Turkey and Ghana have indicated commitment to increase bilateral trade from $500 million to $1 billion.
Aydin Nurham, the outgoing Turkish Ambassador to Ghana, disclosed this when he paid a courtesy call on Ghana’s president John Mahama in Accra yesterday. President Mahama on his part indicated that Ghana and Turkey were halfway through in achieving the $1 billion trade portfolio, and indicated that Ghana was committed to achieving that target.
The discovery of oil and gas in Ghana in 2007, a stable democratic credential and a growing middle class has made the West African country an attractive destination for investors.
There have been at least 10 key Turkish business delegations to Ghana in the past year. Not only have both countries re-opened their respective diplomatic missions, but trade exhibitions and fairs between both countries are regular events these days.
President Mahama and Vice president Kwesi Amissah-Arthur have both visited Turkey separately this year while the Turkish President Abdulla Gul and Prime Minister Recep Erdogan have both visited Ghana in the last few years.
On the sidelines of the annual Eurasia Economic Summit ( in Istanbul, Turkey in April this year, a Turkish investment association-MUSAID- pledged to invest $1.5 billion in Ghana’s economy. The Vice-president of MUSAID in charge of Foreign Relations Mutlu Bozkurt indicated that the areas of interest for the investment were housing, energy and infrastructure.
Earlier this month a Turkish company agreed to build the largest mosque in Accra for the Muslim community in the country while Turkish investors have expressed an interest in building the new international airport that Ghana has proposed to build.
Turkey has increased its investment and diplomatic charm in Africa in a bid to capture the economic growth and investment opportunities opening up on the continent. Last year, Turkey became the first European country to resume direct air flights to Somalia with Turkish Airlines.
Apart from Turkish Airlines flying regularly between Accra and Istanbul, a number of Ghanaian journalists have been sponsored to Turkey to learn more about the country
