Kenya intends to downgrade its diplomatic missions in Ireland and Namibia and open new ones in Angola and Turkey, acting Foreign Affairs minister George Saitoti said on Tuesday.
New missions are also planned in Muscat – Oman, and Doha – Qatar, the minister told the Parliamentary Defence and Foreign Relations Committee.
As he lamented the Sh7.2 billion allocated his ministry by the Finance Minister for the new financial year, committee members questioned the reasons behind the Sh870 million allocated to refurbish or build new missions in Nigeria, South Africa, Namibia and Pakistan.
They asked for the rationale behind the opening of the Dublin mission and why the ministry does not seem interested in upgrading its diplomatic presence in Juba, Southern Sudan.
The budget
Saitoti complained that he had asked for Sh19.5 billion for development and recurrent purposes for the 2011/2012 financial year but was allocated an amount that excludes Kenya’s bilateral assistance to Southern Sudan, Somalia and troubled states in the African Great Lakes among what acting PS Patrick Wamoto described as “soft power instruments” to influence the region.
“Why did we open a mission in Ireland and not Turkey?” Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo asked. Saitoti could also not explain why there is no mission in Uganda.
Committee chairman Adan Keynan said Kenya has not responded to a Turkish pledge for financial assistance to open a mission in Istanbul despite 19 diplomatic, bilateral and trade exchanges between the two countries.
Keynan said Parliament cannot rubberstamp (refurbishment) projects that do not make economic sense.
The minister said Kenya would deploy more resources in building a new mission in Luanda because Angola “has substantial oil reserves” and added that the ministry would divert resources from the missions in Dublin and Windhoek to strengthen its diplomatic presence in Istanbul and Luanda.
Although Kenya has missions in Windhoek and Dublin, Namibia and Ireland pulled out their high commissions in Nairobi to Dar es Salaam.
Wamoto disclosed that the ministry “will down grade (the Dublin mission) and transfer the money to Turkey” then “down grade the mission in Namibia and transfer some resources to Angola”.
Wamoto said the Dublin mission was opened with an expected economic dividend that has evaporated with the economic decline in that country.
Saitoti said he would seek Cabinet approval to “open an embassy in Turkey immediately” but admitted he had no clear knowledge of why Kenya has rented and never purchased properties in Kampala since 1963.
The ministry’s assets manager Dr Margaret Gachuru said the ministry has faced legal and practical challenges in buying properties in Kampala, Uganda.
via The Standard | Online Edition :: Kenya to open embassies in Angola and Turkey.
Kenya’s dynamic economy and emerging middle class have attracted furniture dealers from Turkey.
Furniture by Turkey's Konfor
Under the umbrella Istanbul Exporters Association, over 250 companies will partner with leading supermarkets and furniture making companies in Kenya, in the production and distribution of home and office furniture.
“With its ideal location, vibrant economy and fast growing population, Kenya has the potential of becoming the hub that feeds markets in the East African Community,” said Tuncer Kayalar, Turkey’s ambassador to Kenya.
He said talks were ongoing with selected partners in Kenya. He was speaking at the opening ceremony of the fifth Turkish Furniture Expo held recently in Nairobi.
However, the announcement comes at a time Kenya is facing a timber shortage that has led to a government ban on logging.
The country’s forest cover currently stands at 312,500 acres according to the Kenya Forest Service, which is far below Turkey’s. A 2010 forest products for Turkey report by the United States Department of Agriculture put the country’s forest cover at 21.2 million hectares.
To partly close the timber gap, Turkey will import raw materials from home.
Kenya is spending more than $37.5 million annually on timber imports up from $62,000 in 1999, to meet rising demand that now stands at 38 million cubic metres annually.
According to the chairman of the Kenya Timber Manufacturers Association, Samuel Gitonga, the sector lacks enough raw materials to meet demand.
Turkey hopes to take part of this market and boost its furniture exports, whose value stood at $1.3 billion in 2008, $1.1 billion in 2009, and is expected to reach $1.4 billion by the end of this year, and which could rise to $1.6 billion aided by the anticipated venture into Kenya’s lucrative market.
Turkey’s overall exports to Kenya increased from $98 million in 2007 to $233 million at the end of 2008, driven largely by petroleum products. The country also exports generators, agricultural machinery, carpets, flour and pasta.
Kenya’s exports to Turkey in contrast have stagnated at $12 million, with leather and tea as the top products.
As Turkey aggressively seeks to invest in Kenya, analysts predict that the trade balance will continue to tier in favour of Turkey, unless Kenya adds value to its exports and enters into more bilateral agreements.
In October, the two countries signed deals in investment, tourism, science, agriculture and labour.
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via The East African: – Business |Turkey to partner with Kenyan firms to make, sell furniture.
Several events marked 2008 as a milestone year for relations between Turkey and Africa.
At a January 2008 Summit, the African Union upgraded Turkey to “strategic partner” of Africa. In May, high-level representatives from 45 African countries attended the Turkey-Africa Foreign Trade Bridge, where Foreign Trade Minister Kursad Tuzmen told reporters: “Our goal is to bring the total volume of trade to approximately $20 billion this year. Our target for 2012 is $50 billion.” In August, Turkey hosted the first Africa-Turkey Cooperation Summit at Istanbul, cozying up to the African Union and declaring a number of common geopolitical interests. Abdellah Gul became the first Turkish president to pay an official visit to the sub-Saharan countries of Tanzania and Kenya in January of 2009. Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan promised to open 15 new embassies on the continent in the next few years.
What are the reasons for this sudden flurry of Turkish courtship? With crisis-hit imports and exports falling fast, Turkey has clear economic incentives for strengthening economic ties with a promising alternative export market like Africa. But there is also a new political alliance brewing, one that Turkey and Africa are hoping will be mutually beneficial, a possible model of south-south diplomacy based on trust and reciprocity.
In 2008, even as Turkish businesses were seeking out opportunities in Africa, Turkish politicians were energetically campaigning to win African support for Turkey to become a two-year member of the United Nations Security Council. President Abdellah Gul repeatedly promised African leaders and audiences that Turkey would be the “voice of Africa” at the Security Council, paying special attention to African issues. Many Africans feel that Africa is underrepresented in international bodies like the UNSC and the AU jumped on board for Turkey’s candidacy. Thanks in part to the overwhelming support of the African Union, Turkey triumphed, joining the 15-member bloc last January for the 2009-2010 period.
The first opportunity for Turkey to stand up for Africa has now arrived, with the International Criminal Court’s issuing of an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir (an unprecedented ICC indictment of a sitting head of state).
The African Union opposes indicting Bashir, as does the Organization of Islamic Countries, of which Turkey is also a member. The head of the AU Peace and Security Council said in January that the indictment process should be delayed for a year while officials negotiate peace in western Sudan. “There is a solidarity shown toward the president of Sudan, unanimously,” said Ramtane Lamamra of Algeria. AU official Jean Ping warned that the arrest warrant for Bashir could threaten the ailing peace process in Sudan.
Undeterred, the ICC issued the arrest warrant on March 4 against Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. However, actual implementation of the arrest warrant is unenforceable so long as Bashir confines himself to friendly countries. The United Nations Security Council could also delay implementation with a vote. So far six of the fifteen UNSC members have declared they will vote in favor of suspending the warrant against Bashir, while seven members declared they are voting against suspension. Turkey and Japan are the only two undecided voices, and their votes could determine whether the warrant is suspended or not.
So why hasn’t Turkey, the new “voice of Africa”, declared its intention to block the warrant against Al Bachir, by voting for a suspension? The AKP government already has ties to the Sudanese president, having hosted him twice last year in spite of protests from liberal intellectuals, and high-level officials have expressed concern that the arrest of Bachir would have a destabilizing effect on war-torn Sudan.
On the other hand, Washington deployed top-level diplomatic channels to ask for a Turkish vote against the suspension no fewer than three times in three months, according to Hurriyet. In America, the crisis in Darfur is seen as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, and the arrest of Al Bashir is perceived as a promising step forward. Turkish-American relations are currently reaching an all-time high. With American President Barack Obama choosing Istanbul for the site of his highly symbolic first speech in a Muslim city, as well as sponsoring Turkish membership in the EU, Turkey might have a hard time saying no to the new leadership in Washington.
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Musyoka represented the country during the signing of the agreement which seeks to promote Turkish investments in Africa
Vice President Mr. Kalonzo Musyoka on Wednesday witnessed the signing of an agreement establishing the Africa Turkey Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which seeks to promote Turkish Investment and enhance trade in Africa.”We are not coming to Africa for raw materials and in search of a Supermarket, we are interested in lending our manufacturing expertise to Africa”, declared Mr. Riftat Hisarcikloglu Chairman of the Turkey Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The Vice President was among several African leaders who were hosted for a business breakfast with the CEOs of 100 leading Turkey Companies and their country’s leader Mr. Abdullah Gul.
Mr. Rifat said Turkey was a struggling economy only 20 years ago but through a paradigm shift in economic management, it was able to pull itself out of poverty becoming the 15th largest economy in the world and the 5th biggest in Europe.
“We were closed economy but when we opened up and welcomed the world to Turkey, our economy boomed” he said.
Turkey goods are now consumed all over Europe and America, while Turkish contractors last year earned 20 billion from contracts on Sea Ports, Airport and Roads construction around the world.
“This is exciting for Kenya. For a long time we have been searching for investors who are able to add value for our raw materials by setting up manufacturing bases in Kenya”, said the VP
“With the signing of this agreement, we will be able to attract investment in agro-processing textile manufacturing, mining and energy (coal etc) and ICT” he added.
“Turkey has significant experience in a value addition Technologies in Agro-business, water and textile, as well as in mediation for large scale manufacturing, that is why we have gone in to this strategies partnership” he said.
The three day Turkey- Africa Cooperation Heads of State and Government concluded on Thursday with the adoption of the Istanbul Declaration establishing Partnership between Turkey and Africa on a wide range of issues.
Musyoka represented the country at the meeting held in Istanbul-Turkey.
The leaders resolved that Turkey, through Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA),(which already has offices in Senegal, Sudan and Ethiopia,) will open more offices in Africa to carry out some development projects.
The declaration also calls for the exchange of high level visits and regular inter-governmental dialogue.
On trade and investments, the summit pledged to create a favourable legal framework for doing business as well as protecting investments.
They also recognized and agreed to facilitate the private sector as a critical tool for economic growth.
Special focus will be directed towards the development of Agriculture, Agro-processing, manufacturing, water resources and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) as a means of wealth creation in Africa and Turkey.
July 28, 2008: Turkey has become the latest emerging economy to join the scramble for Africa’s fortunes with a continent-wide investment conference to be held in Istanbul.
Turkey joins the race for Africa’s resources
The move, mainly seen as driven by the increasing pressure to find resources the country needs to power its fast growing economy, also promises additional investment and trade inflows for Africa.
The summit, to be held between August 18 and 21, is being organised with the help of the African Union and will be the first of its kind for both parties.
“We will look at the future of our relationship with a view to strengthening and diversifying it,” Turkish Foreign Affairs minister Ali Babacan said when he met an AU delegation last week.
Closer ties with Africa is particularly critical to Turkey — the Euro-Asian state with few natural resources — whose economy is undergoing a transformation from heavy reliance on agriculture and manufacturing to a globally inclined one driven by the services sector.
In the more recent past, as the Kenyan economy recovered from a deep slump at the turn of the millennium, Turkey has become one of the key source markets for consumer goods such as textiles, carpets, furniture and electronics for the newly rich.
A steadily growing economy is also seen to be critical to the realisation of Turkey’s ambition to become a member of the European Union — a goal it has been pursuing for nearly a decade.
This need to sustain growth and manage an economy in transition has seen Turkey’s trade ties with Africa more than double in the past five years from $5 billion in 2003 to $12 billion last year.
Istanbul says the goal is to increase this volume of trade to $30 billion by 2010. Data from the department of external trade indicates that Turkey’s direct investments in Africa hit the $500 million mark last year and is expected to grow.
For Kenya, Turkey’s ambitions for closer ties with Africa has yielded a steady growth in the value of the bilateral trade that stood at $90 million last year. Under the existing bilateral trade agreement, Turkey exports a wide range of consumer goods to Kenya including hazelnut, minerals, chemical fertilisers, resins, polymer bags and textile.
Emerging Asian giants
Kenya mainly exports tea, hemp and arts and crafts to Turkey, and also benefits from a wide range of technical cooperation projects under the Turkish International Co-operation Agency (TICA).
If successful, a trade and investment deal with Africa will see Turkey join the ongoing battle between India and China for big investments mainly in Africa’s natural resources extraction.
The two emerging Asian giants have also made multi-million shilling acquisition deals or green field investments in telecommunication, tourism, energy, technology, commodities and construction.
Turkey recently stepped up its expansion in Africa with the May 2007 admission as a non-regional member of the African Development Bank.
China’s President Hu Jintao (centre) Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi (left) and President of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou-Nguesso at the China-Africa Summit in Beijing in November 2006.
The bank, which is one of the top financiers of development and infrastructure projects in Africa, gives Turkey a good platform from where to open new areas of co-operation. Turkey has made inroads into Africa’s transport sector with scheduled flights of its national flag carrier Turkish Airlines to regional hubs of Addis Ababa, Khartoum, Lagos and Johannesburg.
Istanbul also plans to venture into Africa’s maritime sector with investment in key facilities such as the Port of Mombasa to spur trade in the hinterland.
Besides, Turkey is already involved in multi-million dollar humanitarian and development assistance to a number of African countries through TICA.
Major beneficiaries of this assistance include Sudan, Ethiopia and Senegal. TICA says plans are underway to move into new areas of development cooperation such as health, water sanitation, education, technical training, environmental protection and transportation.
Funds for Africa
Turkish humanitarian and development assistance to Africa has been growing steadily with the Official Development Assistance (ODA) totalling $700 million in the last three years.
“To this end, we have set up several dedicated funds for Africa. The latest initiative is the allocation of $50 million to finance development in Africa over the next five years,” Mr Babacan said.
Istanbul has also recently set up a $20 million development financing pool for the Least Developed Countries (LDC), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Land Locked Developing Countries (LLDC).
In return, Turkey is looking for political support from Africa to realise her dreams of winning a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
“We see our prospective membership in the security council as an opportunity that will allow us to contribute even further to the achievement of our common objectives under the UN,” the minister said.
Turkey’s candidature for the UN seat is for the 2009 to 2010 term. Turkey served for a one-year term in the Security Council in 1961. India too pegged its economic support for Africa to backing for a permanent seat in the expanded UN Security Council, signalling Africa’s growing influence in global agenda.
Intense lobbying for UN reforms that would open the door for greater representation of the developing world in key global institutions has been ongoing since the mid 1990s.
Those in the race for a permanent seat at the Security Council include Germany, Japan, Egypt, Brazil, and South Africa. Successful countries will join US, China, Britain, France and Russia in the exclusive club of members who wield veto power at the UN.
Joint trade pacts
India has already announced plans to offer preferential market access to 50 developing countries, 34 in Africa. The arrangement covers 94 per cent of India’s total tariff lines and provides preferential market access on tariff lines that comprise 92.5 per cent of global exports of all least developed countries.
The scheme covers several products of interest to Africa including cotton, cocoa, aluminium, copper, cashew nuts, sugar, ready-made garments, fish fillets and non-industrial diamonds.
India further pledged to offer additional lines of credit amounting to $5.4 billion both bilaterally and to the regional economic communities of Africa.
Trade experts would be looking up to what Turkey would offer African nations to win their confidence in pursuing further joint trade and co-operation pacts.
In the last five years, Kenya’s imports from India have risen from Sh14 billion in 2002 to Sh38 billion in 2006 while China’s have increased from Sh6 billion to Sh27 billion making them increasingly important trading partners. Kenya’s exports to these countries remains under Sh4 billion.
