France, President Macron Creates Commission on Africa

Di Vincenzo Santo*

(Da Stratfor – 29 agosto 2017)

Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron announced the creation of a presidential commission on Africa during a meeting with France’s ambassadors Aug. 29, Le Monde reported. The commission will include 11 people drawn from civil society who are linked to France and Africa (half European, half African). They will reportedly have direct access to the president and will be charged with advising him on ways to improve France’s partnership with Africa. This is the culmination of a campaign promise that Macron made and also ties into Macron’s understanding that France’s relationship with Africa needs to evolve to a “new generation.” In recent years, the relationship has been skewed toward security concerns and migration. Macron’s effort will provide an interesting mechanism for new ideas to challenge the status quo (…) The days of the French colonial empire may be long gone, but Paris’ involvement in the unstable region of the Sahel is not. French forces have been offering support for countries in the region — notably Group of 5 (G5) members Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Niger and Mauritania — for years. But as French concerns about the overmilitarization of the Sahel have grown, Paris seeks to find another solution in the form of the G5 Sahel Force. Made up of African troops from the G5 states, this counterterrorism and counter-trafficking entity may eventually play a critical role in stabilizing the Sahel region (…).

Emmanuel Macron

*Generale CA ris

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