Over the past few years, there is a significant rise in the number of African students has noticed studying in the colleges and universities in Turkey. In 2022, the number of international students enrolled their name in Turkey universities hit 260,000. This is all possible due to the scholarships offered by the Turkish government, and are supposed to hike even more in the future as the country justifies its engagement with Africa.
The country views education as the most crucial pace for collaborations with other continents and it will continue to invest energy and resources in fruiting the relations which is a clear indication that the numbers are about to grow much higher in the forthcoming years. Presently about 61,000 students from Africa are availing education in Turkey. “We are proud to declare that a memorandum of understanding between two countries regarding science and technological cooperation has been signed, “The minister announced in a meeting with South African government authorities in Johannesburg.
The motive of education as Turkish policy describes as a soft power approach, and meant to win influence over the continent, this method is also acknowledged by other countries too. That includes India, Russia, and China, over the last past few years. The country utilizes the Turkish language council Emre Yunus Institute and the study broad agency Maarif Foundation to drive the growth. As per recorded analysis, countries allowing students to turkey included Syria, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iran Afghanistan, Germany, and Iraq.
This has seen the flourishing of educational centers across Africa with new centers inaugurated in Somalia, Senegal, and Sudan in 2021. Other top five source countries for international students in Turkey in 2020-2021 were Turkmenistan with 19,385, Iran with 11,223, and Iraq with 14,799. Egypt allows around 5,821 students in Turkish universities.