Speaking at the close of the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya – the first such summit to be held in an English-speaking country – French President Emmanuel Macron was eager to redraw the contours of France’s sometimes uneasy relationship with a continent upon which Paris built much of its colonial empire.
The French president called for a new model of partnership with African nations – a “partnership of equals”. Speaking to FRANCE 24, RFI and TV5Monde at the end of the two-day summit, Macron covered topics ranging from drawing more foreign investment to the African continent to the worsening security crisis in Mali.
Here are the key takeaways of the interview.
'Ingratitude'
Speaking on the unfolding crisis in Mali, where a joint offensive by Tuareg separatists and jihadists has recaptured the town of Kidal and put the ruling junta on the defensive, Macron said that his thoughts were with the Malian people.
Alongside its allies in Niger and Burkina Faso, the military junta that seized power in Mali has driven out the French troops that had for years fought against the insurgent armed groups there. Looking back, Macron said that Paris could have pushed harder for the struggle to re-establish security in the war-torn country to be accompanied by an equal push for economic development and political dialogue.
“The problem is that we weren’t actually tougher, or perhaps more assertive on this front,” he said. “We didn’t press the leaders more forcefully to step in more quickly with administrative measures, development and empowerment projects and opportunities wherever territory had been recaptured from the terrorists. Because, ultimately, it ended up appearing as though a security guarantee had been provided.”
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“We should have had that challenging dialogue sooner,” he added. “And perhaps in such cases, we should have rethought our military presence sooner.”
But he lashed out at what he said was a re-writing of history by the stridently anti-French forces who later seized power in the country and demanded the withdrawal of French troops.
“We were met with ingratitude and a great deal of misinformation,” he said. “And I deeply blame the leaders and all those who made those unacceptable remarks. Nevertheless, it is the Malian people who are suffering now – it is the entire region that is suffering.”
Open for business
“It’s not budgetary aid that African countries want,” Macron said, recounting what he said was a conversation with Kenyan President William Ruto. “It’s investment.”
Acknowledging that France’s development aid had declined as wrangling over the country’s deficit pushed successive governments to cut back on public spending, Macron nonetheless maintained that private investment played a crucial role in creating local jobs.
“The forum we created – this new coalition of stakeholders – brought together French and African entrepreneurs for the first time,” he said. “So, as you can see, it’s about private funding, it’s about projects we design together, and co-investment.”
The French president once again hailed what he said was €23 billion of investment from private actors across both France and Africa that had been mobilised during the summit, adding that the decision to invite business leaders to the two-day gathering stressed the importance of smoothing away obstacles to bringing capital to the African continent.
Macron again championed an overhaul in the global financial architecture, calling for a first-loss guarantee mechanism to be put in place to attract more investors to a continent that has long been viewed as a risky prospect.
Hearts and minds
Having put young people at the centre of his charm offensive in Anglophone Africa, Macron rejected the idea that anti-French sentiment was widespread among Africa's youth. Instead, he blamed what he described as a handful of influential online activists he said were backed by Moscow and other foreign powers.
“There’s a segment of young people who are influenced by certain activists whose views are often given a lot of attention, and who also repeat the narratives put forward by other powers who are the true colonisers of the 21st century – namely, the Russians and others,” he said. “But when we set the record straight, as we must, there is no reason not to love France today.”
Challenged on the fact that African students on average pay 16 times more to study at French universities than their European counterparts, Macron held firm.
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“Universities are allowed to charge non-EU students tuition, but that's only natural because the collective choice we've made in France is that students don't pay; it's the taxpayer who pays,” he said. “But the French taxpayer didn’t say, 'I’m going to pay for the education of every student in the world, no matter where they come from.’”
The French president insisted that the country’s universities remained significantly more affordable than their rivals across the world, and that scholarships were available on a case-by-case basis.
“We want to continue supporting talented students from Kenya, Senegal, and Ivory Coast who have been identified by the universities they’ve chosen, and at that point, the university can select them – it can decide whether or not to grant them tuition-free status,” he said. “Campus France can provide support, and we will continue to have a very attractive policy.”
Supporting African dialogue
Turning to the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Macron called for Kinshasa and the Rwanda backed AFC/M23 rebel group to restart talks to find a political solution to the conflict.
He outlined four fundamentals that he said would secure the DRC’s sovereignty and territorial integrity: the withdrawal of all foreign forces on Congolese soil, the resumption of political dialogue, the reclaiming by Kinshasa of the country’s fractious east and the joint fight against terrorist groups in the region.
“What we need to do collectively today is to ensure that everyone working on this issue – including the African Union – is fully engaged,” he said. “I believe the African Union must lead all of this work.”
Immigration
Asked about the US’s newfound policy of deporting undocumented migrants to third-party countries in Africa such as the DR Congo, Macron said he was uneasy with the idea of putting such a policy into practice.
“I feel uncomfortable – not to say that I disagree – with the idea of deporting men and women to countries that are not their own, and in a sense entering into monetised agreements with third countries.”
But he said he stood by the European Union’s increasingly hardline approach to immigration, with the European Parliament having approved legislation facilitating the creation of “return hubs” that would make it easier to expel people who have unsuccessfully sought asylum from European soil.
“We support this policy – being much more vigilant about entry controls, moving much more quickly, and being more rigorous about returning people to their countries of origin,” he said. “And, in fact, this is something we’re also revisiting in many of our bilateral dialogues, because there’s a lot of room for improvement. There are also countries that aren’t playing by the rules. So we need to improve this dialogue in a clear-eyed and completely frank manner.”
“On the other hand, we must remain true to our values, to peace, and thus protect the women and men who are risking their lives in their own countries for political reasons or because of wars,” he added.
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