00:00Well, as France's influence and military presence on the African continent has been in steady decline over the past several years, Emmanuel Macron is now on a four-nation tour of the continent.
00:10The French president wrapped up his visit in his first stop of the former French colony of Mauritius Friday, where he insisted that France does not want to dominate but to cooperate.
00:22He heads to South Africa today, which is also hosting a G20 summit, before then traveling to Gabon and Angola later this week.
00:28Here's Charlotte Hughes with the Roundup.
00:32Touching down in Mauritius on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron kicked off his five-day Africa tour.
00:39Macron announced that he and the Mauritian prime minister had decided to bolster security cooperation between their nations.
00:45But he was unable to avoid a question about the situation in Madagascar, the neighboring island where President Andrew Azueln was ousted in a coup in October following youth-led demonstrations.
00:55Radzueln was evacuated by the French army.
00:58A move perceived by some Madagascans as interference by the former colonial power in the country's affairs.
01:04The French president therefore wanted to clarify Paris' position.
01:07We have taken note of the willingness of the new Madagascar authorities to respond to the aspiration of the youth, who have expressed themselves with strength and dignity.
01:18France will support this transition with an attitude of openness, supporting the priorities of the Madagascar people, particularly regarding economic development, youth, energy, the fight against corruption and illicit enrichment.
01:29The next stop on Macron's trip is Johannesburg, where he will attend the G20 summit.
01:37He will then head to Gabon for discussions with President Bryce Oligin-Gamer, two years after the coup that put an end to the Bongo family's long rule.
01:45Macron will then travel to Angola for a summit between the European Union and the African Union.
01:50Well, for more analysis on the French president's tour of the continent, then we are going to speak now to Emmanuel Higa, specialist in international development and negotiations.
02:00Thank you very much for joining us today, Emmanuel.
02:04So, as you know, Macron's tour of the continent, so to speak, comes as France's influence and even positive views of France, quite frankly, across the continent, especially in former colonies, have declined.
02:17Do you agree with that?
02:18And if so, where do you think Emmanuel Macron has gone wrong since he was first elected in 2017?
02:22Well, I think there was an undercurrent of dissatisfaction and anger, actually, amongst the youths of many former French colonies, which probably are the French government either ignored or probably underestimated.
02:41And that kind of blew up when we started seeing the spate of coup d'etats in the Israel states, Mali, first of all, Burkina Faso, then Niger.
02:58And we saw the kind of support these military hunters got from the young population.
03:06I think what went wrong there was an underestimation by the French government of what the youths felt about French policies and French relations with the former colonies, particularly the leadership of these countries.
03:26And, in fact, a material aspect like the use of the French French franc, the CFA franc, which many people don't accept anymore.
03:39So, that's what happened.
03:42And I think the message has gone down well with the French government.
03:47And Macron is actually trying to pick up the pieces.
03:51I think he's doing a good job in doing that.
03:53He's made a lot of effort.
03:54And trying to also diversify French international relations in Africa, going towards other countries that are not francophone.
04:12And that is why we see France very active in countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia.
04:18Recently, there was a big investment forum in France for Ethiopia and European Union, and also other countries like Angola, which we know France is going to – Emmanuel Macron is going to visit during this tour of the southern part of Africa.
04:35What's to say, by pursuing partnerships with these new nations that you just cited there – of course, as a reminder, this time he's visiting Mauritius, South Africa, Gabon, and Angola – what's to say that he will not make the same mistakes as he attempts to build closer forms of cooperation in other nations of Africa that he made with France's former colonies?
04:55What suggests – you said he's doing a good job as he changes his strategy.
05:00What suggests that the strategy is any different?
05:03Well, I think now France has understood, first of all, that they had to dismantle their military bases.
05:15They've done a good job there, and in these new countries, France has understood that they should place the focus on economic cooperation, scientific cooperation, and business.
05:32It shouldn't be, you know, this kind of relations as they had with the former French colonies, with a lot of interference of France in leadership issues, for example, and what the African youths felt as a paternalistic cooperation.
05:53So, that is going to be different in these new countries, particularly the non-French-speaking countries, and I think Macron has learned from the past, is going to try to do everything to make his – this new era of French relations with African countries successful.
06:12That's what I think.
06:13We've got just over a minute left, unfortunately, Emmanuel Higa, but I want to ask you concretely, Mr. Macron – French President Macron has said that these new partnerships will be win-win, beneficial for both sides.
06:26To take into account some of the concerns of the youth, at least in former French colonies that you mentioned earlier, is this a credible claim from the French president, and what would that look like?
06:36Well, it's going to look like a more balanced negotiation of trade relations, agreements, and all that.
06:47France is one of the top partners of African countries in terms of commercial relations.
06:54And France has learned from the past, particularly in the South States, that one of the things that went wrong was a very unbalanced trade relation with those countries.
07:07So, they are going to try to balance the trade agreements with African countries.
07:12And I think there's going to be a great focus on cultural, scientific relations, too, which France – well, initially, France was practicing more of that with the – what they call the France – France-Afrique group of nations, the former French colonies.
07:32And I think now it's going to open up very wide to non-French-speaking countries, so we're going to get youths from many countries that are not French-speaking coming to France to do their studies, to probably do research, and things like that.
07:47Dr. Emmanuel Iga, unfortunately, that's all we have time for, although I know we could spend much more time digging into this question.
07:53Thank you so very much for coming on the show today.
07:56Well, that's all we have for you for this edition.
07:58Do stay with us, though.
07:59I'll be back in just about two minutes with a fresh look at the day's tough news.
08:02I'll be back in just about two minutes with a fresh look at the day's tough news.
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