Macron promotes economic ties in Angola



Having crossed three capitals in a matter of hours, French President Emmanuel Macron continued his African tour on Friday aimed at repairing damaged ties.

In the Angolan capital Luanda, Macron chaired an economic forum attended by more than 50 French companies and focused on agriculture.

“This is in line with my idea of ​​an economic partnership between the African continent and France,” Macron told some 100 delegates.

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“The mood has changed,” he said, adding that France wants to find solutions that are beneficial to both sides, and not “impose ready-made ones”.

France has for decades been involved in the oil industry of the Portuguese-speaking country in southern Africa, which is one of the two largest producers of crude oil on the continent.

Macron’s visit provided an opportunity to explore opportunities for cooperation in other sectors.

According to Macron, the two governments signed an agreement to develop Angola’s agricultural sector, in particular “climate resilience and water security,” as well as to help renew the coffee sector.

Angola, which imports most of the food it consumes, wants to strengthen its “sovereignty” and find new sources of income in this sector, according to the French president.

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Macron was scheduled to meet Angolan counterpart Joao Lourenço before traveling to the neighboring Republic of the Congo (also known as Congo-Brazzaville).

The visit is part of a drive to strengthen France’s ties with English-speaking and Portuguese-speaking Africa.

– Anti-French sentiments –

He arrived in Luanda late Thursday from Gabon on the second leg of his tour.

Anti-French sentiment is running high in some of Africa’s former colonies as the continent becomes a new diplomatic battlefield with the growing influence of Russia and China.

On Thursday, Macron said the era of French meddling in African affairs is over and there is no desire to return to the past.

“The era of Francafrique is long over,” Macron said in the Gabon capital of Libreville, referring to the post-colonial strategy of supporting authoritarian leaders to protect Paris’s interests.

ALSO READ: Macron says he won’t apologize to Algeria for colonization

Leaving Luanda, Macron will head to the Congo, another former French colony where Denis Sassou Nguesso has ruled with an iron fist for nearly four decades.

On Thursday, Congolese human rights groups asked the French president to convey their concerns to Sassou Nguesso and called for the release of former presidential candidates Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko and André Ocombi Salissa.

In 2016, they were each sentenced to 20 years in prison for endangering state security after they ran against Sassou Nguesso in a disputed presidential election that was followed by violence.

Macron in the DRC

Macron will visit the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which was ruled by Belgium during the colonial era.

President Felix Tshisekedi has been at the helm of the DRC since January 2019 but is due for re-election later this year, and here the opposition has also expressed doubts about the French leader’s visit.

The DRC accuses its smaller neighbor Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group in the country’s east, but Kigali denies the accusation.

Dozens of young Congolese demonstrators with Russian flags gathered outside the French embassy in the capital Kinshasa on Wednesday to denounce Macron’s visit.

France and Western allies accuse the Russian mercenary group Wagner, which has been heavily involved in the fighting in Ukraine, with activities in Mali and the Central African Republic, also once under French rule.