President of Djibouti concludes official visit to France

French President Emmanuel Macron (L) welcomes the President of Djibouti Imsaïl Omar Guelleh (R) at the Elysee Palace, February 12, 2021. © AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN

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Djiboutian President Ismaël Omar Guelleh completed two days of official visit to France on Friday, February 12.

After meeting the French employers, as well as the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Armed Forces, he had lunch with his counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Friday.

During their last meeting in 2019, President Guelleh regretted the decline in French economic involvement in his country.

This visit intended to revive it.

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Basically, there were two subjects on

the Parisian agenda of the Djiboutian president 

: the renegotiation of the defense agreement, of course, but also business.

Ismaël Omar Guelleh also started his visit on Thursday with a meeting with the big French employers.

For potential investors, he praised his country, its port and telecommunications infrastructure, its currency "

 at fixed parity with the dollar

 ", finally minimizing the risks that its public debt poses to its economy.

On Friday, an agreement for the construction of a photovoltaic power station was then signed with the electrician Engie, as well as private and public partnerships in the hotel, research and environment sectors, and in particular cooperation between the local authorities of Djibouti and the Provence Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.

Then the time came to discuss military affairs.

A joint declaration on the renewal of the existing defense agreement until 2023 was signed by the two presidents, according to a diplomatic source.

However, no statement was made on the technical issues which remain unresolved.

On the Djiboutian side, we still want to underline the success of this visit, which according to Daoud Houmed, spokesman for the presidential majority in Europe, " 

has further strengthened the historical links between France and Djibouti

 ".

To read and listen: Return of international and regional powers to Djibouti: "in order to control the ports of the Red Sea, the entrance to the Red Sea"

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