Why Turkey's election is being closely followed in Africa

Turkey's power successful Africa has been increasing massively implicit the past 20 years and whoever wins Sunday's statesmanlike run-off volition person to see wherever adjacent to instrumentality the relationship.

Ever since Recep Tayyip Erdogan took powerfulness successful Turkey 2 decades ago, archetypal arsenic premier curate past arsenic president, helium has taken an expanding involvement successful Africa.

He saw economic, subject and diplomatic opportunities.

The enslaved betwixt Ankara and the continent is apt to lone get stronger if the president is re-elected.

His rival, Republican People's Party person Kemal Kilicdaroglu, has his eyes acceptable connected Europe and the West and is little apt to marque Africa a priority.

"Mr Kilicdaroglu stressed the request for recalibrating relations with the West and said helium volition effort to revive the accession process to the European Union," says Serkan Demirtas, Ankara bureau main for Hurriyet Daily News and a Turkish overseas argumentation expert.

"In an interview, helium adjacent said that a 180-degree crook is to beryllium expected erstwhile it comes to overseas policy. But helium fell abbreviated of detailing however these changes volition interaction the relations with cardinal countries successful the world."

However, Ece Goksedef from the BBC's Turkish work points retired that Turkey's overseas argumentation towards the continent would instrumentality immoderate clip to recalibrate, truthful it is improbable it volition alteration that drastically fixed the beardown instauration of this caller relationship.

The seeds for the enhanced co-operation betwixt Africa and Turkey were planted during Mr Erdogan's stint arsenic premier minister, which began successful 2003.

Mr Erdogan saw a imaginable economical boon.

"In the aboriginal 2000s, the Turkish system witnessed continued maturation and was looking for caller markets," says overseas argumentation adept Mr Demirtas.

"A divers marketplace with much than 50 countries and much than 1.2 cardinal radical offers lucrative opportunities for Turkish exporters and businessmen."

Turkey's yearly commercialized with the continent accrued from $5.4bn (£4.4bn) to $34.5bn betwixt 2003 and 2021, according to figures from the Turkish overseas ministry, led by chemicals, alloy and cereals.

The Turks were keen to accent that this was not an exploitative narration and successful 2013, past Prime Minister Erdogan said connected a sojourn to Gabon that "Africa belongs to Africans, we are not present for your gold".

Arms deals - besides referred to arsenic "drone diplomacy" - are a wide money-maker for Ankara.

After proving its worthy successful Libya, Armenia and Ukraine, the Bayraktar TB-2 drone is present being presented arsenic the cleanable limb to people the mobile and nimble jihadist groups hiding successful West Africa's Sahel region.

This March, a twelve of the drones arrived connected the tarmac of the airdrome successful Mali's capital, Bamako.

In the beingness of Malian junta person Col Assimi Goïta and a fistful of Turkish diplomats, Mali's defence curate welcomed the caller batch of the weapons saying that they "can assistance marque artillery and aerial strikes much accurate".

In summation to Mali, Turkey has sold drones to Burkina Faso, Togo and Niger - the 4 Sahelian nations are hopeless to combat the emergence of Islamist militants successful the region.

Turkey has besides engaged successful talks with Benin, which until precocious was untouched by the Islamist insurgency but is present witnessing a emergence successful attacks and intrusions connected its territory.

Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Somalia are besides each known customers of the Turkish-manufactured equipped drones.

While China inactive dominates this marketplace connected the continent, Turkey offers a much affordable enactment with a shorter waiting list.

Turkey besides offers different subject hardware.

Armoured and mine-clearance vehicles, sensor and surveillance systems and rifles person besides been portion of the galore arms deals Turkey has precocious signed with African countries.

In total, 30 states connected the continent person immoderate benignant of security-related statement with Turkey - 21 of them were ratified successful 2017 - according to a study by the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

As good arsenic being afloat invested successful counter-terrorism initiatives, Ankara has besides accrued its humanitarian assistance to countries similar Nigeria, Mauritania, and Niger.

Outside the subject and commercialized deals, Mr Erdogan has been precise progressive cementing the Turkey-Africa relationship.

In 2005, Turkey became an perceiver subordinate of the African Union earlier being elevated to the relation of strategical spouse 3 years later.

Turkey says determination person been 50 authoritative visits to astir 30 African countries since 2014.

President Erdogan has visited Senegal 4 times - arsenic often arsenic helium has been to China oregon Germany.

And wherever helium goes, a concern delegation goes with him, resulting successful cardinal infrastructure projects being awarded to Turkish companies, similar the Dakar Olympic swimming excavation oregon the Kigali Arena successful Rwanda, East Africa's biggest stadium.

More recently, Uganda has terminated its declaration with a Chinese steadfast successful complaint of gathering a railway to the Kenyan borderline and is considering a woody with a Turkish institution instead.

Turkey-Africa summits person ever been well-attended by continental heads of authorities .

Perhaps the astir telling information is the fig of Turkish embassies connected the continent. It has 44 crossed Africa - akin to the US with 49 and France, 46, though immoderate mode down China's 53.

Turkey has besides tried to summation its brushed powerfulness connected the continent.

The caller enlargement of its footprint is undoubtedly the motorboat of TRT Afrika.

Turkey's nationalist broadcaster TRT banked connected the withdrawal of respective competitors successful the portion to motorboat this integer quality level successful French, English, Swahili and Hausa.

But possibly the biggest taste interaction comes from Turkish soap operas, which person go immense hits successful respective African countries - from Ethiopia to Senegal.

A less-well known facet of the narration with Africa is energy.

Off the backmost of statesmanlike visits, Turkish company, Karpowership, has signed deals for its ship-mounted powerfulness plants to proviso energy to respective West African countries, and past week South Africa. These are moored disconnected the seashore and straight plugged into the nationalist grid, proviso betwixt 30 MW and 470 MW per vessel.

If Erdogan wins, helium is expected to physique connected this relationship. A triumph for Kilicdaroglu mightiness propulsion Africa down the precedence database but helium is improbable to bash thing to jeopardise specified heavy and lucrative ties.