Turkey, Senegal ink $581M cooperation deals
Construction, agricultural facilities and infrastructure are the main areas of business between the two countries.
President of Senegal Macky Sall (L) hosts farewell ceremony for Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of his departure at Blaise Diagne International Airport in Dakar, Senegal on March 02, 2018.
Three deals worth $581.8 million were signed on Friday by Turkish business leaders who were accompanying President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on a visit to Senegal.
Erdogan visited Senegal on Thursday as part of his four-nation Africa tour.
Turkey's Kolin Construction signed a deal with the Senegalese General Directorate of Highways for construction of a road which costs more than $490 million.
Another Turkish firm Alpler Agricultural Machinery inked a $74-million deal with Senegal's National Merchants and Industrial Union.
In addition, the Force Group sealed a metro station construction project in the Senegalese capital Dakar for $17 million.
Kolin Construction's top executive Devrim Kologlu told Anadolu Agency they had previously constructed a 100-kilometre (62-mile) road in Uganda and had since then been interested in the Senegalese market.
"President Erdogan is giving us a major support, boosting our morale and helping us overcome obstacles," he said.
President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) gives a speech during the Senegal - Turkey Business Forum with President of Senegal Macky Sall (not seen) at Abdou Diouf International Conference Centre in Dakar, Senegal on March 01, 2018.
Serkan Aktas, the general manager of Alpler Agricultural Machinery, said the deal his firm signed includes the establishment of assembly lines for agricultural machines in 14 Senegalese cities and warehouses for their storage.
Aktas said they regard Senegal as a hub in West Africa.
"We are operating in at least 30 countries in Africa. Our annual exports to Africa are almost €30 ($36.93) million," he said, adding that the latest project in Senegal is their second largest.
Their previous project in Africa – in Sudan – was worth $147 million.
Aktas said the aim is to introduce modern agricultural techniques used in Turkey to African countries.
"In the next five years we want to modernise agriculture in Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Ghana with these machines," he said.
Force Group's board member Gokhan Uygun said their investments in Senegal will increase.
"Our goal is to invest in high-volume projects in Senegal," he said, adding that his company has been doing business in Africa since 2001.
Uygun said Erdogan's attention to African countries had been reciprocated.
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