In Gabon, Emmanuel Macron claims not to have "come to 'invest' anyone" on the sidelines of the One Forest Summit
French President Emmanuel Macron delivering his speech to the French community at the residence of the French ambassador in Libreville on March 2, 2023. AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN
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Emmanuel Macron is in Libreville for the One Forest Summit (March 1 and 2, 2023), the first leg of a tour of Central Africa which will then take him to Angola, Congo-Brazzaville and the DRC.
In Gabon, the French president assured this Thursday that "
the age of Françafrique is over
" and that he "
came to 'invest' no one
" while the country is in the middle of an election year.
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With our special correspondent in Libreville,
Paulina Zidi
The French president arrived in Libreville on March 1, 2023, the first stage of his tour of Central Africa which should then take him to Angola, Congo-Brazzaville and the DRC.
He was welcomed at the presidential palace by his counterpart Ali Bongo for a working dinner.
Objective: to prepare the second day of the One forest summit, a summit organized by France and Gabon on the protection of tropical forests and in particular that of the Congo Basin, today considered the first green lung of the planet.
► To read also Alain Karsenty: "Funding issues, the most important issue" of the One Forest Summit
But, before the meeting of heads of state scheduled for Thursday afternoon, the day began in the forest for Emmanuel Macron.
It is thus about twenty kilometers from the Gabonese capital that the French president traveled for a march in the company of the Gabonese Minister of the Environment, Lee White.
A trip above all for the image.
There, at the Raponda Walker Arboretum, he met Alfred Ngomanda, Commissioner General of the Center for Scientific and Technological Research in Gabon, who explained to him the problems facing the forests of the Congo Basin today.
"France's role is not to interfere in domestic political deadlines"
Then the president returned to the capital to meet the French community of Libreville.
In his speech, he returned to criticism about the timing of this visit in the middle of an election year.
He recalled that "
in Gabon as elsewhere, France is a neutral interlocutor, which speaks to everyone, and whose role is not to interfere in domestic political deadlines
".
He assured: “
I did not come to “invest” anyone.
I have only come to testify to my friendship and my consideration for a country and a brotherly people.
»
On the sidelines of this visit, the entourage of the French president had much more political meetings.
Christophe Bigot, the Africa director of the Quai d'Orsay, thus met this Thursday morning with civil society actors at the French Institute.
They were four, including the environmental activist Marc Ona.
These representatives once again expressed their concern about this timetable.
They also considered that if the idea of a forum on the protection of tropical forests was a good initiative, "
it is precisely the tree that hides the forest and in particular the problems of governance
", according to them.
For his part, Franck Paris, the Africa adviser to the Elysée, has also met opponents this morning.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the invitation had been sent to the entire Gabonese political opposition.
But some of its officials were finally represented by collaborators this morning.
►Also read
:
Gabon: Emmanuel Macron in Libreville to participate in the One Forest Summit
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