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By Tuvan Gumrukcu
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's foreign minister will travel to Djibouti next week to attend a Turkey-Africa ministerial meeting and discuss improving cooperation between Ankara and the continent, officials from his ministry said.
NATO member Turkey has ramped up its presence and influence in Africa in recent years, increasing trade nearly eight-fold, giving diplomatic and military support to some countries, and inking deals in various fields.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Djibouti meeting would evaluate a previous conference held in 2021 and discuss possible moves to deepen cooperation.
The meeting will be held on Nov. 2-3 and will be attended by representatives from 14 African countries, along with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the officials added.
It comes amid Turkish mediation efforts to resolve a dispute between Somalia and Ethiopia over a deal that Ethiopia agreed to lease a stretch of coastline from Somaliland, and at a time when West Africa struggles with surging terrorism.
The officials said the mediation was difficult due to the lack of trust between the parties, but that Ankara hoped for good news in coming days.
On Tuesday, Turkey inked a cooperation agreement with Niger on mining, after having signed a similar cooperation deal with the West African nation on oil and gas in July.
Asked about the accord, the officials said Turkey's Mineral Research and Exploration authority had three gold mining fields in Niger, protected by Niger security forces, and planned to start production there by the end of the year.
Turkey is competing with major powers like France, Russia and China for a foothold in Africa, forging partnerships with several nations and providing armed drones to Somalia, Ethiopia and others.
The officials said Turkey's provision of defence equipment and military training aimed to strengthen "national capabilities" and support counterterrorism.
"Countries that have acquired Turkish drones have increased their ground control in their countries," said an official, citing Burkina Faso's doubling the level of its control over the state to 65% using Turkish drones.
On Tuesday, Tuareg rebels in Mali said a drone strike using a Turkish drone had killed eight people and wounded 20 others.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Daren Butler and Lisa Shumaker)
