The Ministers of Armed Forces and Foreign Affairs are expected on July 14 and 15 in Niger and Côte d’Ivoire to sketch France’s new positioning towards the African continent. French soldiers must leave Mali by September.
This is a vast project launched long months ago, long before the war in Ukraine: the redefinition of France’s strategic posture in Africa. A subject on which diplomats and soldiers are constrained today to accelerate while the last soldiers deployed as part of the operation “Barkhane”, launched in 2014, are supposed to leave Mali by September.
This new “offer” France on the continent, the Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, are preparing to sketch her during a first joint trip on July 14 and 15 , in Niger, then in Côte d’Ivoire for Mr. Lecornu, before a trip to Africa of the Head of State announced for the end of the month. M. Lecornu and M colonna must in particular visit the base of Niamey where France will leave about a thousand men at the end of the summer. They should also go to a village where a project for the fight against child malnutrition has been carried out for three years by the United Nations. A loan of aid in the amount of 50 million euros from the French Development Agency (AFD) must also be signed.
During this trip, the “civil-military nexus”, in the words of a diplomatic source, is particularly highlighted. A display already tempted in the past, but which some consider as essential to reactivate because of geostrategic upheavals in Africa and the emergency for France to position itself in the competition between powers, in particular vis-à-vis the Russia. “In many respects, development can and must contribute more strongly to the solution, focusing on young people, job creation and sustainable development”, assumes Rémy Rioux, the director of AFD Who also sees in the appointment of Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, the Secretary of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships, “a clear and positive signal in this sense”.
a “new strategy “In early September 2>
The journey of M.Cleurnu and M me colonna is not supposed to engrave in the marble the whole French roadmap. The chief of staff of the armies, General Thierry Burkhard, and the Quai d’Orsay, must officially present a “new strategy” in early September, according to elements communicated to the press, Tuesday July 12. “We are going to take the time to think about this future offer with our partners in the Sahel,” added a military source during the same exchange, in accordance with the very prudent line defended at all levels of the Ministry of Armed Forces for months. An offer that is mostly bilateral in the short term, while European mechanisms for Africa such as training missions or European peace facility – making it possible to unlock funds for the purchase of weapons – appear still little mature.
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