Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his Ghanaian counterpart Shirley Botchwey agreed on Wednesday to continue political consultations between their countries.

"Today, as Shirley (Botchwey) also mentioned, we had very productive meetings," Çavuşoğlu said in a joint press conference in the Ghanaian capital Accra.

Çavuşoğlu said the two officials reviewed "opportunities to expand our bilateral and multilateral cooperation," and agreed to "continue political consultations regularly."

He said they should set a date for the second round of consultations "as soon as possible."

Türkiye's trade with the West African nation continues to develop, said Çavuşoğlu, noting that their bilateral trade volume is at around $560 million.

Calling for the $1 billion bilateral trade volume target set by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during his visit to Ghana in 2016 to be reached, Çavuşoğlu said "I believe that the already existing mutual interests between our businesses can make this happen."

"We aim to increase it to $1 billion in the short term. I think we have the potential," he said, pointing to the need to "strengthen the foundations of our economic and trade relations" to achieve this goal.

During Çavuşoğlu's visit, the two countries also "agreed to finalize important economic agreements on avoidance of double taxation, promotion of investment, and establishment of joint economic and trade coalition," he said.

Highlighting that Turkish companies are already active in Ghana, Çavuşoğlu said they "agreed to actually encourage Turkish companies to increase their investment here jointly."

Çavuşoğlu also said Turkish companies in Ghana contribute to its economy and create job opportunities for Ghana's young people.

Education is another area of cooperation between the two countries, said the Turkish foreign minister, adding that Türkiye's Maarif Foundation contributed to relations in that field.

Türkiye is "increasing the number of scholarships that we are providing for students" in Ghana, he said.

Turkish and Ghanaian officials also addressed how to strengthen cooperation in the military and defense industry, according to Çavuşoğlu.

"We are ready to share our expertise with Ghana on the fight against terrorism and border security," he said, noting that Ankara shares the concerns of the African countries and is ready to provide support to countries there.

"We are ready to cooperate with Ghana during its term. And we also discussed the regional issues, the counterterrorism efforts, and the recent developments in Ukraine."

In addition, Çavuşoğlu commended "Ghana's role in raising the voice of Africa from the seat" of the United Nations Security Council.

He expressed Türkiye's solidarity with its "African brothers and sisters in calling for a fair world and effective international order" through the U.N.'s reform.

"I commend Ghana's role in raising the voice of Africa from the seat of the United Nations Security Council and speaking truth to power. Ghana has played a leadership role in the continent's integration efforts since its independence," Çavuşoğlu said.

In an article penned for a local media outlet in Ghana, Çavuşoğlu affirmed that the West African country is "an important partner of Türkiye in the region."

"Türkiye and Ghana are partners in promoting effective multilateralism, rules-based international system, and sustainable development," he said.

Türkiye, he continued, is "Africa's friend and a strategic partner of the African Union (AU)."

"Our cooperation gained momentum with our observer membership status to the AU in 2005. Since then, we have held three Türkiye-Africa Partnership Summits. The third summit was held on Dec. 16-18, 2021 in Istanbul with broad participation across the continent."

Çavuşoğlu voiced Türkiye's strong support for Africa's 2063 vision and said it "contributes to the goal's realization."

Citing examples of Türkiye's contribution to Africa's 2063 vision, he said: "Our trade with the continent has surpassed $34.5 billion in 2021. Our investments are over $6 billion."

"We are a partner of Africa in technological development as well. Türkiye hosts the United Nations Technology Bank. The bank offers opportunities in building and enhancing technology and innovation capacities for African countries."

Türkiye, he said, "believes in 'African solutions to African problems.' We view our relations with the continent and all its friendly countries from a perspective that is based on a win-win approach and mutual benefits."

Çavuşoğlu cited Türkiye Scholarships for African students as another contribution, saying that Ankara invests "in people-to-people exchanges to strengthen our bonds with Africa."

"So far we have provided over 15,000 Türkiye Scholarships to African students. Around 5,000 African students are currently studying at Turkish universities," he added.

On ties with Ghana, he said Türkiye is "determined to deepen" its cooperation with the West African country.

"During my visit to Ghana, my focus will be on how to create new opportunities for cooperation between Türkiye and Ghana in all areas. I wholeheartedly believe in our mutual conviction to tap into the potential of further advancing our cooperation. I look forward to working resolvedly with my counterparts from Ghana on delivering on this common vision," he said.

The top Turkish diplomat embarked on a three-day Africa tour on Tuesday, with Senegal, Ghana and Benin as his stops.

Türkiye’s engagement with the African continent has been gaining pace over the years. Having adopted a one-dimensional foreign policy shaped by its relations with the West for decades, Türkiye has shifted to a more diversified, multidimensional and independent foreign policy since the end of the Cold War. This opening up to Africa, which dates back to the action plan adopted in 1998, took shape in 2005, which Ankara declared the "Year of Africa." Türkiye was accorded observer status by the Africa Union the same year. In a reciprocal move, the African Union declared Türkiye its strategic partner in 2008, and relations between Africa and Türkiye gained momentum when the first bilateral Cooperation Summit was held in the commercial capital Istanbul with the participation of representatives from 50 African countries that year.