Within Africa鈥檚 most populous nation, two buildings constructed over a century apart point to the diverse avenues through which Turkey enhances its soft power in Africa today.
On a quiet hilltop outside the central districts of Nigeria鈥檚 capital, Abuja, sits the $30 million Nizamiye Hospital. Known by many locals simply as 鈥淭urkish hospital,鈥� this sleek medical center offers a host of specialized and high-end medical services largely unavailable to those in Africa鈥檚 most populous state: open-heart and cataract surgeries, MRI and CT scans, mechanical ventilators, and anesthesiology. With its mixed staff of expatriate and Nigerian doctors, Nizamiye serves as a quotidian yet powerful example of Turkey鈥檚 growing role as an African donor and development partner.1 Several hundred miles to the southwest in Lagos, Nigeria鈥檚 largest city, sits the 130-year-old Shitta-Bey Mosque. Nestled between overcrowded apartments on a hectic market street in the historic downtown, the 鈥淭urkish mosque鈥� is not, in fact, Turkish. Though constructed in the Ottoman style, it was financed by a Sierra Leone-born Muslim who earned the Ottoman title 鈥淏ey鈥� from the Sultan in recognition of his work on behalf of West Africa鈥檚 Islamic communities. In 2018, Turkish state media gleefully reported that the mosque鈥檚 Nigerian caretaker was seeking a partnership with the Turkish government to cover maintenance, renovations, and scholarships for members of the congregation to study in Turkey.2