French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa, proposed on Thursday a ”Eurafrica” partnership between the two continents to tame the harmful effects of globalisation and foster development.
In a speech to students at Dakar’s Cheikh Anta Diop University, Sarkozy acknowledged the damaging effects of colonialism but he said it was not responsible for all of the continent’s ills nearly fifty years later.
Sarkozy, whose tough stance on immigration has made him unpopular with many in Africa, urged the continent to take responsibility for tackling corruption and widespread conflict.
”You want another type of globalisation, with more humanity, more justice and more rules. So does France,” said Sarkozy. ”If you choose democracy, liberty, justice and law, then France is ready to join you.”
The French president, whose country has lost out in African markets and resource contracts to new competitors from China and India, urged Africans to be wary of falling prey to predators.
”What France wants with Africa is co-development, shared development … What France wants with Africa is to prepare the advent of ‘Eurafrica’, a great common destiny which awaits Europe and Africa.”
The speech, which came after Sarkozy helped clinch a deal to free six foreign medics in Libya this week, had been billed by some diplomats as the unveiling of his new African agenda.
But many students expressed anger at the French president’s vague promises of aid and what they said was a lecturing tone.
”It sounded like he was trying to teach us African history. We know all that,” said Fallou Fall (20) a science student. ”What we want to hear about are development plans … and especially access for Africans into Europe.”
Skirts immigration
In Senegal, sub-Saharan Africa’s top recipient of bilateral aid from Paris, Sarkozy signed agreements on investment promotion and two French Development Agency (AFD) projects.
However, the French president largely steered clear of the sensitive issue of immigration. Thousands of Senegalese risk death each year to cross to Spain’s Canary Islands in open fishing boats in the hope of a better life in Europe.
”What France wants with Africa is a immigration policy negotiated together so that young Africans can be welcomed in France and Europe with dignity and respect,” he said, urging migrants to return to Africa to put their new skills to use.
Sarkozy has pledged to make a break with the French government’s traditional relations with Africa, marked by cosy personal ties with the ruling elites of Francophone countries.
The French president met opponents of Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, who accuse him of fraud in his February re-election and boycotted parliamentary polls in June.
But diplomats have raised eyebrows at Sarkozy’s decision to go on from Senegal to oil-producing Gabon on Friday to meet the continent’s longest-serving president, Omar Bongo, a symbol of a generation of African leaders reluctant to quit power.
Senegal and Gabon are two of Paris’s closest allies, hosting nearly 2 000 of the 11 000 troops France has based in Africa. – Reuters