Africa and Turkey  have developed a strategic partnership that creates a framework  for  cooperation at all levels.The First  Turkey-Africa  Summit was  held in Istanbul in 2008 while the Second Summit will be organized in Africa, in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea in November, this year. In the last ten years, trade between Turkey and Africa has grown from $4billion to $20  billion. 

In Africa women  represent  52%  of  the  1.1  billion  people,  and  contribute approximately  75%  of  the  agricultural  labour.  In addition, they are responsible for 60 to 80% of the food production. Yet, they earn only 10% of total incomes and own just 1% of the continent’s assets including land.

This marginalization is however changing and we believe that it must be reversed for Africa to attain sustainable development. Mobilizing women entrepreneurs and creating an enabling environment is one such way. 

Women entrepreneurs are strongly involved in Agriculture, Agribusiness, Rural Development and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).  Bringing  them  together  in   Forum  of  this  nature  provide  them  with  a  platform  for  exchange  of experiences  and  good  practices as  well as  a  chance  to  identify  new business opportunities.  Female entrepreneurs are the building blocks for success in any economy as  they  bring  a  unique  approach  to  business  and  have specific  skills.

In the recent past, Women entrepreneurs have been starting businesses at a higher rate than men and are creating more jobs.  They  are  heavily engaged,  motivated  and  extremely  well  suited  for  the  emerging workplace. Women entrepreneurs should be celebrated in every society.

You may be aware that Africa is becoming an increasingly attractive hub for  foreign  investors  as  a  result  of  sound  macro-economic  policies, political and social reforms   that the continent has been pursuing in the last  decade,  resulting  in  a  much  improved  business  environment conducive  for  foreign  direct  investment.  Additionally  Africa  has  put priority  in  developing  critical  social  and  physical  infrastructure across the  continent  in  order  to  reduce  the  cost  of  doing  business.  Further  there  is  an  increasing  pool  of  well-educated  ,  enterprising  and  growing middle  class  across  the  continent.  Additionally, increasing  primary enrollment  and  retention  of  the  girl  child  in  school,  her  progressive movement  to  secondary  and  tertiary  education (including  University)  is slowly starting to bear positive results as women join the labour market and  move  upwards  to  occupy  key  decision  making  positions.

The African Union  Commission  is  an  example  where  women  occupy  50%  of management  positions  at  the  highest level.  Indeed, Members  of  the Commission  are  50%  women  and  50%  men  and  as  you are  aware for  the first time  in  the  history  of  our  continental  Organization,  a  women  is  at the helm.

There  is  also a  significant  boost  in  the  spending  power  of  Africans. Africa’s  fast-emerging  middle  class  is  now comprised  of  over 300  million people,  and  overall  GDP  in  2013  was  US  $1.8  trillion.  And  for  the  first time,  the  average  Per  capita  GDP  was  1000. 

As  Africa  continues  to improve  its  investment  climate,  the  biggest  challenge  and  need    at  the moment is  capital and technology. At this juncture, allow me to mention but a few sectors that are most promising for investment in Africa: First, Agriculture; Africa is ripe for a green revolution.   The continent is currently  home  to  60%  of  the  world’s  total  uncultivated,  arable  land. As the world’s population increases rapidly (recently exceeding the 7 billion mark  and  9  billion  in  2050),  global  agricultural  production  must  rise  to feed  these  growing  numbers.  This creates business opportunity for the manufacture and marketing of products such as fertilizers, pesticides and seeds as well as a demand for food processing and ago-processing such as grain refining, value addition and packaging. Value opportunities exist in textile industry and commodities such as tea, coffee just to name a few. “In fact Africa in now ready to be next hub of textile production.   

The growth in the agro-industry has been buttressed by improved business environment through the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP). Already, a growing number of private equity funds are springing up to finance agricultural production in Africa. The Turkish Investors can join the train.   

Second, Tourism. Several African countries have become world’s favorite tourism destinations.  According  to  the  United  Nations  World  Tourism Organization,  tourist  arrivals  into  Africa  in  the  year  2012  exceeded  49 million and are likely to pass the 50 million mark in 2014. Those are the kind  of  numbers  you  should  be  taking  advantage  of.  There are opportunities in luxury safari lodges and a luxury retreats. But apart from luxury  lodges  and  retreats,  several  other opportunities  are  available  in Africa’s  tourism  sector.  For  example, Africa  has  a  substantial  number  of bodies  of water  that  are  still  unexploited.  Luxury boat  cruises  or  tour operators  along  our  vast  coastline  could  be  a great  investment opportunity  for  Turkish  investors  and  could  advance  and  take  advantage of the blue economy that Africa is yet to exploit.

Third, Mining of Solid Minerals. Several African countries  have  vast deposits  of  mineral  resources  that  have  been  left largely unexploited because of a lack of technical know-how, as well as the financial incapacity to embark on capital-intensive mining projects. The continent also has a wide array of mineral resources which include iron ore, coal, bauxite, gold, tin, lead, oil and zinc which haven’t been exploited. This creates  an  investment  opportunity  for  our  Turkish  friends  without compromising Africa's chance  to  benefit  from  value  addition  and  wealth creation opportunities in both artisanal as well as industrial mining. Fifth, Infrastructure; Investing in infrastructure is critical to Africa’s growth. While there  have been  significant improvements in the development  and  quality of infrastructure across the continent, there is still a clear-cut  Needless  to say, this shortfall  has its consequences, including  bottlenecks in the smooth running of trade  and export activities."While funding infrastructural development in Africa is not cheap, the  continent  requires about  $93 billion  annually to cover infrastructure  needs. Of course, the financing capacity  of individual country governments is limited; hence there are opportunities for private investors to partner with African public and private in the development of under-performing  infrastructure—such as investing in reliable  power supply, water resources, roads and railway systems among others. 

Sixth, Fast Moving Consumer Goods: With Africa’s exploding middle class (over 300 million people) always looking to be  serviced with  new products, Africa’s fast moving  consumer goods  sector looks  promising. There is a huge and ever-growing opportunity  for manufacturers and retailers of FMCGs like  food, beverages, home care and personal care products. Turkish Investors who can quickly partner with African investors should  step  in and get a grip on the market as dominant players  in  the years to come. 

Seventh, ICT.This is one of the fastest growing and most promising sectors.There are well over 1 billion mobile phones in Africa and the use of computer is rapidly expanding. A whole range of business opportunities exist from e-commerce, international call centers,mobile services to assembly/and or manufacturing.

Simply put, Africa’s potential is enormous;it is a continent on the  rise. Having mentioned but a few sectors that are ripe  for  investment, am confident that  more success stories  will be shared during  this  very important trade bridge which will encourage and inspire Turkish investors to channel their resources in value  adding industries in partnership with Africa investors.  

Africa should think of investing in Turkey. There  are  several products  that  can  only  be  sourced  in Africa and  for  which  demand  exists in Turkey. The Turkish economy although similar to that of Africa is much more advanced. With per capita GDP of 10,000 US Dollars and a free trade  area  agreement with the European Union, Turkey is indeed a gateway to  the  vast  European market. 

Business leaders; this is time for action. Time to walk the talk. Time to make business deals. Our success will be measured by concrete deals that lead to flow of trade and investment between Africa and Turkey and how this translates into improving living standards of our people on both sides. 

By H.E Erastus Mwencha 
Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission.