French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Yaoundé on Monday night for his first visit to Cameroon and Central Africa, with the aim of reviving declining political and economic relations between the two countries.
The Head of State was received around 10:40 p.m. at the airport by Cameroonian Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute before a brief formal ceremony. This trip, which will also take him to Benin and Guinea Bissau, should allow him to reaffirm his “commitment to the process of renewing France’s relations with the African continent” at the start of his second five-year term, explained the Elysee.
Controversy in 2020
Emanuel Macron and his counterpart Paul Biya are expected to discuss security Tuesday morning in the context of jihadist threats in northern Cameroon, with Boko Haram, and opposition conflict in the northwest and southwest for more than five years. years. armed separatist groups to enforce the law.
Emmanuel Macron had provoked the outrage of power by declaring in 2020, after being arrested by an opponent, that he had “pressured Paul Biya” about the “intolerable” violence in these regions.
The visit comes at a time when France, a former colonial power, is seeing its influence erode, particularly at the economic and trade levels, against China, India and Germany. French companies now only make up about 10% of the economy compared to 40% in the 1990s.
After a lunch with Paul Biya and his wife Chantal, Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by several ministers, including Catherine Colonna (Foreign Affairs), will meet with representatives of youth and civil society.
Source: BFM TV
