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It seems that France is moving away from the patronage politics it used to play with its former coloniesWhen the 25th Africa-France Summit opened in Nice, France on 31 May this year, the question on the lips of the 38 heads of state and other assembled dignitaries and delegates was whether the event would mark the renewal of relations between France and the continent of Africa, or a break.
Africa has long occupied an important place in France’s thinking, its former colonies in West Africa in particular (by some estimates Kinshasa will become the largest French-speaking city in the world in the not too distant future), but the perception of high-handedness and bad faith on the part of Paris has caused relations between France and many African countries to cool off in recent years.
In the most glacial case, Rwanda, which in the past accused France of aiding and abetting the genocide of 1994, declared that English would replace French as the official language of instruction in the country’s schools – overturning a decades-old Francophone orientation at a stroke. (Incidentally, this move has caused many Rwandan refugees to prolong their stay in South Africa, as their French-speaking children will now be at a disadvantage when they return home.)
France has also been losing economic influence to China. In this light, understandably, French President Nicolas Sarkozy had pinned his hopes on ‘renewal’.
The Summit addressed three principal issues: African’s place in global governance and its precise role in the United Nations Security Council; the establishment of peace and security throughout Africa, particularly with regard to cross-border conflicts, drug trafficking, terrorism and piracy; and climate change and development, in the hope that Africa and France could work together to prepare the next climate change summit at Cancun in Mexico.
For the first time, the Summit was open to representatives from the world of business, underscoring the continent’s importance to French economic interests.
Sixty-five big French corporations were represented, including the Accor hotel group, Carrefour, France Télécom, Bolloré, Saint Gobain, and Renault.
According to French media, one of the high points of the Summit was a breakfast meeting between Sarkozy and South African President Jacob Zuma. The reason for this assessment of the encounter – one of only two bilateral meetings that took place (the other was between the French president and his Nigerian counterpart, Goodluck Jonathan) – was that it clearly showed that France wishes to work in tandem with South Africa in dealing with the issues alluded to above.
This is not the first time that France has sought the support of South African leadership. President watchers may remember that Sarkozy was the one who finally persuaded Zuma to attend the Copenhagen summit in the first place, urging him to join forces with France and Brazil in an ambitious pledge to cut carbon levels in half by 2050.
Sarkozy’s reasons for establishing a partnership with Zuma are that South Africa has proven its democratic credentials, in the first place, and joined the G20, in the second.
Accompanied by the members of his inner circle – Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, general-secretary Claude Guéant, diplomatic adviser and “Sherpa” Jean-David Levitte, and adviser on Africa Andre Parent – the French president broached a myriad subjects, beginning with the question of the United Nations Security Council. It emerged that while South Africa expects the creation of two permanent seats for Africa, it is not averse to the intermediate solution of one or two seats for a period of five to 10 years.
Possibly, this is because when the time comes for an African country to have a permanent seat, that seat may well be reserved for South Africa.
Another hot topic was Madagascar, a country – according to some critics – whose recent much publicised troubles were exacerbated or even triggered by French interference.
Here, the absence of the Madagascan head of state from the Summit spoke volumes in favour of South Africa’s importance in French eyes. As one French diplomat stated bluntly: France would have liked to invite Andry Rojoelina, but South Africa refused, and France preferred to snub Madagascar than risk having South Africa not attend.
Sarkozy and Zuma also discussed all the other African crises, such as the situation in Ivory Coast. Filtering through the carefully non-committal official statements comes the report that Sarkozy “expressed his impatience” with elections in that country having been deferred for the last five years; Zuma allegedly shared his concern.
Asked whether Laurent Gbagbo may be deferring elections for fear of losing them, an official French spokesperson responded that the issue was not certain, but that repeatedly pushing back the date of elections is not a good sign of a candidate’s confidence. If one may be permitted an educated guess, France is keen for South Africa to play a key role in resolving any crisis that Gbagbo’s intransigence may occasion. In further discussions, Sarkozy, Zuma and Jonathan agreed to co-operate to achieve food security in Africa. This pledge will be stiffened by a $120-million fund to boost Africa’s farming and food distribution sectors.
According to an official Summit communique, ”France has announced the establishment of an investor fund... destined to support the development of farming projects in Africa and the distribution of food stuffs.”
Commodity price volatility will be a prime target when France takes the helm of the G8/G20 group in 2011.
Commenting on the outcome of the Summit in general, Zuma said, “This Summit has been very useful for France and for us.” He added: “The times have changed. Institutions dating from the 1940s cannot run the world anymore.”
Conference observers noted that Sarkozy paid Zuma close attention at every moment, using the familiar tu form of address and calling him by his first name, Jacob. Sarkozy also had high praise for the presidents of Malawi and Ethiopia.
On the whole, it does seem that France is moving away from the patronage politics it used to play with its former colonies to engaging constructively with the continent in its entirety. Speaking at the final Summit dinner, Sarkozy stated: “South Africa will be the host country and the entire world will be watching because an exceptional event will be taking place there – the World Cup.”
Turning to Zuma, Sarkozy added that the World Cup will demonstrate “Africa’s ability to organise an event that is not just global but universal.”
Greg Penfold
