Food, security and actions of France during the colony, Macron’s issues in Cameroon

The tour of Cameroon, Benin and Guinea-Bissau is French President Emmanuel Macron’s first diplomatic trip outside Europe since he won re-election in April.

The French leader wanted to show that Africa is a priority for the former colonial power. During his stop in Cameroon, the largest economy in Central Africa and an important agricultural and food processing center, he focused on three topics: investment in the agricultural sector, security in the Sahel and France’s action during colonization. and after independence.

Regarding food production, called into question by the increase in food prices, especially cereals, Macron pointed out that, due to the war in Ukraine, it is necessary to take responsibility and invest in the African continent to develop the agricultural sector.

Cameroon’s consumer advocacy group blames EU trade sanctions against Russia for fuel and wheat shortages and rising food prices across Africa. The Consumers League notes that Cameroon, Benin and Guinea Bissau should ask Macron to reconsider those sanctions.

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EU sanctions on Russia are not the cause of a food crisis: Macron

Macron rejected the argument that the sanctions were the cause of a global food crisis. “These are absolute lies, totally false. Both food and energy have become Russian weapons of war,” he explained to the French community in Yaoundé.

And he added, on this front, that Europe “must help” the African continent to produce more and develop a sustainable agricultural sector, but to do so “it is also necessary to bring peace and security to the region.”

Macron proposed the FARM initiative to help African countries increase their food production, an idea that received the support of Senegalese President Macky Sall a month ago, and he hopes to “accelerate” it on this tour. Both Russia and Ukraine supply more than 40% of Africa’s wheat.

The three-day visit to Cameroon is seen as a boost to bilateral cooperation for France at a time when Russian officials have also been visiting African nations in support moves.

The hope of help in the face of growing insecurity

Macron’s arrival in Cameroon raises hope that he will extend his aid in the face of growing insecurity from jihadist violence that has spread from neighboring Nigeria.

“We will not neglect the security of the African continent,” Macron warned, reaffirming his desire to “reinvent” the French “military and security device”, especially in the Sahel.

“France will remain resolute and committed to the security of the continent in support of and at the request of our African partners,” explained the head of state.

The evolution of this device, which began with the announcement of the withdrawal of the Barkhane operation from Mali in the face of hostility from the ruling junta, will be both geographical and organizational, Macron explained.

Mali has resorted to the mercenaries of the Russian company Wagner (linked to the Kremlin), something that “concerns” the French government, according to a source from the Elysee highlighted by the EFE agency. “Under the cover of the fight against terrorism”, Wagner is a resource of some African governments to stay in power at the cost of an increase in violence against the civilian population.

“We operate a feedback of our device by withdrawing from Mali because the political framework is no longer there (…), to expand our device, beyond the Sahel, in the Gulf of Guinea and the countries of the second belt that now face groups terrorists that are expanding and pushing the entire region,” Macron explained.

The African country is fighting a separatist conflict that has killed at least 3,300 people and displaced more than 750,000 in five years, according to the UN. The rebels are fighting for Cameroon’s Anglophone minority to have an independent country called Ambazonia, a kind of secessionist entity.

Others hope Macron will encourage President Biya, 89, who has been in power for nearly 40 years, to step down. The African president is accused of manipulating the elections to stay in power. But he maintains that he has always won elections democratically.

Macron announces the opening “in its entirety” of the French archives

The French head of state also spoke about the colonial process in this country and asked historians to “clarify” France’s action during colonization and after independence.

During a press conference with Biya, Macron announced the opening “in its entirety” of the French archives on “painful” and “tragic” moments during that period.

“Here I solemnly promise to open our archives in their entirety to this group of historians (French and Cameroonian) who will allow us to clarify this past (…) It is convenient to establish the responsibilities in fact”, added the French president.

Macron’s next trip will be to Benin this Wednesday and to Guinea Bissau on Thursday where he will seek, as he did since yesterday (Monday) in Cameroon, to give “a signal of political priority” to the continent. The topics will follow the same axis: food security and multilateral cooperation against the expansion of jihadist terrorism in the Sahel.

With AP, AFP, EFE and local media