The President of the Nigerian Community Turkey Prince Magboh has appealed to the Turkish Government (Immigration) to reconsider their stance on issuing resident permits to Africans as it will help boost business activities and promote Turkish goods in Africa.
The President stated this during the Turkey Africa Exporter Platform (TURCAF) meeting held on Saturday 4th May 2024 at Double-Tree Hotel Istanbul -Turkey where several delegates from Africa ( Togo, DRC Congo, Cameroon, Guinea, Central Africa and many others) and Turkish industrialists converged to rob minds and create awareness on the huge potentials they both stand to harness when doing business together.
Speaking, the President of NICOT revealed that businesses have dwindled since many Africans with permits were denied and deported to their countries as many are languishing at various Immigration detention camps across Turkey.
Prince Magboh noted that many Nigerians in Turkey are businessmen and women whose ‘stock in trade’ is mainly buying Turkish goods and providing logistic services to our African customers.
He explained that Nigeria with a population of over 200 million people remains a huge market for Turkish goods owing to their uncompromising stand for quality, however, recently many Africans in the business of exports have been stripped off their resident permits thereby creating a vacuum for substitute goods.
He cried out to the Turkish Government and Immigration, saying that the greatest challenge they face currently is the resident permit issue and noted that many Africans have been deported with many in the deportation camps where they cannot transact or carry out any business activity.
According to Prince Magboh, “I am pleading to the Turkish Authorities to shift their stands on resident permit cardholders as the increased denials of the resident permit have greatly affected our businesses”.
“I know that the Turkish Government loves Africa, let them translate this love to the issuance of resident permits so that we can continue promoting made-in-Turkish goods to our relied customers.
“Most of us here tend to engage with our people back home to advertise made-in-Turkish goods, anyone in the deportation camp cannot canvas for such businesses anymore” Prince Magboh submitted.
In the same vein, the President of the Nigerian Community also stated that Africa remains a fertile and virgin land for investment opportunities and a great potential for businesses and industrialists to cash in.
He added that Africa is the world’s future as all raw materials needed for industrialization are domiciled in Africa waiting to be harnessed.
Prince dispelled all rumours regarding their insecurity in Africa and attributed them to the politics of some elites who only want to benefit from what they know about Africa alone.
He concluded by saying that Africa is the next destination for industrialization as he encouraged investors to come to Africa and invest.
