Boycott of Turkish goods has taken off in Egypt

The popular Egyptian daily Youm7 reported that a public boycott of Turkish goods has taken off in Egypt to protest what it calls Turkish President Erdoğan’s “anti-Egyptian policies”.

Turkey’s focus turns to Africa, unnerving Egypt

Two of the week’s stories in Arab media report on economic approaches by Turkey to the African continent through Algeria and the Red Sea, while a third describes a boycott of Turkey gaining momentum in Egypt.

Turkey’s economic partnerships with Algeria are set for a boost that could see trade between the countries treble to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s target of more than $10 billion per year, the London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported on Wednesday.

Erdoğan discussed his goal of boosting trade on Tuesday during a speech at the Algeria-Turkey Business Forum in the country’s capital Algiers, where he was joined by his wife Emine and an entourage including 200 Turkish businessmen.

The main initiative announced at the event was a $1-billion joint project between the Algerian government owned energy company Sonatrach and Turkish firms Rönesans and Bayegan to build a petrochemical factory in the southern Turkish province of Adana.

The facility is projected to use oil imported from Algeria to produce 450,000 tons of propylene annually, reducing Turkey’s reliance on imported petrochemicals by a quarter.

Algeria also expressed a desire for Turkey to make reciprocal investments in its local industry, to help the country cut down its foreign trade deficit of $45 billion.

There are currently 850 products which Algeria prohibits imports of, and Algerian Trade Minister Mohamed Ben Mouradi invited Turkish companies to take advantage of the tax discounts, customs exemptions and other incentives provided to companies willing to establish partnerships with Algerian companies.

Algeria is Turkey’s largest trading partner in Africa, with an estimated $4 billion worth of Turkish goods exported to the North African country, and around $2 billion going the other way.

The forum in Algiers represents an opportunity for Turkey to further consolidate its trading partnerships in Algeria, and use the country as a platform to reach further African markets, said the head of the Algerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mohamed Eid Ben Omran.

The Turkish president also visited Mauritania, Senegal and Mali during his five-day trip, starting on Feb. 26.

His last visit to Africa in December 2017 included trips to Sudan, Tunisia and Chad