Assoc. Prof. Dr. Volkan İpek

The most important question posed to all academics studying the role of the African continent in Turkish foreign policy, and indeed to all academics themselves, is: “Why has Turkey intensified its relations with African countries?” While the literature shows that the answers to this question are predominantly economic, the political aspect should not be forgotten. Between 1930 and 1998, Turkey dealt with problems created by its distant and close neighbors, some of which even directly threatened Turkey. Issues such as the Johnson letter from the United States, the Soviet Union’s coveting of Turkish cities in the eastern Black Sea region, the European Union’s refusal to accept Turkey’s candidate status at the Helsinki Summit, Greece’s desire to extend its nautical miles from 6 to 12, terrorists crossing into the country from Syria and Iraq and carrying out attacks, and Armenia’s strengthening of genocide claims, have exhausted and even worn down Turkey and, consequently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Therefore, Turkey felt the need to develop relations with a region that would not create similar threats and problems, and thus, intensified its foreign policy after this intense period. The Africa Action Plan announced in 1998 is the result of such a need.

Nowadays, when we have a look at the 28 years since the plan was launched, it is seen that the increasingly strong political and economic interactions between Turkey and African countries have relieved and imporoved.  From 1998 to May 23rd, 2026, Turkey did not experience any serious problems originating from African countries, nor did it have to deal with any direct or indirect threats from these countries. However, this situation changed with a social media message posted on April 12, 2026, by Muhoozi Kainerugana, the son of the President of Uganda and Chief of Staff. Threatening to sever diplomatic relations within 30 days if Turkey did not resolve its problems in relations with Uganda, Kainerugana also stated that he wanted $1 billion from Turkey and the most beautiful woman in Turkey as his wife. Kainerugana deleted this message very shortly after posting it. However, he wrote in April 14^th 2026 that he would discuss with his father the cancellation of the Uganda High-Speed ​​Rail project tender, which had previously been awarded to a Turkish company, and instead awarding the project to the Chinese without any bidding process. Kainerugaba may have deleted his previous message, but this one remained. At least, longer than the previous one.

It’s actually difficult to understand why Kainerugaba harbors such anger towards Turkey. There’s little difference between his 2022 message – “I’ll take Nairobi in two weeks” – and this one. Both are the result of sudden anger or a desire for attention. The border issues between Kenya and Uganda might actually justify these messages towards Kenya, but Uganda and Turkey have never had such or any other problems. Uganda is one of the African countries visited by President Erdoğan, and the conversation he had with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in 2016 about anti-racism is still fresh in memories. Furthermore, Turkey has signed a total of six agreements with Uganda in various fields since the 1998 Africa Action Plan. Considering that only two such agreements were signed between 1923 and 1998, one can understand the value of six agreements signed in just 27 years. Furthermore, the fact that Turkey opened its embassy in Entebbe in 2010 and Uganda opened its embassy in Ankara in 2011 demonstrates the rapid diplomatic interaction between the two countries. While the fact that the presidents of the two countries only visited each other in 2016 seems to slightly reduce the effectiveness of Turkey-Uganda relations, Turkish Airlines’ flights to Entebbe, which are more affordable than those to other cities, enable both Turkish businesspeople and tourists to travel to the country. From an economic perspective, it is necessary to highlight the activities of Turkish companies such as Beyler Group in the health, IT, defense industry, and agriculture sectors through local Ugandan companies. It is also known that Yapı Merkezi started construction of the railway between Malaba and Kampala on November 21, 2024, Gülsan Holding started road construction between Apac, Lira, and Puranga, and 3-S company is working on the chemical industry in Uganda. Finally, it is also worth noting that Summa Holding completed and delivered the $129 million Hoima Stadium in Uganda.

All in all, Turkish-Ugandan relations are still robust, and seems that such messages will not weaken it. Nevertheless, President Moseweni should show some professionality to his son, so that he does not lose respect to other states.