Türkiye envoy to South Africa seeks $5 billion in trade

Türkiye’s ambassador to South Africa, Kızban Nilvana Darma Yıldırımgüç, said Ankara aims to increase trade with South Africa from around $2 billion to $5 billion in an interview with Business Day ahead of Türkiye’s hosting of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP31 in Antalya. She said the conference’s priority is turning climate commitments into action and tangible results.

Türkiye’s ambassador to South Africa, Kızban Nilvana Darma Yıldırımgüç, said her country was seeking stronger, multibillion-dollar trade ties with South Africa in an interview with South African newspaper Business Day published on November 4, days before Türkiye hosts the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP31 in Antalya.

The ambassador said the two countries were holding talks to explore additional trade deals. “South Africa is Türkiye’s largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa. Our bilateral trade stands at around $2 billion. That is a solid foundation, but it remains below our true potential. Our goal is to reach $5 billion in trade in the near future,” she said.

Darma Yıldırımgüç described the Turkish and South African economies as complementary, creating room for major trade deals. “Together, we have an opportunity not only to trade, but also to build shared value chains, turn raw materials into high-value products, combine technology with resources, and reach broader regional and global markets,” she said. She added that these joint projects would create local jobs and open new opportunities for skills development, research and innovation, “especially for young people.”

She said South Africa represented an ideal platform for Turkish companies to access the wider African continent. “Conversely, for South African companies, Türkiye is not merely a vibrant market of 85 million people, but also a strategic bridge to lucrative markets in Europe, the Middle East and beyond. Türkiye is firmly committed to deepening its economic partnership with South Africa.” The newspaper noted that Türkiye’s ambition comes as the United States has decided to remove South Africa from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade program.

“It is time for action”

In the clip, which Business Day posted on X under the title “It is time for action,” the Turkish ambassador, seated in front of the Turkish and South African flags, discusses her country’s vision for COP31. The Turkish Embassy in Pretoria reposted the clip, noting that the ambassador had made remarks about Türkiye’s presidency of the conference.

Darma Yıldırımgüç told the newspaper that implementation was the decisive element of this year’s conference. “As we enter the second decade of the Paris Agreement, the priority must be to translate these commitments into concrete action and tangible results. This is the essence of Türkiye’s vision for COP31 as an implementation conference,” she said. She added that over the past three decades, the international community had established a comprehensive climate framework centered on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, and had agreed on increasingly ambitious goals. The aim, she explained, was “to help translate climate goals into measurable, investable action and mobilize partnerships, financing and investment.”

The ambassador reaffirmed Türkiye’s commitment to elevating African climate action to the highest political level. “Geopolitical tensions, energy security concerns, development needs and financing constraints affect the pace and conditions of the transition in many countries, particularly African countries. International cooperation therefore remains essential,” she said.

She referred to the severe floods in Istanbul and Nepal as a reminder that no country is immune to the effects of climate change. “Heavy rainfall, floods, droughts, wildfires and heatwaves are increasingly affecting our cities, economies and communities. Türkiye is also confronting these challenges directly, which is why we approach COP31 as a country that understands the importance of accelerating the translation of our collective climate commitments into concrete action,” she said. The conference opens on Monday, November 9, and runs through November 20, with South Africa taking part and its experts participating in the multilateral negotiations.

Marking Republic Day

The Turkish Embassy in Pretoria posted a link to the interview on X to mark the 103rd anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Türkiye and Republic Day on October 29. The newspaper said the embassy organized a national day celebration attended by several senior South African politicians, including former Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor.

During the celebration, Zolika Lamati, chief director of human resources management at South Africa’s Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, said the two countries had held their first military dialogue in October, during which they negotiated to accelerate the conclusion of two pending military agreements. “We appreciate Türkiye’s support for South Africa’s G20 presidency in 2025, when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, ahead of his participation in the summit in November 2025, affirmed his government’s full participation. The commitment we received from a leader such as the Turkish president remains invaluable to South Africa,” she said.

Video: Business Day. Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Walmaul)

Türkiye envoy to South Africa seeks $5 billion in trade