Africa press review
In the spotlight: the transition well and truly launched in Burkina Faso!
Audio 04:05
Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, transitional president of Burkina Faso, March 2, 2022. © OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT/AFP
By: Sébastien Duhamel Follow
4 mins
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"
That's it!
“, we read this morning on
LeFaso.net
: “
Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba was invested, this Wednesday, March 2 in Ouagadougou, President of Faso.
And "
from this ritual
,
Paul-Henri Damiba has a three-year mandate which will lead to elections devoting the return to a normal constitutional life",
explains the website
.
All the Burkinabè media obviously return to this investiture ceremony.
It is also on the front page of
Fasozine.com
.
The daily
Sidwaya
gives us a detailed account of this meeting, with supporting photos.
The fourth investiture ceremony in eight years
And expectations are high around this transition.
Paul Henri Damiba "
is now faced with his responsibilities
" believes
Le Pays
.
The newspaper "
hopes that at the end of the three years of power conferred on him by the Charter of the Transition adopted this Monday [28 February] by the representatives of the living forces of the Nation, he will be able to say like Julius Caesar in 47 BC: veni, vidi, vici”
.
However, “
to be able to use this famous phrase on one's own account
, explains
Le Pays
,
the road is long and certainly strewn with pitfalls
[…].
And of all the dangers that await Paul Henri Damiba, the greatest is the ambition to stay on the throne on which he was installed.
But expectations are high indeed, especially since "
this is the fourth time, in eight years (2014-2022), that Burkina Faso has held presidential inauguration ceremonies
".
Another major headline in the continental press: the war in Ukraine
The war in Ukraine still attracts attention as well, and this question in particular: What position to adopt on the international scene?
While yesterday, Thursday March 2, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution demanding that Russia immediately stop using force against Ukraine, in Côte d'Ivoire,
Abidjan.net
tells us that President Ouattara had invited his allies “
to vote in favor of the resolutions of international organizations
”.
The Ivorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs made this known by "
an information note
", we read, after the head of diplomacy Kandia Camara "
spoke on Monday with all the ambassadors of the European Union, that of the United States, Canada, Switzerland and Great Britain
”.
Algeria in a somewhat delicate situation
"
Why Algeria abstained from the UN
", is to read on the front page of the site
Tout sur l'Algérie
(TSA)
.
Algeria therefore abstained during the vote, but “
while reaffirming its attachment to the Charter of the United Nations
” and calling for “
the easing of tensions
” as well as “to
favor dialogue
”, underlines TSA.
The Algerian ambassador to the United Nations has also explained this position: for Algiers, the principles and aims of this United Nations Charter "
must remain the basis of international law and the cornerstone of international relations, in particular respect for the independence and sovereignty of States,
[...]
the right of peoples to self-determination
".
We understand this position better when we remember that Algeria supports the Polisario front in its fight for the independence of the Sahara, against Morocco, and that it demands the application of a UN resolution on the holding of a referendum.
Algiers, historical partner of Moscow
And when we also remember that Algeria is a historical partner of Russia.
We can still see it when reading an opinion piece in the newspaper
Liberté
.
Lahouari Addi, professor emeritus at Sciences Po Lyon believes that "
if Russia is wrong to invade its neighbour, the responsibility rests on the shoulders of NATO which, after the disappearance of the USSR, expanded its space by including countries of Eastern Europe instead of dissolving
".
The argument is the same as that used by the Kremlin.
Algiers, gas supplier to Europe
Algeria is also a producer of a gas which is of increasing interest to Europeans.
That's another part of that equation.
Europeans are turning away from Russian gas and “
they lack short-term alternatives ,”
El Watan
tells us
.
However, Algeria is precisely a producer and already supplies Italy via the Transmed gas pipeline, passing through Tunisia.
“
Discussions have thus been urgently launched
” to increase exports,
El Watan
tells us .
But reading the site
TSA
, we understand that Algeria alone will not be able to meet the demand.
But here, Europe is finally "
caught in its own trap
" TSA analysis.
Indeed, in the past, “
the Europeans did not want the Nigal Gas Pipeline to transport Nigerian gas to Algeria, then to Europe
”, explains an economist.
It is “
an opportunity that Europe has not seized
”, he asserts.
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