FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron gave French businesses a public dressing down for their lack of ambition in Africa as he pressed for a reset in the relationship between his country and the continent.
“Too many of our companies aren’t doing the best they could. I won’t defend those that aren’t ready to fight,” Macron told officials and reporters ahead of a trip to Gabon, Congo, Angola and the Republic of Congo starting Wednesday. He’s the first French president born after the end of the country’s colonial era
The influence of Macron’s government on the continent is being challenged by anti-French sentiment in some African countries, as well as their growing business and trade ties with Russia and China. Officials in Paris have pointed to Russian disinformation campaigns and resentment linked to the French colonial empire to explain recent demonstrations in several nations, including Mali and the Central African Republic.
“The
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