Türkiye’s relations with the African Union (AU) have remained limited in the period of 1963-2002. In line with the objectives of the 1998 Action Plan for Opening to Africa, Türkiye participated in the AU Summits as a guest country after 2002 and obtained ‘‘observer status’’ in the AU in 2005.

Prof. Alpha Oumar Konare, then Chairperson of the African Union Commission visited Türkiye on 21-25 November 2005 upon the invitation of H.E. Mr. Abdullah Gül, then the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye. The visit constituted the first ever high-level visit from the AU to Türkiye.

Upon the invitation of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, then Prime Minister of the Republic of Türkiye, realized the first high-level visit from Türkiye to the AU in order to participate in an AU Summit on 29-30 January 2007 in Addis Ababa.

AU demonstrated its will to strengthen the relations with Türkiye by declaring Türkiye as a strategic partner of the Continent in 2008.

Following the said decision, the First Türkiye-Africa Cooperation Summit was held on 18-21 August 2008 in Istanbul. “The Istanbul Declaration on Türkiye-Africa Partnership: Solidarity and Partnership for a Common Future’’ and its annex ‘‘Framework of Cooperation for Türkiye-Africa Partnership’’ were adopted at the Summit. In this context, intergovernmental cooperation; trade and investment; agriculture, agribusiness, rural development, water resources management, small and medium scale enterprises; health; peace and security; infrastructure, energy and transport; culture, tourism and education; media, information and communication technology and environment were determined as the priority cooperation fields.

In accordance with the monitoring mechanism adopted at the Summit, it was decided to evaluate and develop the Implementation Plan by holding the Ministerial Meeting every three years and the Senior Officials Meeting every two years.

In parallel with the said Summit, “Türkiye-African Business Forum” was held by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK). This Forum provided an opportunity to promote Türkiye’s economic capabilities to the African business communities.

As part of the efforts to further develop the Turkish-African partnership an ‘‘African Strategy’’ was announced on 26 March 2010, by the Prime Ministry in order to implement a comprehensive strategy based on the above-mentioned cooperation areas. Africa strategy aims to strengthen Türkiye’s partnership with the African Union and the countries in continent by taking into account their peculiarities.

Within the framework of the follow-up mechanism adopted at the Summit, First High Level Officials Meeting of the Türkiye-Africa Partnership was held in Istanbul on 15 December 2010. ‘‘2010-2014 Türkiye-Africa Partnership Joint Implementation Plan’’ was adopted and a joint press statement was released at the meeting.

In accordance with the follow-up mechanism, the First Ministerial Review Conference of Türkiye-Africa Partnership was held on 16 December 2011 in Istanbul. The Conference provided an excellent opportunity to review the developments achieved since 2008 and to discuss the steps to be taken to move forward the Turkish-African partnership. A Communique on the development of the Türkiye-Africa strategic partnership was adopted after the Conference. The Conference once more confirmed that Türkiye-Africa Partnership is enhancing on a sound ground, based on the common will of the parties.

II. Türkiye-Africa Partnership Summit was held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on 19-21 November 2014, under the theme of “A New Model of Partnership to Enhance a Sustainable Development and Integration”. A Declaration and 2015-2019 Joint Implementation Plan were adopted at the Summit. In accordance with the Plan, a five-year program has been set up for projects in various areas that Türkiye will carry out together with African countries during the said period. In this context, projects determined in line with the priorities of African countries in areas such as trade and investment, peace and security, education and culture, youth empowerment and technology transfer, rural economy and agriculture, energy and transportation have been implemented.

Senior Officials’ Meeting that was held on 19 March 2015, in Ankara reviewed the 2015-2019 Implementation Plan and approved a matrix to be implemented for the coming years.

The “First Türkiye-Africa Business and Economy Forum” was held in Istanbul on 2-3 November 2016 with the participation of the Ministers responsible for economy and foreign trade of African countries, the Secretary Generals/Presidents of regional economic communities of the continent as well as business people and hosted by the then Ministry of Economy, Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) and Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM).

The Forum, which was held within the scope of the Matrix Projects List agreed with the AU, was attended by H.E. Idriss Deby Itno, then Chairperson of the AU and President of Chad, H.E. Patrice Trovoada, Prime Minister of Sao Tome and Principe, as well as 27 Ministers and 7 Deputy Ministers from 41 African countries and 4 Secretary Generals/Commissioners from four regional economic communities, including the AU. In addition, 1,257 business people from 46 African countries, 729 business people from Türkiye and 159 media representatives participated in the Forum.

The second event within the context of the Matrix Projects List was the "First Meeting of Türkiye-Africa Agriculture Ministers and Agriculture Business Forum" held in Antalya on 27-28 April 2017. The opening of the event hosted by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock and DEİK was made by H.E. Mr. Binali Yıldırım, then Prime Minister of the Republic of Türkiye. The event was attended by about 1,500 people, including Prof. Alpha Condé, then Chairperson of the AU and President of Guinea, H.E. Muhammed Abdullahi Muhammed, then President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, as well as 45 Ministers from 49 countries, 14 Deputy Ministers, 21 Ambassadors, 19 representatives of international organizations, and Turkish and African business people.

The Second Ministerial Review Conference of the Türkiye-Africa Partnership was held in Istanbul on 11-12 February 2018.

The Second Türkiye-Africa Economy and Business Forum was held in Istanbul on 10-11 October 2018. President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, who was invited as a guest of honor by Türkiye, Chairperson of the AU and Prime Minister of Rwanda, the AU Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commissioner for Industry and the Promotion of Private Sector, as well as 26 Ministers, 4 Deputy Ministers, Members of Parliament, Undersecretaries and 245 official delegation members from 43 African countries participated in the Forum. From the private sector, a total of 1,800 business people participated in the event, 850 of whom were Africans from 42 African countries and 950 from Türkiye.

Türkiye has contributed 500,000 US dollars to the AU budget in 2009 and 2011, and continues to contribute one million US dollars every year since 2012, allocated to areas determined at partnership summits.

H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, former Chairperson of the African Union Commission, paid an official visit to Türkiye on September 30-October 1, 2021. During the visit, Chairperson Mahamat met with Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, then Minister of Foreign Affairs and was received by President Erdoğan, Vice President and Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye. The delegation headed by former Chairperson Mahamat also visited the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), and cooperation MoUs were signed between both institutions and the AU. The delegation also attended a working dinner organized by DEİK in Istanbul on October 1.

The Third Türkiye-Africa Partnership Summit was hosted by President Erdoğan and held in Istanbul on 16-18 December 2021 under the theme of “Enhanced Partnership for Common Development and Prosperity”. 38 African countries were represented at the Summit, and in addition to 16 Heads of State and Government, a total of 100 Ministers, 25 of whom were Ministers of Foreign Affairs, attended the Summit. A joint declaration was published after the Summit, which was found successful in terms of the issues agreed and content.

With the Declaration, Joint Action Plan and Joint Implementation Report adopted at the Summit held on 18 December 2021, co-chaired by H.E. President Erdoğan and H.E. Felix Tshisekedi, then Chairperson of the AU and President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a roadmap was set up for the period 2022-2026 until the next Summit for deepening relations between Türkiye and the African continent in all areas, including concrete projects to be implemented.

Following the strengthening of the institutional structure established with the continent, the Third Türkiye-Africa Partnership Summit has become a historic turning point that will take Türkiye’s relations with Africa to the next level. The summit aimed at entering a new phase in strategic partnership-based relations between the AU and African countries and Türkiye. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the high-level and large participation in the Summit clearly demonstrated the interest and expectations of African partners in Türkiye and confirmed the importance given to cooperation with Türkiye.

The Fourth Türkiye-Africa Business and Economic Forum was held in Istanbul on 12-13 October 2023.

The Third Ministerial Review Conference of the Türkiye-Africa Partnership was held on November 2-3, 2024 in Djibouti. As a result of the Conference, the Joint Implementation Report for 2022-2024 and the Joint Declaration documents were adopted.

In the concluding chapter of the Joint Implementation Report, it was decided to establish a Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Working Group (JMEWG) between our Ministry and the AU to ensure that it is supported by appropriate follow-up mechanisms on the road to the Fourth Partnership Summit to be held in Africa in 2026. In this way, the institutional character of Türkiye-African Union relations has been further strengthened. The first meeting of the JMEWG was held on March 28, and the second meeting was held on July 7, 2025 in Addis Ababa.

The Fifth Türkiye-Africa Business and Economic Forum will be held in Istanbul on 16-17 October 2025.

The Fourth Türkiye-Africa Partnership Summit is planned to be held in Africa in 2026.