Africa-France Summit: rupture or change in continuity?
Audio 03:22
The Africa-France Summit is being held until October 9, 2021 in Montpellier, in the south of France.
© RFI
By: Stanislas Ndayishimiye
3 min
The Summit which opens this Friday, October 8, 2021 in Montpellier, in the south of France, is presented as an opportunity to reinvent the relationship between Africa and France.
Since the inauguration of these meetings in November 1973, this is the first time that a summit has been organized without any head of state from the continent.
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It is a radical break in terms of image.
French President Macron will have in front of him entrepreneurs, intellectuals, researchers, artists, athletes, creators, influencers and players in the new economy driven by digital technology.
The idea is to listen to African youth and create a new space for dialogue, supposed to redefine the fundamentals of the relationship between the African continent and France.
Where bilateral and multilateral cooperation has shown its limits in boosting development in Africa, Emmanuel Macron wants to be a pioneer of a new deal by directly involving economic operators from all over the continent, in relation with French operators.
Because the Head of State does not lose sight of the interests of his country.
A break synonymous with change in the continuity of the fund
In the absence of heads of state and government, the Africa-France summit in Montpellier will also bring together institutional actors, whose job is to develop long-term international partnerships.
Through the French Development Agency (AFD), Paris will therefore present the expertise it deploys in Africa.
Knowing that the projects financed by AFD also bear the seal of the governments of the countries concerned, as well as the approval, often, of national and European institutions and on the fringes of the private sector and civil society.
Struggling on the continent, civil society has succeeded in moving the lines
While it often struggles to influence locally in Africa, civil society on the continent may have influenced the French president. With social networks today as an amplifier - we remember the 5,000 CFA franc banknote burned in public in Dakar in August 2017 - the call from civil society led Paris to accept the reform of this currency much earlier than expected. for eight West African countries. But this reform is not a total cut of the link between the euro and the CFA franc, called eco, the parity between the two currencies remaining fixed. This regime, which guarantees monetary stability and which does not reflect the real weight of the zone's economy, is more practical for French and European companies doing business in this part of West Africa. Gold,African youth are demanding a total cut in the link between the euro and the CFA franc. And the announced reform has in the process weakened the current initiatives for the creation of the eco, the future common West African currency.
Mixed reception of the new formula in Africa
African leaders have taken note of the decision to change the formula, they have other channels anyway to get the messages across to Paris.
But African opinion is divided.
In fact, Emmanuel Macron is trying to find a way not to let France be left behind by emerging countries on a continent full of potential, since - for example among many others - the China-Africa summits have become regular.
Read also: 28th Africa-France summit: hopes and expectations of the invited youth
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Africa-France Summit
Economy