Vol 49 No 25 | FRANCEAFRICA Jungle justice 12th December 2008 Lingering court cases such as the murder of Judge Bernard Borrel in Djibouti, the Angolagate arms trial and the arrest of Rwanda’s Rose Kabuye cast a shadow over...
Vol 49 No 24 | LIBYANORWAYFRANCE Identifying the problems 28th November 2008 France’s Total and Spain’s Repsol YPF oil companies are under pressure to divulge who received more than US$6 million in consultant fees paid to suspected politically connected intermediaries...
Vol 49 No 23 | FRANCEAFRICA Espion embarrassant 14th November 2008 The leaked diaries of former French intelligence chief Yves Bertrand have enraged and amused the political establishment in Paris, which is already intrigued by the accusations of high-level...
Vol 49 No 18 | RWANDAFRANCE The dead bite back 5th September 2008 Rwanda accuses France of involvement in the 1994 genocide; France blames Rwanda; expect more accusations soon France had hoped to repair the breach but Rwandan President Paul Kagame rejected the olive branch. On 5 August, his government published the report of an ‘independent’ commission,...
Vol 49 No 7 | FRANCEFRANCOPHONE WEST AFRICA La Françafrique est morte, vive la Françafrique 28th March 2008 It was right in the spirit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's energetic ambivalence on Africa policy that he chose to announce Paris's new military plans for the region on a state visit to South Africa, the continent's economic powerhouse. Sarkozy was visiting the usual Francophone redoubts of Libreville and Ndjamena last month but he saved the big announcements for South Africa. It was not the policy revolution that President Nicolas Sarkozy had been promising with his calls for a 'rupture' with France's past African policies. Faced with the complexities...
Vol 49 No 5 | FRANCEAFRICA Bad marks 29th February 2008 Just before President Nicolas Sarkozy and his new wife, Carla Bruni, set off on their African safari on 27 February to Chad, South Africa and Angola, Germany’s Bertelsmann...
Vol 49 No 2 | SOUTH AFRICAFRANCE Taxing times 16th January 2008 Two politicians – South Africa’s highly effective Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and France’s forthright Cooperation Minister Jean-Marie Bockel – are adding to the pressure on international institutions to...