Meet Africa’s newest friend, Turkey. What does it have to offer?

An Olympic-size swimming pool in coastal Senegal. A military base in Somalia. And in arid Niger, a gateway to the Sahara desert, a remodeled, sprawling airport to be managed on Niger’s behalf for three decades.

These are only a few recent private and public investments in Africa by Turkey, an emerging middle power that’s making moves in a region that has historically received aid and investment from European colonial powers, and of late, from China. 

Speculations abound on what this represents. While some chalk up Turkey’s moves to economic interests and competition with other regional powers, others point to national security priorities and

Rising investment, less baggageA mixed political agenda