Gabon, Angola, Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Emmanuel Macron is going to Africa for an express tour: he will visit four countries in 72 hours. The President of the Republic will arrive this Wednesday night in Libreville, the capital of Gabon, for a working dinner with Ali Bongo, who has led this West African country since 2009.
In Gabon, “One Forest Summit”
The next day, Thursday March 2, he will be one of the headliners of the “One Forest Summit”, “a key moment to implement the preservation of the tropical forest”, explains the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
The Heads of State and various stakeholders will discuss the preservation of three major tropical forest basins: the Amazon rainforest, the Congo basin and the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. “A global problem,” the organization alleges.
Emmanuel Macron, after an exchange with scientists in the morning and a speech to the French community in Gabon at noon, will close the “One Forest Summit” at 6:45 p.m., before a speech by Ali Bongo.
One Friday, three countries
The President of the Republic will fly to Angola in the afternoon, where he will meet his counterpart João Lourenço on Friday morning. On the way, at 3:00 p.m., he will go to Brazzaville, the capital of Congo. He will be received at the People’s Palace by Denis Sassou-Nguesso, head of the country since 1997, before a bilateral meeting. In the evening, Emmanuel Macron will address the French community in the Congo.
In the afternoon, shortly before 10 pm, he will leave for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the last leg of his tour. On Monday, during a press conference, Emmanuel Macron stated that the war in the east of this country “should not be a forgotten war. The fighting is taking place between the Congolese army and the M23 rebels, a mainly Tutsi rebellion at the which Kinshasa accuses of being supported by Rwanda.
“The ongoing offensive of the M23 militia is a war that takes us back ten years, it has terrible consequences for the population,” said Emmanuel Macron.
Africa is not a “pre-square”
During this press conference, the President of the Republic presented his “vision of the association with the African countries” with “his priorities and his method to deepen the association between France, Europe and the African continent”.
“From the challenge of climate security to the demographic challenge with the young people who are arriving and to whom a future must be offered for each of the African States”, he listed, calling for “consolidating States and administrations, investing massively in education, health , employment, training, energy transition”.
Africa is not a “backyard”, we must move from a “logic” of aid to that of investment, said the Head of State, who called for “a new balanced, reciprocal and responsible relationship” with the countries of the continent African.
The influence of Paris in decline
For several years, the image of Paris has deteriorated in many capitals on the other side of the Mediterranean. In particular in Mali and Burkina Faso where, at the same time, the influence of Russia and the Wagner group is growing.
French soldiers were expelled from Mali in 2022 by a junta that turned on Moscow. Another junta in Burkina Faso called on France to withdraw the 400 soldiers from the Saber force.
A few days ago, however, Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of the Armed Forces, visited the Ivory Coast and Senegal, two close allies of Paris, almost two exceptions on the African continent.
Source: BFM TV
