Re-election of Recep Tayyip Erdogan: strengthening relations with the DRC
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has sent his congratulations to Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his re-election as Turkish President. The Turkish head of state won 52.1% of the vote, while his opponent, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, won 47.9% of the vote. The Congolese presidency affirms that the two heads of state are committed to strengthening bilateral relations between their countries and to working together to consolidate peace, security and stability in the world.
Ties between Kinshasa and Ankara have been strengthened since Felix Tshisekedi came to power. In February 2022, the Congolese president traveled to Ankara for an official visit. Later the same year, he attended the Turkey-Africa Summit in Istanbul, where the two sides signed several cooperation agreements, including in the military, defense industry, infrastructure and river transport fields. .
The Kinshasa Financial Center construction project, signed during Tshisekedi’s visit to Ankara, will soon be completed. The complex will house the office of the Minister of Finance, that of the Minister of the Budget, the general management of the financial authorities, as well as the General Inspectorate of Finance and the General Secretariat for Finance. It will also host the future Development Bank and the future sovereign investment fund. The Kinshasa Financial Center will also include conference rooms and lecture halls and will be inaugurated in December this year at an estimated cost of $300 million.
Erdogan’s re-election to the Turkish presidency therefore strengthens the already strong ties between Turkey and the DRC, with strategic partnership projects for infrastructure and the exploitation of natural resources. President Tshisekedi’s attention to international relations may well be part of a growing trend in Congolese influence on the world stage