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Published on : 21/07/2022 – 21:32Modified : 21/07/2022 – 23:50
The French President will be accompanied by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Armed Forces and External Relations and the Secretary of State for Development. The Élysée says it wants keep track of the renewal of France’s relationship with its African partners ».
This will be the first time that Emmanuel Macron has visited these three countries. The French president will begin his tour through Cameroon where he will stay from July 25 to 27, specifies the civil cabinet of the Cameroonian presidency. He will then go to Benin, a country that the Élysée judges ” increasingly connected to Sahelian issues “. The French head of state will end with Guinea-Bissau on July 29, which has just taken over the rotating presidency of the Economic Community of West African States.
This trip to Africa, the first since the re-election of Emmanuel Macron in April, will notably focus on the food crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, the challenges of agricultural production and security issues, according to the presidency.
The Élysée first wants to highlight l’initiative Farm. Launched at the end of March with the European Union, the G7 and the African Union, it aims to boost agricultural production in a global context of food insecurity and make Cameroon an example, with the prospect of French investments.
The French presidency also intends to support its demonstration of its new way of addressing the continent. It is ” mark the continuity and constancy of the commitment of the President of the Republic in the process of renewing the relationship with the African continent “, comments the Elysée. A round table is thus planned in Yaoundé in order to allow young Cameroonians who participated in the Africa-France Summit in Montpellier to interact directly with the French President.
The Benin stage will be marked by the question of the restitution of cultural property and that of the shift towards the coastal countries of the terrorist threat. The French president announced last week his desire to ” rethink the whole thing by the fall (of the military devices of France) on the African continent “, whereas the Barkhane force is completing its departure from Mali. Saying they want less posed and less exposed devices “, the president had judged that it was about a” strategic necessity ».
Finally, the visit to Bissau will be Emmanuel Macron’s first official stay on Portuguese-speaking land.
However, many other security and political issues remain: the Anglophone crisis that has lasted for five years in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon; calls from civil society who are concerned about the restriction of civic space. At each stage, the Elysée assures, governance issues will be addressed.
« Individual situations ” too. Implicit reference to condemned opponents in Benin, or even to the rehabilitation of the former French prisoner Michel Thierry Atanganza. These subjects will be addressed only within the framework of the direct talks between Heads of State. ” No media injunction “, says the Élysée, “ this is not the method we use ». « The line of the French president, assure-t-on, is in no way to set itself up as a giver of lessons or to promote a model ».
► To read also: Emmanuel Macron and Africa, season 2 episode 1