(3 minutes read)
- France is reinventing the relationship with Africa in a hard way to make it sustainable and at the same time result-oriented
- It may be recalled that four years ago French president Emmanuel Macron spoke to students at the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso about the concept of reinventing the relationship with Africa
France is reinventing the relationship with Africa in a hard way to make it sustainable and at the same time result-oriented. It may be recalled that four years ago French president Emmanuel Macron spoke to students at the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso about the concept of reinventing the relationship with Africa.
Although there is an increased commitment to build relationship, the process is an uphill task because of the inherent challenges. For instance, last year’s protests in Dakar targeted President Macron after his impassioned defence of freedom of expression in the wake of the death of a teacher at the hands of a suspected Islamist extremist.
Will France succeed in that effort to bring Africa closer to it economically, socially and emotionally? Opinions differ. A few feel that it is necessary to mobilise entire societies in order to look to the future with confidence. At the same time, there should be conscious efforts to repair the relationship with concrete plans and a sincere mind. The moot point is how could the mistrust that accumulated over centuries be wiped out in one generation? One has to wait and see how the reproachment process will be carried through would yield results.
