As Azerbaijan expands its economic partnerships beyond traditional markets, the Africa-Azerbaijan Business Forum in Baku is emerging as a new platform for strategic cooperation between the South Caucasus and Africa.
Held at the Baku Expo Center, the international forum has brought together government officials, business leaders, investors and entrepreneurs to strengthen economic, trade and strategic ties between Azerbaijan and African countries.
The initiative aims to create direct partnerships between companies while also giving African businesses greater access to Azerbaijani and wider regional markets. Representatives from more than seven African countries attended the forum this week, discussing opportunities across investment, logistics, agriculture, mining, innovation and industrial development.
AnewZ attended the forum, covering discussions on the ground. During the event, Dr Amany Asfour spoke to AnewZ Daybreak presenter Nadia Gyane, outlining her views on the importance of equal partnerships and long-term cooperation between Africa and Azerbaijan.
Speaking at the forum, President of the Africa Business Council Dr Amany Asfour highlighted Azerbaijan’s growing importance as a potential long-term economic partner for Africa, particularly in the mining and industrial sectors.
“Azerbaijan has very good technology and knowledge within the mining sector. Africa is a huge continent with great mining opportunities,” she said.
Dr Asfour stressed that future cooperation should be built on equal partnership rather than resource exploitation, focusing instead on technology transfer, job creation, industrial development and investment that benefits both sides.
She also pointed to opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area, saying Azerbaijani companies could invest in African countries and access a continent-wide market with reduced customs barriers if products are industrialised or value-added locally.
“It is about using the existing mechanisms to support trade among ourselves and support investment,” she said, while also underlining the importance of stronger people-to-people understanding between the two regions.
The forum also highlighted Azerbaijan’s interest in developing more direct trade links with African nations.
Rena Gafarova, founder of Africa-Azerbaijan Cooperation, said Azerbaijan has often imported African products indirectly through European and Turkish intermediaries rather than through direct partnerships with African suppliers.
“We are interested in working directly with African countries because, unfortunately, we are buying African products via Europe and Türkiye, but not directly from African countries,” she said. “Now we are going to do this for our country.”
The discussions reflect Azerbaijan’s broader push to diversify its international economic partnerships while positioning itself as a regional logistics and investment hub connecting Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The forum concludes tomorrow, with participants expressing optimism that the growing dialogue could lead to stronger commercial ties, increased investment flows and long-term cooperation benefiting both Azerbaijan and African economies.
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