Türkiye aims to increase trade volume with Angola to $500 million

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar reported that the trade volume between Türkiye and Angola was 126 million dollars last year and that they aim to increase this to 500 million dollars in the first phase.

Minister Bayraktar and the Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas of the Republic of Angola, Diamantino Azevedo, came together at the Ministry for the 3rd Term Meeting of the Turkey-Angola Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation Joint Commission.

Bayraktar, who expressed his satisfaction with the recent increase in contacts between Türkiye and Angola, said that they held an important meeting with Azevedo covering strategic areas such as trade, investment, agriculture, energy, education and transportation.

Bayraktar pointed out that the Turkey-Africa trade volume, which was 5.4 billion dollars in 2003, will reach 37 billion dollars as of 2024, and that exports increased from 2.1 billion dollars to 22 billion dollars and imports from 3.3 billion dollars to 15 billion dollars during this period.

Bayraktar, who pointed out that there is a Turkish investment with a market value of 10 billion dollars in Africa when looking at direct investments, said that Turkish contractors have signed more than 2 thousand projects across the continent and a business volume of approximately 100 billion dollars has been realized.

Bayraktar stated that the trade volume between Turkey and Angola was 126 million dollars in 2024 and said, “The target determined by our Presidency is to increase the trade volume between the two countries to 500 million dollars in the first stage. I believe that there is a great potential in cooperation between the two countries and this 500 million dollars is an important target that we can reach in the first stage.”

Bayraktar, who stated that energy is of great importance among development tools, said, “In this direction, we are also evaluating cooperation opportunities in the field of oil and natural gas between our national company Turkish Petroleum, Sonangol and the National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency of Angola. We have reached an agreement with the Minister, we will send a delegation consisting of Turkish Petroleum and our mining company to Angola without any delay this month.”

“We adopt the goal and approach of being a long-term development partner”

Bayraktar also stated that they discussed with Azevedo the issue of increasing cooperation in crude oil and petroleum products trade between Turkish Petroleum International Company (TPIC) and Sonangol.

Emphasizing that Türkiye can be a strong partner supporting Angola's development goals and is ready for this role, Bayraktar explained that Türkiye has undertaken 8 projects worth 1.2 billion dollars to date in contracting services, which constitute an important part of trade and economic relations in Angola.

Bayraktar, drawing attention to the fact that the business volume can be increased, noted the following:

“We believe that we can use Angola’s vast energy resources for the needs of the people, industry and factories in Angola, especially with projects we can develop on the energy sector, especially on the electricity production side. In addition to contracting services, we believe that there are also cooperation opportunities in Angola in the mining and energy, flour industry, textile, waste management, defense industry, ready-made clothing, retail and fuel storage sectors. In this regard, we especially encourage and incentivize Turkish companies. Because we believe that, as Turkey, we adopt the goal and approach of being a long-term development partner. In this sense, I would like to express that we are ready to share our knowledge, the technical skills and experience of our companies and to support human development as well as physical infrastructure.”

Bayraktar, who mentioned that Angolan students were given the opportunity to study in Türkiye in the field of education, said that the two ministers agreed to take cooperation in this field to the next level.

Bayraktar noted that important projects have been carried out in areas such as health, education, agriculture, women's participation in economic life and humanitarian aid through the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), and that they will continue to implement concrete and result-oriented projects through TIKA.

Underlining that the commission meeting was an important turning point that would advance cooperation between the two countries, Bayraktar said that they hope to hold the fourth Joint Economic Commission Meeting in Angola and that they will closely follow the decisions taken and the targets set in this process.

“We want to establish a long-term and sustainable economic partnership with Türkiye”

Minister Azevedo also said that they are ready to develop strategic cooperation in many areas, especially energy, mining and industry.

Inviting Turkish companies to Angola, Azevedo said, “Türkiye’s technical knowledge, experience and private sector dynamism are a great opportunity for Angola.”

Azevedo stated that there is a suitable environment for companies to make long-term investments and that they have set big goals in the oil and natural gas sector, and announced that they plan to increase daily production to 1.5 million barrels by 2030.

Stating that Angola has the capacity to meet 50 percent of the country's needs with solar energy, Azevedo also stated that they have started biofuel production and that feasibility studies in these areas are ongoing.

Azevedo emphasized that Angola is open to all investment opportunities, saying, “There are investment opportunities in many areas such as oil, natural gas, renewable energy, biofuels and phosphates. There is also great potential in cement production, agriculture, fishing and construction sectors. We want Turkish companies to take an active role in these areas. We want to establish a long-term and sustainable economic partnership with Turkey.”

AA