Bıçak Law Firm’s Africa Desk supports African diplomatic missions, businesses, investors and individuals requiring legal assistance in Türkiye, while also assisting Turkish companies and investors pursuing commercial and investment opportunities across African markets.

Operating from Ankara and Istanbul, we combine experience in diplomatic legal services with corporate and commercial law, international trade, investment, regulatory compliance and dispute resolution. Our approach reflects the increasingly interconnected nature of Türkiye-Africa relations: legal support is required not only for African institutions and businesses operating in Türkiye, but also for Turkish businesses expanding into African jurisdictions.

Türkiye – Africa: A Deepening Strategic Partnership

Türkiye’s relationship with Africa has developed into a broad and increasingly institutionalised partnership extending across diplomacy, trade and investment, infrastructure, energy, technology, defence and security cooperation, education and capacity building. The expansion of these relationships creates corresponding legal requirements. Cross-border investment requires appropriate corporate structures and regulatory analysis; international trade depends upon carefully drafted commercial arrangements and compliance; major projects involve procurement, financing and contractual risk; and growing diplomatic and business relationships can generate disputes requiring effective resolution. Bıçak Law Firm’s Africa Desk operates within this evolving environment, providing a legal bridge between Türkiye and African countries.

Our Africa Experience

Our Africa practice is built upon practical relationships with African diplomatic missions, business communities, investors and institutional stakeholders. Bıçak Law Firm has provided legal services to a number of African embassies in Ankara and has advised on matters arising from their institutional activities in Türkiye. Our engagement also extends beyond traditional embassy counsel. We have participated in initiatives involving African ambassadors and diplomatic representatives, supported visiting business delegations and developed relationships connecting African businesses and institutions with the Turkish commercial and legal environment. These experiences allow us to understand the interaction between diplomacy, investment and legal risk that increasingly characterises Türkiye–Africa relations.

Legal Services for African Embassies and Diplomatic Missions

Our Ankara-based diplomatic practice provides African embassies, consulates and governmental institutions with access to coordinated Turkish legal advice. Our work may include institutional legal counsel, local employment, diplomatic premises and real estate, contracts and procurement, diplomatic vehicles, privileges and immunities, immigration, taxation and operational matters, investigations and dispute resolution. We also assist diplomatic missions in addressing legal issues affecting their personnel, communities, nationals and business stakeholders in Türkiye. Our broader Embassy and Diplomatic Legal Services in Türkiye practice provides further information about these capabilities.

Africa → Türkiye: Supporting African Businesses and Investors

African businesses and investors entering the Turkish market require advice extending across several areas of Turkish law. We assist with market entry, company formation, investment structuring, acquisitions and joint ventures, commercial agreements, employment, real estate, regulatory compliance, international trade and dispute resolution.

Diplomatic missions, investment agencies, chambers of commerce and business delegations can play an important role in establishing these commercial connections. Where appropriate, we work with such institutions to help businesses introduced through diplomatic or institutional channels understand the Turkish legal environment and establish sustainable commercial relationships.

Türkiye → Africa: Supporting Turkish Business Across African Markets

Our Africa Desk is equally concerned with the other direction of the relationship: supporting Turkish companies and investors exploring opportunities in African markets. We assist clients in evaluating the legal dimensions of market entry, investment structures, local partnerships and joint ventures, international contracts, distribution arrangements, projects, procurement, due diligence, investment protection and dispute-resolution mechanisms. Where a transaction requires advice on the domestic law of an African jurisdiction, we coordinate with appropriately qualified local counsel and professional advisers. This enables Turkish clients to combine their existing relationship with Bıçak Law Firm with jurisdiction-specific advice required for the relevant African market.

Strategic Sectors and Regulated Cross-Border Business

Türkiye – Africa commercial relations increasingly involve sectors in which ordinary commercial advice must be combined with specialised regulatory knowledge. Our experience is particularly relevant to infrastructure and construction, energy and natural resources, technology, defence and aviation, and international trade.

Transactions in these areas may raise questions concerning sanctions and export controls, AML/CTF, anti-bribery requirements, customs, licensing, technology transfer, end-user and end-use controls, procurement and regulatory compliance. By bringing these disciplines together, the Africa Desk can support clients throughout increasingly sophisticated and regulated cross-border transactions.

Selected African Engagements

Our Africa engagement includes both legal mandates and broader diplomatic, institutional and commercial initiatives. Our relationship with Uganda has included legal services connected with its diplomatic mission as well as support for a Ugandan business delegation visiting Türkiye. Our South Sudan experience has involved diplomatic and institutional engagement, while our relationships with representatives of Tanzania, Egypt and Equatorial Guinea form part of our wider African diplomatic practice. We have also engaged with the African Diplomatic Corps in Ankara, bringing together diplomatic representatives to discuss legal issues affecting missions and their communities. Separate initiatives and professional relationships involving Cameroon and Morocco further contribute to our understanding of different African regions and their developing relationships with Türkiye. Our Africa Knowledge Centre provides further information on selected engagements and country-specific developments.

Regional Reach Across Africa

Africa comprises diverse legal systems, markets and economic communities. Our approach therefore recognises the distinctions between North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa, rather than treating the continent as a single market. Our established experience is particularly visible across East, Central and North Africa, while we continue to develop professional and institutional relationships across other African jurisdictions. We approach each mandate according to the relevant country’s legal environment, commercial circumstances and relationship with Türkiye, coordinating with local professionals where necessary.

Africa Knowledge Centre & Contact

Our Africa Country Desk is supported by a growing body of publications and institutional experience concerning Türkiye–Africa trade and investment, diplomatic legal services, market entry, international business, sanctions and export controls, dispute resolution and individual African jurisdictions. Country-specific articles, diplomatic engagements and business initiatives provide deeper analysis beyond this hub and will continue to expand as our Africa-related work develops.

Contact Our Africa Country Desk

Whether you are an African diplomatic mission, institution, business or investor requiring legal support in Türkiye, or a Turkish company exploring commercial or investment opportunities in an African market, Bıçak Law Firm can assist in identifying and coordinating the appropriate legal framework. From our offices in Ankara and Istanbul, we seek to provide practical, partner-led legal support for the growing network of diplomatic, commercial and investment relationships connecting Türkiye and Africa.