Emmanuel Macron ends his tour of four Central African countries on Saturday. His visit was of “fairly moderate” interest to the inhabitants of the countries crossed, according to François Soudan, editorial director of the newspaper Jeune Afrique.
As Emmanuel Macron ends a four-day tour in Africa, the editorial director of the newspaper Jeune Afrique, François Soudan, estimates on Saturday March 4 on franceinfo that the French president has not met “the popular enthusiasm that there could be at the time”. Busy restoring the image of France in Angola, Gabon, Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Emmanuel Macron was on the other hand “caught up by its hosts, each using it for domestic political purposes”. François Soudan also believes that the French president had all the difficulties to “defend a balancing act between the DRC and Rwanda”.
franceinfo: Is Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Africa a success?
Francois Sudan: It was ultimately a fairly classic tour that wanted to calm down in a region, Central Africa, which is less affected than West Africa by anti-French sentiment. It was framed by a general discourse which hesitated between humility and self-satisfaction and which, for the umpteenth time, announced the end of Françafrique. The starting point of the tour was also very politically correct, with the One Forrest Summit, but it was very quickly caught up with by its hosts, each using it for domestic political purposes. For example, even if Macron defended himself from any pre-election interference, it is obvious that the way in which he highlighted the Gabonese Ali Bongo Ondimba, vying for a third term, benefited the latter.
The most sensitive stage was this Saturday in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
Yes, because Emmanuel Macron had to defend a balancing act between the DRC and Rwanda regarding the crisis in the east of the country. To put it simply, the Congolese president criticizes France for not clearly condemning what he calls “Rwandan Aggression” and Emmanuel Macron prefers to place himself in the background of the regional mediations of the UN. It must be said that there is an increasingly sensitive security axis between France and Rwanda on the African continent. In the Central African Republic, the Rwandan contingent balances the presence of Wagner’s mercenaries. In Mozambique, Rwandan troops secure an area where Total is established. In northern Benin, the Rwandans will assist an army plagued by Sahelian jihadists. All this explains the difficulty for Emmanuel Macron to have a critical position with regard to Rwanda. The president of the DRC perceived this well since he orchestrated various pressures on France, in particular an anti-French demonstration during which Russian flags were waved in front of the French embassy.
Did Emmanuel Macron’s trip interest the inhabitants of the countries crossed?
I would say quite moderately. There is no longer, in the travels of the French presidents of Emmanuel Macron, the interest or the popular enthusiasm that there could have been at the time. Besides, we no longer have those famous popular receptions that there were at the time of De Gaulle, Pompidou, Giscard, that no longer exists. Now, there is a certain lack of interest and a certain estrangement from France and what it represents.