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The two jobs are the most important diplomatic posts for Tinubu's government which has developed close relations with French President Emmanuel Macron who is seeking allies following France's eviction from the Sahel region and now faces a diplomatic firefight to restore relations with the Trump administration in Washington (AC Vol 65 No 25 Macron tilts to Anglophone Africa after Sahelian exits)...
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France and the European Union are silent: democracy is an obsolete value in the new Trumpian world and in the context of the new Africa policy of President Emmanuel Macron...
But such rivalry has been forgotten by most of Nigeria's elite: Nigeria is France's biggest trading partner in Africa and Tinubu rarely misses a meeting President Emmanuel Macron on his many éscales in Paris...
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The main success of the summit was that top European leaders including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz French President Emmanuel Macron and Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk were in Angola's capital...
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Vol 66 No 22 |
- NIGERIA
- SAHEL
French questionAbuja is acutely aware of the Sahelian distrust stirred by Tinubu's warm ties with France's President Emmanuel Macron...
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Last week Belgium became the latest country to endorse Morocco's plan for semi-autonomous status for Western Sahara joining a growing list led by the US France Spain and the United Kingdom as well as a growing number of African countries including Ghana and Kenya (AC Vol 65 No 16 Emmanuel Macron's Saharan mystery)...
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Vol 66 No 21 |
- MADAGASCAR
Rajoelina was the fifth African leader close to France's President Emmanuel Macron to have been ousted since 2020...
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However a growing number of EU countries including France and Spain now support Morocco's plan for the territory to have semi-autonomous status but remain controlled by Rabat (AC Vol 65 No 16 Emmanuel Macron's Saharan mystery)...
This was more of an invitation than a summons – unlike in December 2019 when France's President Emmanuel Macron called five Sahelian leaders (four democratically elected at the time) to the air base in Pau near the Pyrénées to explain rising anti-French sentiment (AC Vol 60 No 25 In search of allies)...
Since then France Britain and Spain as well as a handful of prominent African states including Ghana and Kenya have also backed Morocco's regional autonomy plans for Western Sahara (AC Vol 65 No 16 Emmanuel Macron's Saharan mystery)...