Improved ties: Egypt is now Turkiye’s biggest export market in Africa

Turkiye’s exports to African countries rose 1.7 per cent year-on-year to $19.4 billion in 2024, according to Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM) data compiled by Anadolu.

Last year, Ankara exported to 56 African countries, making up for 7.4 per cent of the country’s total exports. Egypt received the most exports by value with $3.5 billion, followed by Morocco with $3.1 billion and Libya with $2.5 billion.

The sector with the most exports was chemicals and chemical products worth $3.1 billion, followed by grains, pulses, oilseeds and their products worth $2.5 billion, steel exports amounted to $2 billion, auto industry products rose to $1.4 billion, and electricity and electronics sectors’ products were worth $1.3 billion.

Exports of machinery and components amounted to $1.3 billion, the textile products and raw materials sector $1.3 billion, and ferrous and non-ferrous metals $912.7 million.

Normalisation moves in Turkish-Egyptian relations bore fruit, as meetings between the two countries’ presidents led to a 21.8 per cent jump in exports to Egypt.

Exports to Ghana also rose 49.6 per cent on an annual basis, with exports to Nigeria up 9.1 per cent, to Libya 8.4 per cent and to Morocco 6.9 per cent.

In 2003, Turkiye adopted a strategy for the development of commercial and economic relations with African countries to promote trade, investments, technology transfer, exchange of know-how, and technical assistance with the continent.

READ: Turkiye exports to African nations hit $15bn in 2024