This Wednesday, February 16, Emmanuel Macron will be alongside his Senegalese counterpart Macky Sall, current president of the African Union. They will participate together, in Paris, in an event of the French Development Agency (AFD).
This event, a series of roundtables on ” how to invest ” for ” a new alliance between Africa and Europe is part of the ongoing reflection on issues related to development aid. On the side of the Élysée, we speak of ” software overhaul “, that is to say to review the relationship to the African continent both in ” terms, methods and objectives “, we assure.
” We don’t want alms »
A revision that notably involves semantics. At the Montpellier summitthe French president was challenged on the word and the notion of ” development », « we don’t want alms » keep repeating African actors on the ground.
This research must also lead to a reflection on the substance. How can we better meet the needs on the continent, particularly in the field of infrastructure or support for SMEs?
The French cooperation body faces various challenges that are often highlighted, such as slowness, lack of flexibility and the complexity of the mechanisms. Pitfalls difficult to overcome as was recalled this Wednesday morning by African entrepreneurs who met the French Minister in charge of Foreign Trade, Franck Riester.
” To be at the meeting » in the face of Chinese competition
Questions that will be brought by France to Brussels, which wishes to “ to be at the meeting in the face of Chinese competition, for example. A speech by Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Macky Sall is expected at the end of the day, a few hours before a much-awaited dinner at the Élysée Palace on the future of French military engagement and the day before the European summit between the EU and the AU.
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