in its people, over half of whom are women. Further strides have to be made, she said in terms offood security; infrastructure; development of the blue economy; manufacturing; tourism and peace and security.

The Chairperson acknowledged the “tremendous work that has taken place bilaterally between Turkey and a number of African countries”. She however cautioned that “that much remains to be done”.

The opening ceremony was also addressed by the Chairperson of the African Union President Mohammed Abdel Aziz of Mauritania, who also called for strengthened efforts against the Ebola epidemic. President Aziz called the meeting to a minute’s silence in honour of those that have lost their lives in the epidemic. He expressed hope that the partnership with Turkey will lead to an improvement in the lives of both peoples.

President Teodoro Nguema Basogo of Equatorial Guinea who is the summit host, said this summit should give added impetus to the cooperation between Africa and Turkey. “This partnership is indispensable”, he said, adding that the number of partnerships with Africa show the continent’s strategic importance.

Turkish President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan encouraged the two parties to move the partnership forward and also pledged his country’s support in the fight against terrorism.