KIGALI, Rwanda
French President Emmanuel Macron can use his second term in office to redeem France’s image in Africa, according to experts.
The 44-year-old pro-European Union centrist won Sunday’s presidential runoff with 58.5% of the vote, beating his rival Marine Le Pen, who garnered 41.5%.
In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Eric Ndushabandi, the director of the Kigali-based Institute of Research and Dialogue for Peace, observed that France’s influence, legitimacy, and credibility on the continent has been waning, especially in its former colonies in West Africa.
“The re-election of President Macron, therefore, gives him an opportunity to reposition France in Africa,” said Ndushabandi.
“This is an advantage for France. Instead of having a new president with a new understanding of Africa, Macron can use this next term to revive French glory on the continent.”
More attention to youth projects
At the beginning of his first term, Macron underlined his desire to place African youth at the center of the future of relations between France and Africa.
Last year, to demonstrate this, hundreds of young people from African “civil society” gathered for a one-day Africa-France summit in the southern French city of Montpellier with no African leaders present for the first time since these summits began in 1973.
Robert Mwesigwa, the executive secretary of Rwanda National Youth Council, said: “African youth are more concerned about empowerment, and during this term, we are likely to see more attention given to aspects that empower them, such as entrepreneurship, innovation, sport, technology, and creative industry -- the areas of focus at last year’s Africa-France summit.”
A number of projects have reportedly been launched through the French Development Agency (AFD).
Mwesigwa believes Macron understands the role of youth in leadership and decision-making and urged young people in Africa to position themselves to tap into the different opportunities from France’s cooperation with Africa.
Macron has said “the voice of Africa's youth” needs to be listened to while leaving behind obsolete methods and networks.
Democracy
On governance and democracy issues on the continent, Ndushabandi underscored Macron’s failure to bring democracy to Africa in his first term by turning a blind eye to undemocratic practices in some West African allies in complete betrayal of France’s own values.
Before recent regime changes, the French president was being criticized for notably cooperating with leaders in Chad, Mali, and Guinea.
Ndushabandi said this next term offers a good opportunity for Macron, if he takes lessons, to change France’s historical past on the African continent.
African leaders congratulate Macron
Macron has said that France must assume its fair share of “Africanness,” noting that nearly 7 million French people are intimately linked to Africa.
His re-election was indeed welcomed in Africa judging from the early congratulatory messages from African leaders.
African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat said he was happy to continue the commitment with Macron “to build renewed and mutually beneficial relations between Africa and France and more broadly with Europe.”
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame said it was a well-deserved re-election for Macron.
“This is a testament to your visionary leadership that seeks to unite and not divide. Rwanda looks forward to even more and stronger partnerships between our people and nations,” Kagame tweeted.
Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum said Macron’s “experience of international issues in general and the Sahel (region) in particular makes him a valuable partner for us in our fight against terrorism.”
Senegalese President Macky Sall also congratulated Macron on his victory.
Ismael Buchanan, a senior lecturer at the department of political science at the University of Rwanda, also thinks France needs to redeem its image, and Macron’s second term will help, particularly after its deteriorating relations with some of its former colonies.
“I trust that he will attempt to reform France’s traditional approaches towards Africa and go beyond rhetoric and change the nature and substance of its interactions with Africa,” he told Anadolu Agency.
Relations between Mali in particular and France deteriorated after reports said the West African country’s military junta was in a deal to hire 1,000 mercenaries from Russian private security group Wagner to help it fight Daesh/ISIS terrorists in the Greater Sahara.
New ways of engagement
Thanks to Macron’s leadership, France has admitted its colonial mistakes in Africa and devised new ways of partnering with Africa based on mutual interests which presents an opportunity to Africa, according to Ndushabandi.
He cited the fact that Macron last year asked Rwanda genocide survivors for forgiveness for failing to help stop the killing of about 1 million Rwandans between April and July 1994.
Even though he fell short of offering an apology, it was a huge step to end a quarter century of tensions between the two countries.
“Macron started this new paradigm shift, so this new term gives him a chance to consolidate what he started in a very pragmatic way. But this policy shift needs to be institutionalized so that it goes beyond Macron and his political party,” Ndushabandi added.
