“It’s time to put an end to the figure of the Frenchman who gives lessons”, slips an adviser to the Gabonese president

We were far from visits “à la Chirac”. There were indeed these few dozen people well supervised by soldiers at the exit of Libreville airport, in Gabon, on Wednesday March 1. But on the road to the presidential palace, no red white blue flag, no jubilant crowd.

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Emmanuel Macron is taking part in Libreville with several Central African heads of state in a summit devoted to the protection of tropical forests, at the start of a four-day tour of the region. This summit, called One Forest Summit, and co-organized by the two countries, is intended to find “concrete solutions” for the conservation of forests, the protection of the climate and species in a context of climate change. The French and Gabonese presidents are due to conclude the summit with two speeches at the end of the day, Thursday March 2.

After Gabon, Emmanuel Macron is expected in Angola, Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. And for his 18th trip to the African continent, the president wants to be humble. A visit in the form of a diplomatic offensive, even a reconquest operation, intended to open a new era in the relationship between France and the continent where anti-French resentment continues to grow. “It is time to put an end to the figure of the Frenchman who gives lessons”explains an adviser to Gabonese President Ali Bongo.

Eleven speeches in three days

In an attempt to stem the very clear loss of French influence on the continent, Emmanuel Macron did not come empty-handed. He thus offered his Gabonese counterpart an ethno-musical background: 700 hours of recordings collected by a French researcher in the 1950s and 1960s. As a new sign of this respect that he never ceases to proclaim, in line with the royal treasures handed over to Benin last year.

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Emmanuel Macron therefore never stops turning the page on “Françafrique”, recalling that the continent is no longer France’s backyard, when others take its place such as China, India and above all Russia: “Africa is anything but a land of anguish and resignation. It is a land of optimism and voluntarism“, he pleaded thus at the Elysée, during his speech on the “future” of the “Africa-France partnership”, on February 27.

The Head of State thus urges French companies to fight to exist in economic competition in Africa. The delegation of bosses that accompanies him will be able to work behind the scenes while he tries to win back public opinion. Eleven speeches are planned in three days.