The France wants to remain a "relevant partner" in Africa despite the "anti-French speeches", said Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna while presenting Tuesday, June 6 before the Senate the country's foreign policy in Africa.

While the population of Africa, which already has 1.1 billion inhabitants, is set to double by 2050 according to the United Nations, African youth have launched a challenge to the France: "that of renewing ourselves, of changing our way of doing things," said the head of French diplomacy, stressing that Paris had heard the message of young people.

She recalled the France's desire "to build a new, balanced, reciprocal relationship" with African countries. "This is how France will remain a close, relevant partner in this continent called to occupy such a central position in the balances of tomorrow's world," she added.

The minister did not avoid "the headwinds" and in particular "the dissemination of anti-French speeches in some French-speaking African countries". These speeches "are partly linked to the legacy of history, partly to the frustrations of young people, partly also to hostile undertakings, especially from Russia," she said.

Struggles for influence

Africa is at the heart of international struggles for influence that have redoubled since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Many African countries are dependent on grain imports from Russia and Ukraine for food. Moscow has multiplied in recent years initiatives on the continent, aiming to pose as an alternative to the former colonial powers.

"Nothing is more wrong, and for a long time" than to think that relations between the France and its African partners are self-evident in an "ever more competitive" world, the minister also stressed to senators. "With the continent's ever-increasing participation in the global economy, these are markets to consolidate or invest in for our companies," she continued.

The France is the second largest foreign investor on the African continent after China. And, in fifteen years, the number of subsidiaries of French companies has doubled on the continent, as well as investments, detailed Catherine Colonna.

For his part, the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu noted that over time, African countries had "decided to diversify their partnership", "to put in competition" including in terms of defense. "It carries the challenge of being more attractive to long-standing partners with whom we are in emotional relationships," he said.

In addition, he stressed that the African continent was "subject to tensions between authoritarian models and democracies on the other" and that it was necessary to question the appropriate model. As for the terrorist threat, it has evolved: "it is sometimes more fragmented, more diffuse, more endogenous, more difficult to detect and inform," explained Sébastien Lecornu.

With AFP

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