Macron’s Indiscretion Mixes Up France’s Cards In Africa

The crisis that French President Emmanuel Macron created with Algeria mixed Paris’ accounts in its dealings with the countries of the African continent, and the influence and interests of the former colony on this continent are threatened, due to the “teenage” behaviour of President Macron.

It is a “strange coincidence” that Mali summoned the French ambassador to it, in protest against the statements of the French president, which were described as “unfriendly and insulting” against the institutions of the Mali state, at a time when the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, Ramtane Lamamra, was on an official visit to Bamako.

From Mali, Lamamra said in an interview with Malian media; “I would like to remind those who want to hear us, that Africa is the cradle of humanity and the grave of occupation”.

Lamamra called on the French authorities to “unconditionally respect African countries and accept an equal partnership with the countries of the continent”, these statements came at a time when relations between Paris on the one hand, and Algeria and Mali on the other, are experiencing serious tension.

It is known that Macron had questioned the existence of an Algerian nation before the French occupation of Algeria in 1830, and accused the Algerian authorities of using memory to offend their country, which caused the summoning of the Algerian ambassador to Paris for consultations, and banned the French warplanes from using the Algerian airspace, and he considered that the “legitimacy” of the current government in Mali is democratically invalid as well, a matter that Bamako considered “harmful to the friendly relations between the two countries.”

The party that benefited from the French president’s recklessness against some of its country’s former colonies (Algeria and Mali…), is Italy, to which Foreign Minister Lamamra flew on Wednesday to participate on Thursday in the third edition of the “Italy-Africa” ministerial meeting.

The Algerian Foreign Ministry stated: “At the invitation of his Italian counterpart, Luigi Di Maio, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad, Ramtane Lamamra, is on a working visit to Rome, where he will participate, on October 7 and 8, in the work of the third edition of the ministerial meeting “Italy – Africa”, which is devoted to addressing the energy and climatic challenges facing Africa, and their repercussions on the development path of the countries of the continent.

The meeting will be attended by the foreign ministers of African countries, high-ranking officials, experts from international and regional institutions, governmental and non-governmental organizations, employers of international companies and private investors, environmental protection and economic development companies in light of the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The strange thing is that the “Italy-Africa” summit in Rome coincides with another “France-Africa” summit hosted by the city of Montpellier, (Friday, October 8), where, for the first time, African heads of state will be absent, according to what was reported by the French press agency (Agence France Press), but young entrepreneurs, artists and athletes will participate on their behalf to try to “re-establish” France’s relationship with Africa, in a decision that some attributed to the crisis experienced by Algeria and Mali on the one hand, and France on the other, according to the same source.

AFP added that it is the first time that African heads of states are excluded from this summit, since 1973 due to the crisis between Paris and a number of its former colonies.

The Cameroonian intellectual, Achille Mbembe, who is responsible for organizing the summit, said that France is very disconnected from the reality of the new movements, political and cultural experiences in Africa.

According to observers, the French authorities now have to review their policies and positions on the countries of the continent, otherwise, they will lose their influence and lose their inherited interests since the colonial era, especially in light of a frantic race by rising global powers to win the delegation of the African continent.