NAIROBI
\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron, in Nairobi for a two-day economic summit, has defended European involvement in Africa, contrasting relations with China\u2019s strategy across the continent.
\nIn an interview with Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report, the French leader said he first strongly condemned colonialism when he came to power in 2017.
\nBut he said the colonial era was not solely to blame for issues still affecting Africa. \u201cWe must not exonerate from all responsibility the seven decades that followed independence,\u201d he added, calling on African leaders to improve governance.
\nEuropean former colonial powers such as France and the UK remain targets for criticism in Africa but Macron maintained that they were not \u201cthe predators of this century.\u201d
\n\u201cEurope defends the international order, effective multilateralism, the rule of law, free and open trade,\u201d he was quoted as saying.
\nIn contrast, the United States and China were locked in a trade standoff, with no respect for the rules, he added.
\nOn critical minerals and rare earths, China, he said, \u201coperates according to a predatory logic: it does the processing at home\u201d and creates \u201cdependencies with the rest of the world.\u201d
\nMacron, leading a two-day summit aimed at renewing France\u2019s engagement with Africa after years of strained ties with its former colonies, said Europe was instead promoting \u201ca strategy of autonomy\u201d for both continents.
\nCentral to transforming Africa\u2019s fortunes should be an overhaul of international finance, to set up a system of financial guarantees to bring in private investment, he added.
\nFrance withdrew its troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger after the military in each country seized power between 2020 and 2023.
\nAsked about the juntas, Macron said: \u201cI\u2019m convinced that we must let these states and their leaders, even putschists, chart their own course.\u201d
\nBut he defended France\u2019s military presence in the Sahel region, as it had been requested to fight the jihadist threat.
\n\u201cWhen our presence was no longer wanted after the coups, we left,\u201d he said. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t a humiliation but a logical response to a given situation.\u201d
\n\u201cA new era is about to start. The Sahel will one day regain normal governance\u201d with democratically elected leaders who \u201cgenuinely care about their people,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI French President Emmanuel Macron, in Nairobi for a two-day economic summit, has defended European involvement in Africa, contrasting relations with China\u2019s strategy across the continent. In an interview with Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report, the French leader said he first strongly condemned colonialism when he came to power in 2017. But he said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-545957","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n