Soft Power Before Hard Power: What Türkiye's Charity Foundations Are Really Building In The West African Sub region
Türkiye is expanding its influence in West Africa through a multi-layered approach involving religious philanthropy, humanitarian aid, and educational institutions. This 'soft power' strategy often precedes formal military and economic cooperation agreements.
Why it matters
The article illustrates how non-Western powers are utilizing cultural and social infrastructure to build long-term diplomatic and strategic leverage in the region.
Across West Africa, from the Sahelian interior of Mali and Niger to the coastal states of Ghana, Togo and Nigeria, a common pattern has quietly repeated itself over the past two decades. A Turkish-funded mosque or school appears in a city. A development agency drills boreholes and renovates clinics. Scholarships send local students to Istanbul and Ankara.
Trade delegations follow. Only later, often years later, does a defence attach arrive, a drone deal gets signed, or a military cooperation protocol lands on a president's desk. This is not coincidence. It is the deliberate architecture of Turkish influence-building on the continent, and the West African sub region has become one of its most active theatres.
The religious and humanitarian foundation
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