The French president has faced criticism during his visit to four countries in the region, while France claims it is trying to redefine its Africa policy.
He left to build “a new relationship” with the countries of Central Africa. President Emmanuel Macron ended his series of visits to Gabon, Angola, Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Saturday 4 March. During these four days, the Head of State wanted to address the “future” of the Africa-France partnership in different areas such as security, diplomacy and ecology.
>> Emmanuel Macron’s tour in Africa: “There is no longer the general enthusiasm that there could have been at the time,” says an expert
However, despite his desire to banish the spirits of Françafrique, the past surfaced several times during exchanges with his peers, particularly through announcements about the French military presence and works of art. Franceinfo looks back on this African tour.
Gabon: tropical forests and… Ali Bongo on the menu
Arriving in Gabon on Thursday, Emmanuel Macron attended the One Forest Summit in Libreville (capital of Gabon), which brought together several African heads of state to protect tropical forests. “We will make an additional 100 million euros available to countries that want to accelerate their strategy to protect vital carbon and biodiversity reserves,” promised the French President, who in return is calling for “more political commitment” from African countries.
But Emmanuel Macron’s ecological “action plan” wasn’t the only topic discussed during his stopover in Gabon. Accused with that visit of indirectly supporting outgoing President Ali Bongo, who is running for re-election this year, he staunchly defended himself. “I didn’t come here to invest anyone. I came only to show my friendship and esteem to a country and a fraternal people,” he justified after assuring that the “Françafrique” era was “over”.
Asked about the reduction of the French military presence in Africa, Emmanuel Macron assured that this represented “neither a retreat nor a withdrawal”, but rather a way of adapting to specific struggles, for example against drug trafficking or piracy.
Primarily agriculture and “Made in Africa” in Angola
For Emmanuel Macron, Angola must be an important new partner for France. In Luanda, the country’s capital, he attended an economic forum focused on agriculture along with around fifty French companies on Friday. No talk of “coming and offloading ready-made solutions,” assured the French president, who called for “respectful” cooperation to allow Angola, a major food importer, sovereignty in this area.
“This corresponds to my idea of the economic partnership between the African continent and France,” he explained to the audience before praising the advantages of “made in Africa”. Cooperation agreements to strengthen the Angolan agricultural sector have been concluded, in particular through aid from the French development agency in the amount of 200 million euros, emphasizes RFI, which must be used to finance a “climate resilience” program.
Parallel to this forum, Emmanuel Macron met his Angolan counterpart Joao Lourenço, whose commitment he praised “for the stability of the region”, in particular his mediation in the conflict between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo over the Congolese region of North Kivu.
A quick stopover in Brazzaville
The stage was complexly planned, almost dissonant with the foreign policy defended by Paris. Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Congo-Brazzaville on Friday was logically the shortest of his tour. The country has been ruled for almost 40 years by one and the same man, President Denis Sassou Nguesso, whom the tenant of the Elysee Palace met briefly.
On the eve of Emmanuel Macron’s arrival in Brazzaville, Congolese human rights organizations issued a statement on Thursday setting out their concerns and asking the French president to pass them on to his counterpart. In their statement, the NGOs complained in particular about the “narrowing of civil society space”, enforced disappearances, summary executions and “death” prisons…
The nature of the discussions between the two men was not noticeable. The head of state admitted that he stopped in the Congo “because you shouldn’t humiliate anyone on a tour”, even if his interlocutors were not always chosen according to “the best democratic standards”. In any case, his hosts considered his visit to be too short.
Tense exchange and a discreet meeting in the DRC
The final leg of Emmanuel Macron’s mission promised to be the most complicated. In the DRC on Saturday, he had to “defend a balancing act between the DRC and Rwanda over the crisis in the east of the country,” François Soudan, editor of the Jeune Afrique newspaper, told franceinfo. “To put it simply, the Congolese President criticizes France for not clearly condemning what he calls ‘Rwandan aggression’ and Macron prefers to take a backseat to regional UN mediations,” the expert said.
During the joint press conference between the two heads of state and government, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, explicitly denounced Rwanda’s “unjust and barbaric aggression” in the east of the country. “The open looting of the DRC must stop. Neither looting, nor balkanization, nor war,” defended Emmanuel Macron, before timidly urging everyone “to take their responsibilities, including Rwanda.” The French President also announced the release of €34 million in aid, on top of the €47 million pledged by the EU to help the people of eastern DRC in the grip of the M23 rebellion.
To journalists, the exchange between the two heads of state was tense on several occasions. “Look at us differently, by respecting us, by considering us as real partners and not always with a paternalistic gaze, with the thought of always knowing what is necessary for us,” declared Félix Tshisekedi, in particular to the applause of the Congolese press.
The leader of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has not digested the phrase “African compromise” used by former French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to describe his election in January 2019. “If there are irregularities [dans des élections en Occident]we’re not talking about a compromise along the lines of the American or French model,” said the Congolese president.
Shortly before this press conference, Emmanuel Macron had discreetly visited Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege, a popular doctor who was touted as a candidate for the next presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to information from France Inter, the Elysée Palace made this meeting public only after Emmanuel Macron left for France. A message unlikely to improve relations between Paris and Kinshasa.