Sub-Saharan focus - Turkey seeks influence in Afivica By Daniel Dombey in Istanbul Selim Bora had never been south of the Sahara 'The aim is to develop ties, to close gaps, to go to before the call came to design and build the con- places where we have never been', says a Turkish ference centre for an African Union summit in official. Travelling to the region is becoming easier. just six months. square-metre complex in time for the 2011AU sub-Saharan Africa to 24. Underpinned by such summit in Malabo. diplomatic and transport ties, Ankara's com'We had no clue about the country when we went merce with sub-Saharan Africa jumped from there', Mr Bora says. 'We had to figure it all out.' $742m in 2000 to almost $7.5bn in 2011. His story is part of a concerted push by Turkey Today, Mr Bora says, the region accounts for deep into Africa, as it follows China, Brazil and 40 per cent of his group's business - total reveIndia in seeking to secure economic and political nues are $300m a year - and he is interested in influence on the continent. developing further ties with countries ranging As Ankara looks to diversify away from the from Niger to Angola. He adds that the Turkish stuttering European economy, it is searching not construction sector as a whole is expanding from only for new markets but also a more prominent North Africa to the oil and gas rich countries of role on the world stage. In the past three years, western Africa. Turkey has opened 19 new embassies on the con- He highlights Turkish executives' willingness to tinent. It now has 26 south of the Sahara and will work in challenging or unusual circumstances, have opened new delegations in Chad, Guinea including for regimes such as Equatorial Guinea, and Djibouti by the end of this month, as Recep which was criticised for spending 500m on the Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister, visits Gabon, summit complex and carried out arrests before Niger and Senegal. the event. Questions 1 How could you describe the business culture of Turkey? 2 What are the main reasons for Turkey doing business in Africa