By RFIPubliée on 24-08-2019Modified on 24-08-2019 at 06:32

Five African countries are invited to the G7 Biarritz. Egypt, South Africa and Rwanda, the "troika" of the African Union, as well as Senegal and Burkina Faso, who respectively chair Nepad and G5 Sahel. The overall theme of the summit is the fight against inequality, a topic that is of primary importance to Africa. But several other topics will also concern the continent, starting with insecurity in the Sahel.

It is not because the G7 brings together the most advanced liberal democracies that its French presidency intends to ignore Africa. On the contrary. In Biarritz, Paris wants to unblock the financing of the security forces of the Sahelian states, which are fighting against the jihadists.

It has long been a question of turning the G5 Sahel into a United Nations mission, but this is not unanimous. Washington, in particular, is reluctant to finance yet another UN mission in Africa, because it is too expensive, too complicated for him. The United States has so far preferred to negotiate bilateral military agreements with states considered reliable, starting with Niger and Burkina.

Security in the Sahel

In Biarritz, France hopes to rally everyone with what is described, from a diplomatic source, as a new "partnership" for security in the Sahel. Concretely, it would be to support the armed forces of the G5 Sahel member countries, but also their police and customs officers. It remains to be seen whether the formula will seduce President Trump.

The African participants in the summit will not fail to raise two issues that remain unresolved. The amounts allocated by the G7 countries and the exact area of ​​intervention of this partnership, which could extend to the shores of Lake Chad.

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