Turkey maintains an outsized footprint in Africa, and, in certain respects, its interests align with those of the United States.

Turkey-US ties are on the rise following President Trump’s recent meeting with Turkish president Erdoğan in Washington. There is no shortage of areas highlighted for greater Turkish-US cooperation, from strengthening business ties to the sale of F-35s, as well as NATO and Middle East policy. 

Another area where US officials should follow Trump’s lead and explore cooperating with Turkey is Africa. Turkey is poised to play a significant role on the continent at a time when Europe’s influence is waning, and the United States is seeking to reduce aid and defense spending on the continent. With China and Russia jockeying to fill the resulting void, Turkey is a potential alternative for the United States to support. 

Turkey has significantly expanded its presence in Africa over the last two decades. Ankara has pursued various avenues of influence, including greater trade ties and significant investments in infrastructure, energy, mining, and textiles. Turkish drones are also a hot commodity on the continent, and Turkey has leveraged its growing defense ties to strengthen cooperation in non-security sectors. 

Given the reality of Turkey’s growing role, the United States should identify areas for collaboration. Counterterrorism is one such area. Both the United States and Turkey have sent trainers and equipment to help Somalia and West African states battle burgeoning Al Qaeda and Islamic State insurgencies. 

Regarding counterterrorism, US officials should identify overly duplicative efforts and explore potential areas for greater burden sharing. US officials are already considering working with third countries to train local forces in West Africa’s Sahel region, as it looks to rebuild partnerships with these countries despite legal restrictions on direct US aid.  

Turkey reportedly already plans to send trainers to Niger and is another natural partner in Somalia, where US and Turkish forces are both already training separate Somali units. The US can focus on sharing intelligence with local partner forces, filling non-lethal equipment gaps, and supporting broader institutional capacity-building efforts. 

Working with Turkey on energy in Africa would help achieve Trump’s goal for Turkey to cut Russian energy imports. Heavily dependent on energy imports, Turkey has increasingly turned to Africa to lower costs and diversify its energy supply. Identifying potential opportunities for joint US-Turkish energy projects will reduce risk for US companies, help Africa develop its energy reserves, and further enable Turkey to cut Russian energy imports. 

Cooperating with Turkey on energy and infrastructure naturally reinforces US and African efforts to develop critical mineral supply chains. Turkey trails only China in infrastructure investment on the continent, with Turkish construction firms securing nearly $100 billion in contracts since 1972, including several airport, highway, railroad, and seaport projects. To develop mineral supply chains in Africa, more energy is needed to power the energy-intensive mining industry, and better infrastructure is needed to connect mines to domestic transit corridors and regional port hubs. 

Turkey also serves as a potential hedge against Chinese or Russian influence in Africa. Russia has capitalized on the erosion of French influence in the Sahel to expand its influence as an alternative security partner, which has been disastrous for shared African and Western counterterrorism interests. Amid Western retrenchment and Russia’s shortcomings, China has become more involved in providing equipment and training. 

While there are avenues for cooperation, US officials should be clear-eyed about the limits of a partnership with Turkey. While Turkey may be an alternative to China or Russia, Turkish and US interests diverge with respect to aggressively containing or rolling back Chinese or Russian influence. Ankara has often tried to balance between Beijing, Moscow, and the West. In some cases, Turkey may even be open to opportunistic cooperation with US adversaries. 

Turkey has also not been a reliable or consistent partner. Turkey is currently riding the coattails of the erosion of Western influence in Africa and has leaned on some of the same anti-Western, anti-colonial narratives as China and Russia. This strategy has so far primarily come at the expense of Africa’s former European overlords, but it also creates some friction with the United States. 

The United States should not risk outsourcing counterterrorism operations to Turkey, given that Ankara has not yet proven it can be a leading counterterrorism partner. Turkish-trained Somali forces have behaved and performed worse than US-trained Somali forces, highlighting potential shortcomings in Turkey’s approach. Turkish drones have also failed to change the bleak strategic picture in terror hotspots like the Sahel and Somalia. US overreliance on France in the Sahel, which left the Washington scrambling as itd ally was pushed out of the region, highlights the risk of overreliance on third-country partners. 

Turkey’s growing role in Africa positions it as a potential partner at a time when the United States and broader Western influence are facing challenges. While Turkey is far from a perfect partner, US officials can shape a positive working relationship by taking the initiative and pursuing opportunities for greater collaboration, particularly in aligned interest areas such as counterterrorism, energy, and infrastructure.  By Liam Karr, The National Interest