Paris
\nPresident Emmanuel Macron on Monday begins a three-nation tour of western African states in the first trip to Africa of his new term as he seeks to reboot France\u2019s post-colonial relationship with the continent. Macron will begin his July 25-28 tour, also the first venture outside Europe of his new mandate, with a visit to Cameroon, before moving on to Benin and then finishing the trip in Guinea-Bissau.
\nTop of the agenda in the talks will be food supply issues, with African nations fearing shortages especially of grain due to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. But security will also loom large as France prepares to complete its pullout from Mali this year, with all countries in the region seeking to head off fears of Islamist insurgencies.
\nThe trip to three countries which rarely feature on the itinerary of global leaders comes with Macron, who won a new term in April, pledging to keep up his bid for a new relationship between France and Africa.
\nFrance has also followed with concern the emergence of other powers seeking a foothold in an area Paris still considers parts of its sphere of influence, notably Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan but also increasingly China and Russia. The tour \u201cwill show the commitment of the president in the process of renewing the relationship with the African continent\u201d, said a French presidential official, who asked not to be named.
\nIt will signal that the African continent is a \u201cpolitical priority\u201d of his presidency. In Cameroon, which has been riven by ethnic violence and an insurgency by anglophone separatists, Macron will meet President Paul Biya, 89, who has ruled the country for almost 40 years and is the longest-serving non-royal leader in the world.
\nBiya has run the country with an iron fist, refusing demands for federalism and cracking down on the rebellion by separatists. Macron will move on Wednesday to Benin, a neighbour of Africa\u2019s most populous nation Nigeria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paris President Emmanuel Macron on Monday begins a three-nation tour of western African states in the first trip to Africa of his new term as he seeks to reboot France\u2019s post-colonial relationship with the continent. Macron will begin his July 25-28 tour, also the first venture outside Europe of his new mandate, with a visit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-273290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n