Senegal’s visits and talks with the Turkish defence firms and authorities, including ASELSAN, signal an intent to take the cooperation to an industrial level.
Military Africa reported that Senegal is willing to deepen its cooperation with Turkiye towards industrial cooperation and technology transfer to not only strengthen its defence but also local capabilities.
Recently, Senegal Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko visited the facilities of ASELSAN and HAVELSAN with the participation of the Turkish Secretary of Defence Industries Haluk Görgün. ASELSAN announced this visit on social media.
A deeper defence cooperation beyond exports would give Senegal more self-sufficiency, while Turkiye expanding its presence in the African market would gain more ground and possibly a distribution/maintenance point at a rather remote region.
Currently, the majority of Turkiye’s defence exports in Africa consist of armoured vehicles by multiple firms (Otokar, Nurol Makina, Katmerciler...) and UAVs.
The turn towards new suppliers in Africa, as well as Turkiye’s political foothold in the region, is opening new possibilities for the Turkish defence sector to expand the list of exported systems.
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor:Özgür Ekşi
