African Handicrafts Market and Culture House

Under the leadership of Her Excellency Emine Erdoğan and with the support of MÜSİAD, a social responsibility project was launched with the aim of offering the handmade products created by African women for sale in Türkiye at the value they deserve, on a non-profit basis, and sending the resulting income to African women. Within the scope of this project, the “African Handicrafts Market and Culture House” was opened in the Altındağ district of Ankara.

The African Handicrafts and Culture House project was brought into being on 25 May 2016 under the patronage of Mrs. Emine Erdoğan, with the aim of contributing to the social development efforts of the African continent.

Carried out with the aim of contributing to the solution of the education and health problems of African women, the “African Handicrafts Market and Culture House” project is directed towards marketing the handiwork of African women, on a non-profit basis, at the value it deserves. The project also aims to be a meeting point of African cultures and to contribute to Türkiye-Africa relations. It operates in Hamamönü, the historic quarter of Ankara.

The market, which houses the painstaking handiwork of African women, features products brought from Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Gambia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Senegal, Benin, Mali, Cameroon and Guinea. In addition to being a market where handmade African products reach those interested in them, the African Handicrafts Market and Culture House, based in Ankara’s historic quarter of Hamamönü, also functions as a meeting place of African cultures.

The Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MÜSİAD, TİKA and Turkish Airlines are the partners of the project.

In past years, Turkish Classical Music lessons were given at the Africa House to the spouses of the ambassadors of African countries in Türkiye, and a new activity will be launched in a short time.

The regularly held Africa House Talk Africa programme began last year with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Yavuz Selim Kıran and takes place regularly once a month with the participation of African students and those interested in African culture and civilization. In the programme, current and topical issues relating to Africa are addressed with expert speakers. In this way the aim is to create a means of fellowship with the African students studying in Türkiye and a gathering point for participants interested in Africa.

On 19 May 2018, the 1st International African Students Festival was held at the Africa House in Hamamönü in partnership with the YTB and Turkish Aeronautical Association University.