Ankara government officials reaffirmed the opportunities Guinea's mining sector represents for Turkish investors at a recent business forum. A way to compete with China as Conakry's favorite partner.

Invest in mining! This is what Gonca Yilmaz Batur, Ankara's deputy trade minister, Hilmi Ege Türemen, its ambassador to Conakry, hammered to the businessmen of their country, but also Nail Olpak and Fatih Volkan Kazova, respectively president and head of Guinea for the Turkish Foreign Affairs Council DEIK during the Virtual Turkey-Guinea Forum on August 18. Thus, even if the majority of Turkish participants in this event, which aimed to guide business investment in Guinea, worked in construction, energy and industrial equipment, the representatives of Ankara recalled the opportunities offered by the sector. mining.

Become a better ally for Conakry

Because to become a privileged partner of Guinea and allow Turkish companies to win ever more contracts there, the Ankara authorities know that they must grow in the mines, Conakry's main source of income and engine of the growth of the country. Only this strategy can position Turkey - already very present in Guinea in construction, transport and sanitation - as an alternative to China, Conakry's main ally until now.

However, the Turkish leaders do not intend to compete with the Chinese giants directly on their territory: the extraction of bauxite and the development of the giant Simandou iron deposit. These groups are too large and extremely well endowed financially. Turkey is therefore positioning itself on parallel projects. Thus, during the forum, the Deputy Minister affirmed that beyond bauxite, gold, cobalt and nickel resources were interesting. Also, the emissaries of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's regime recalled that Turkish companies were able to propose projects to transform the ores extracted in Guinea and thus bring added value directly to the country, while Chinese companies most often export raw ore.

Finally, the Turkish representatives said they were ready to help develop agriculture on the mining production and transport corridors, in line with the objectives of President Alpha Condé and his teams.