Presenting France’s foreign policy in Africa to the French Senate on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said that France seeks to remain a “relevant partner” in Africa despite “anti-French rhetoric”.
The head of the French diplomacy declared that Africa’s young people had challenged France “to renew ourselves, to change our way of doing things”, at a time when Africa’s population, which already stands at 1.1 billion, is set to double by 2050 according to the United Nations.
With this in view, Ms. Colonna expressed France’s desire “to build a new, balanced and reciprocal relationship” with the countries of Africa, adding that France will remain a close and relevant partner on the African continent.
In addition, the Minister did not ignore “the spread of anti-French rhetoric in some French-speaking African countries”, saying that this “is partly linked to the legacy of history, partly to the frustrations of young people, and partly to hostile companies, particularly from Russia”.
After China, France is the second largest foreign investor on the African continent. And in fifteen years, the number of subsidiaries of French companies has doubled on the continent, as has investment, Catherine Colonna detailed.
For his part, French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu pointed out that, over time, African countries had “decided to diversify their partnerships” and “to enter into competition”, including in the area of defense.