The Francophonie summit in Tunisia entered its final phase on Sunday with, on the menu, a meeting devoted to the political instability in French-speaking Africa which is fueling growing citizen mistrust.
After a day dedicated to digital as a development tool and to the ambition of the 88 members of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) to strengthen its international role, the leaders met again on Sunday for new meetings, including one in camera. closed centered on “citizen mistrust”.
Before the summit, the secretary general of the OIF, Louise Mushikiwabo, had told AFP that she wanted to provoke a “reflection” for an awareness among the leaders of the continent.
For her, “the revolt that we see in Francophone youth in Africa comes from political disenchantment”, “frustrations of everyday life” and vis-à-vis “the ruling class”.
“It’s not at all a rejection of the French language,” said the former head of Rwandan diplomacy, conceding that it sometimes reflected on France, a former colonizing power in the region.
To distinguish itself from the summits punctuated by a litany of speeches, the Djerba meeting adopted a new format of round tables between senior leaders, with a rapporteur responsible for presenting the main points of the discussions to the general public.
Other workshops on Sunday will be devoted to youth and women’s entrepreneurship, before the opening of an economic forum which will extend the summit on these themes.
Position on Ukraine
The OIF, founded in 1970, has three main missions: to promote French, in particular through educational programs, to develop economic cooperation in a French-speaking area of 321 million speakers expected to more than double by 2050, and to participate in mediation of international conflicts.
On the first day of the summit, Ms. Mushikiwabo insisted on the ambition of the bloc to affirm its “influence in a fractured world” and to have a “Francophonie more united in the development of common positions” to propose to other multilateral organizations. .
Tensions between French-speaking countries, however, splashed the opening of the summit when the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, refused to pose in the family photo, next to Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, whom Kinshasa accuses of supporting M23 rebels in eastern DRC.
Another burning international issue: Ukraine, an observer country of the OIF, which has other non-French speakers among its members, associates or observers, such as the United Arab Emirates and Serbia.
French President Emmanuel Macron, present at the summit on Saturday, reported a “declaration by all members” expressing “a very clear position on the war launched by Russia in Ukraine”.
However, the gap over this conflict has widened recently between African countries who regret the lack of interest of Westerners in their own crises, contrasting with the speed of their intervention on the war in Ukraine.
A Declaration of Djerba must be adopted at the end of the summit, which will also be an opportunity to re-elect Ms. Mushikiwabo, the only candidate in the running, for a new four-year term.
France candidate
Before leaving for Paris on Saturday evening, Mr. Macron announced that France was a candidate to succeed Tunisia in 2024 as President of La Francophonie.
During the summit, France announced a loan of 200 million euros to Tunisia, to support its faltering economy, which is highly dependent on food imports, particularly from Ukraine and Russia.
Mr. Macron, on the other hand, only made a timid allusion to the political crisis which has shaken the country since the coup by President Kais Saied, in July 2021, accused by his opponents of having put an end to a unique democratic experience. in the Arab world.
Before legislative elections scheduled for mid-December in Tunisia to renew a Parliament whose role has been significantly reduced by a recent constitutional reform, Mr. Macron recalled that “fundamental freedoms were intrinsic” to “the democratic acquis in Tunisia”.
Aid to Haiti
The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, announced Sunday at the Francophonie summit an investment of $16.5 million to help stabilize Haiti.
There are also funds to root out corruption and prosecute perpetrators of gender-based violence and $8 million for humanitarian aid provided by the United Nations.
The Haitian government has called for international military intervention to fight gangs blocking access to fuel and essential supplies, amid a worsening cholera outbreak.
The United States has said that Canada would be an ideal leader for such a military intervention, but Ottawa has suggested other ways to help Haiti.