General Abdourahamane Tchiani is the new leader of Niger following a military takeover, state television reported Friday, two days after the country’s president was detained by members of his own guard.

Tchiani, the head of the Presidential Guard, has been named “president of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland,” a statement said.

Appearing on state television, the general said soldiers had seized power to the deteriorating security situation in the Sahel country.

The country’s elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, has been detained by the putschists since Wednesday morning.

Earlier on Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron described the coup as “dangerous” for the region as Western powers scramble to preserve a key ally in the insurgent-stricken Sahel.

“This coup is completely illegitimate and profoundly dangerous, for Nigeriens, for Niger and for the whole region,” Macron said.

Macron said he had spoken to Bazoum, who is being held in his palace, and called for him to be reinstated.

Niger’s government had been seen by many in the international community as a bulwark against Islamist militancy in a vast, arid region that is beset by security challenges.

‘Last bastion of democracy in the Sahel’: Uncertainty in Niger prompts concern among allies

French and UN troops were in recent years forced to withdraw from neighbouring Mali, but Paris still has 1,500 soldiers in Niger. Bazoum’s overthrow could put the future of their deployment in doubt.

Macron, speaking during a visit to Papua New Guinea, said it was imperative that the constitutional order be restored and vowed to support regional groupings like ECOWAS in mediation or sanctions against putschists.

Source: Reuters

Soldiers claimed to have overthrown Niger’s government on Thursday after members of the Presidential Guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum.

Disgruntled members of the elite Presidential Guard sealed off access to the president’s residence and offices in the capital Niamey on Wednesday, and after talks broke down “refused to release the president”, a presidential source said.

“We, the defence and security forces … have decided to put an end to the regime” of President Bazoum, said Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane in a televised address, surrounded by nine other uniformed soldiers.

They said “all institutions” in the country would be suspended, borders were closed, and a curfew had been imposed “until further notice”.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union both decried what they called an “attempted coup d’état”.

A source close to Bazoum used the same term, saying the bid was “doomed to fail”.

The head of ECOWAS said Benin President Patrice Talon was heading to Niger in a mediation bid, after the latest bout of turbulence to hit the region.

President Talon was expected to arrive in Niamey Thursday to speak with both sides to resolve the crisis, after a meeting in Abuja Wednesday with Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The Nigerian leader said President Talon would mediate with both the Presidential Guard and Bazoum with a view to finding an agreement.

One of a dwindling group of pro-Western leaders in the Sahel, Bazoum was elected in 2021, taking the helm of a country burdened by a poverty and a history of chronic instability.

In a message on Twitter, the president’s office said “elements of the Presidential Guard (PG) had a fit of temper… (and) tried unsuccessfully to gain the support of the national armed forces and the national guard”.

“The army and national guard are ready to attack the elements of the PG who are involved in this fit of temper if they do not return to a better disposition,” the presidency said.

Niger’s Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou on Thursday told FRANCE 24 the elected government was the “legitimate and legal authority” in the country.

“The legal and legitimate power is the one exercised by the elected president of Niger Mohamed Bazoum,” being held by the Presidential Guard members, Massoudou said, adding that the detained leader was “in good health”.

‘Madness’

UN chief Antonio Guterres was able to talk to Bazoum on Wednesday afternoon, his spokesman said, and “expressed his full support and solidarity”.

The United States has demanded Bazoum’s release, saying it was “deeply concerned”.

Hours after his detention, Bazoum’s supporters tried to approach the complex where he was being held, but were dispersed by members of the Presidential Guard who fired warning shots, an AFP reporter saw.

One person was hurt, but it was not immediately clear if he was injured by a bullet or from falling as the crowd scattered.

The parties of Niger’s ruling coalition in Niamey denounced “a suicidal and anti-republican madness” in a statement, saying that “certain elements of the presidential guard sequestered the President” and his family, as well as the interior minister.

ECOWAS called for Bazoum’s immediate and unconditional release, and warned all those involved would be held responsible for his safety.

The European Union said it “associates itself” with the ECOWAS statement and attacked “any attempt to destabilise democracy and threaten the stability” of Niger.

France – Niger’s former colonial power – and neighbouring Algeria also issued condemnations, as did the World Bank which said it “strongly condemns any attempt to seize power by force” or “destabilise” Niger.

Instability

The landlocked Sahel state has experienced four coups since independence from France in 1960, and numerous other attempts.

Bazoum, a former interior minister, was right-hand man to former president Mahamadou Issoufou, who voluntarily stepped down after two terms.

Their handover in April 2021, after elections won by Bazoum in a two-round contest against former president Mahamane Ousmane, marked Niger’s first peaceful transition of power since independence.

But reminders of the troubled past have never been far away.

An attempted coup took place just days before Bazoum’s inauguration, according to a security source at the time.

Several people were arrested, including the suspected ringleader, an air force captain named Sani Gourouza, and former interior minister Ousmane Cisse.

Five people, including Gourouza, were jailed in February for 20 years while Cisse was acquitted.

A second bid to oust Bazoum occurred last March “while the president … was in Turkey”, according to a Niger official, who said an arrest was made. The authorities have never commented publicly on the incident.

Poverty and jihadism

Niger is two-thirds desert and ranks close to the bottom of the UN’s Human Development Index, a benchmark of prosperity.

It has a surging population of 22.4 million, driven by a birth rate averaging seven children per woman.

Niger is struggling with two jihadist campaigns – one in the southwest, which swept in from Mali in 2015, and the other in the southeast, involving jihadists from northeastern Nigeria.

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes, stoking a humanitarian crisis and further straining the economy.

The poorly equipped military is receiving training and logistical support from the United States and France, which have bases in the country.

Niger last year became the hub of France’s anti-jihadist Sahel operations.

The mission was reconfigured after French forces quit Mali and Burkina Faso after falling out with the ruling juntas in those countries.

Source: AFP

President Macky Sall’s decision not to seek a third term as Senegal’s head of state has thrown open the country’s presidential election, ending widespread speculation over his political future that helped fuel deadly protests last month.

Rumours that Macky Sall would try to extend his more than a decade-long rule have stoked unrest in the West African country, shaking its reputation as a bastion of stability in an otherwise turbulent region.

Prior to the president’s speech, top opposition leader Ousmane Sonko had called for fresh demonstrations if Sall were to announce a re-election bid in February of next year.

The 61-year-old leader had previously remained coy about his ambitions, stoking tensions over whether he would use a constitutional revision to bypass the country’s two-term limit.

In a speech carried live on his official Facebook page on Monday, he maintained that Senegal’s constitution would have allowed his candidacy despite having already been elected to a second term in 2019.

“Even if I have the right, I felt that my duty is not to contribute to destroying what I have built for this country,” the president said as he ruled out running for a third term – to the dismay of his most ardent supporters. 

Sall asked his government to everything possible to organise a transparent election in February 2024. He offered no indication of who might step into his shoes and carry the party’s colours in the upcoming campaign.

“I know that this decision will come as a surprise to all those who have a friendship with me,” he added. “Senegal is more than just me, it’s full of people capable of taking Senegal to the next level.”

‘Break with the past’

Sall’s momentous decision bucks the continent’s trend of entrenched strongmen leaders using constitutional changes as an excuse to reset their mandate and extend their hold on power. It was praised by neighbouring leaders, the African Union and former colonial power France, whose foreign ministry hailed it as “proof” of the solidity of Senegalese democracy.

The president’s surprise move comes 11 years after he defeated his predecessor and former mentor Abdoulaye Wade, whose own decision to seek a controversial third term in office had sparked violent street protests. 

First elected in April 2012, Sall rose to power promising a radical “break with the past”, focused on social justice, structural reforms and development projects.

Flagship reforms included the introduction of the bourse familiale, a family allowance paid to some 300,000 low-income people that was recently increased amid an inflation crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine.

Sall oversaw a series of major infrastructure projects, including a new airport and town built on the outskirts of Dakar, as well as highways, express trains, a national stadium and a road link to neighbouring Mali.

The country’s economy has grown steadily during his time in office, with annual GDP surging from $17 billion to $27 billion over the past ten years, though unemployment has remained stubbornly high at over 22%, affecting young people in particular.

Meanwhile, Sall won plaudits for his proactive diplomacy on the international stage, championing the cancellation of African debt, the strengthening of the fight against terrorism and the rejection of military coups in a region rattled by a spate of army putsches.

As head of the African Union last year, he spearheaded efforts to broker the Black Sea grain deal that has allowed critical shipments of Ukrainian grain to reach African countries despite the Russian invasion. 

He also enjoyed success in bringing calm to Senegal’s separatist-troubled southern region of Casamance, and played a key part in forcing out dictator Yahya Jammeh in neighbouring Gambia in 2017.

‘It’s a relief’

Midway through his first term in office, Sall pushed through a reform of the constitution that reduced Senegal’s seven-year presidential terms to just five years. 

While the new text upheld a two-term limit on presidential mandates, Sall’s supporters soon argued that his first term under the old constitution should not be counted – setting the stage for the bitter dispute that has festered in recent months.

As recently as this past weekend, Sall was heard saying that the country’s Constitutional Council would allow for his candidacy, fuelling speculation he would announce his third-term bid.

Sonko, Sall’s chief opponent, had called for the president to bow out of the 2024 election publicly, accusing the government of bringing court cases against the opposition in an effort to sideline the competition.

The tension boiled over last month over a court case in which Sonko was sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted of corrupting youth in a sentence that could jeopardise his election hopes next year. The government said at least 16 people died in the unrest, while the opposition put the figure at 19.

Sall’s critics have long accused the president of drifting towards authoritarian rule by jailing or exiling his opponents. In recent months, rights monitors including Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders had warned of a “restrictions of liberties” in the West African nation.

“The question of Sall’s possible third term only added to the climate of uncertainty that has gripped Senegal,” said Alioune Tine, founder of Afrikajom Center, a local think-human rights watchdog.

“Article 27 of the Constitution couldn’t be any clearer, stating that ‘no-one can serve more than two consecutive terms’, whereas Macky Sall argued the contrary,” Tine added. “It’s a relief that he has ultimately changed his mind.”

Source: France 24

Sonko, 48, was accused of raping a woman who worked in a massage parlour in 2021, when she was 20, and making death threats against her. He denies wrongdoing and says the charges are politically motivated.

A criminal court cleared Sonko of rape, but found him guilty of a separate criminal offence described in the penal code as immoral behaviour towards individuals younger than 21.

This could prevent him from participating in February elections, according to Senegal’s electoral law.

“With this sentence Sonko cannot be a candidate,” said one of his lawyers, Bamba Cisse.

University law professor Ndiack Fall said Sonko could demand a re-trial if he gives himself in to authorities.

The rape case has triggered violent protests in the West African country since 2021. Sonko’s supporters denounce the charges as a ploy to prevent Sonko running in next year’s election. The government and the justice system deny this.

Sonko’s PASTEF party said the verdict was part of a political plot and called on citizens to take to the streets.

Violence erupted at a central university campus, where protesters set a car alight and threw rocks at riot police, who responded by firing tear gas.

A former tax inspector who came third in the last election, Sonko has tapped into frustrations with President Macky Sall that have grown since he was elected in 2012.

Critics say Sall has failed to create jobs and has stifled opposition criticism amid rumours he may seek to bypass presidential term limits and run again next year. Sall has neither confirmed nor denied this.

Sonko has garnered strong support among the young, many of whom have responded to his calls to take to the streets to protest against his judicial problems, prompting security crackdowns that have led to deaths.

Demonstrations are not uncommon in Senegal and typically increase around elections. But Sall’s second term has been particularly turbulent for a country usually viewed as one of West Africa’s strongest democracies.

Separately, Sonko is appealing against a six-month suspended prison sentence for libel. The implications of that case for his presidential bid are not yet clear.

Source: Reuters

Ceasefire talks in Saudi Arabia between Sudan’s warring generals have yielded “no major progress” so far, a Saudi official told AFP on Monday, dampening hopes for a quick end to the fighting.

Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), sent representatives to the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah on Saturday for meetings that Washington and Riyadh have described as “pre-negotiation talks”.

Goals include reaching “an effective short-term halt” to the fighting, facilitating aid delivery, restoring basic services and setting “a timetable for expanded negotiations to reach a permanent cessation of hostilities”, the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement Monday.

The two sides have “begun to discuss the security measures they should take in order to facilitate the delivery of urgent humanitarian aid and the restoration of essential services”, the statement said.

But a Saudi diplomat told AFP on Monday that “no major progress is achieved so far”.

“A permanent ceasefire isn’t on the table. Every side believes it is capable of winning the battle,” the diplomat added.

The UN’s top humanitarian official, Martin Griffiths, arrived in Jeddah on Sunday intending to meet representatives of both camps, though his role in the process is unclear.

A spokesperson for Griffiths said on Sunday that he had arrived in Jeddah “to engage in humanitarian issues related to Sudan”.

A separate UN official said on Monday that Griffiths had “asked to join the negotiations” but that his request had not been approved so far.

The talks “will continue in the following days”, the Saudi foreign ministry said, without specifying a clear timeline.

Humanitarian crisis

Multiple truce deals have been declared, without effect, since fighting erupted on April 15 in the poverty-stricken country with a history of instability.

Fierce combat has killed hundreds of people, wounded thousands and sparked multiple warnings of a “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis.

More than 100,000 people have already fled the country.

Saudi Arabia has assumed a major role in evacuations from Sudan, dispatching naval and commercial vessels to bring thousands of people from numerous countries across the Red Sea from the Sudanese coastal city of Port Sudan.

On Sunday, King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman directed $100 million to be donated for assistance to Sudan, including medical aid and help for displaced people, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Saudi officials will also organise a public donations campaign “to mitigate the effects of the conditions that the Sudanese people are currently going through”, the agency said.

In a Sunday meeting, US national security advisor Jake Sullivan thanked the Saudi crown prince, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, “for the support Saudi Arabia has provided to US citizens during the evacuation from Sudan”, the White House said in a statement.

Source: AFP

More than 100 political and civil society groups in Senegal on Sunday formed a coalition to oppose a  third term for President Macky Sall.

Ten months ahead of presidential elections, the coalition in a declaration called on Sall to respect the constitution and refrain from running for an “illegal and illegitimate” third term.

The president — in power since 2012 — has not clarified his intentions but rejects claims it would be unconstitutional for him to run again.

His main political opponent, Ousmane Sonko, was among several opposition leaders to attend the launch of the coalition.

More than 120 parties on Sunday signed the charter of the F24 Movement of Vital Forces, according to its instigators.

It also calls for the release of “political detainees” arrested during demonstrations over a defamation case against Sonko brought by Tourism Minister Mame Mbaye Niang, a member of Sall’s party.

Tensions have been running high through the country for weeks, with protests bringing the capital Dakar to a virtual standstill.

Sonko was handed a two-month suspended sentence in the court case at the end of March after a trial his lawyers said would not rule him out of the 2024 presidential election.

An appeal was lodged against the ruling and Sonko is due to be judged on appeal on Monday.

Sonko’s fate is also wrapped up in another case in which he is accused of rape, which he contests.

He and his supporters accuse the government of using the justice system to try to prevent him from running in next year’s ballot.

The presidential party accuses Sonko of seeking to paralyse the country and of drumming up anger on the streets in a bid to escape justice.

Source: AFP

Five months before elections, the parliament in Gabon on Thursday voted to reduce the president’s term from seven to five years.

The vote amends the Constitution and also turns the presidential election into a single round.

Sections of the opposition criticised the changes, in particular the end of two rounds of voting, as a means of “facilitating the re-election” of Ali Bongo Ondimba.

The national assembly and senate held a joint session in the capital Libreville where 85 percent of votes backed the proposal, “well above the qualified majority of two-thirds required,” said assembly speaker Faustin Boukoubi.

Prime Minister Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze said the outcome was the “result of a consensus after 10 days of political concertation between the majority and the opposition” in February.

Several senior opposition leaders and their parties had snubbed the talks.

The amendments bring all mandates in line at five years and make all elections single-round ballots again after the last changes to the Constitution in 2018 set up two rounds of voting.

Presidential, legislative and local elections are scheduled for the end of August, but a date still has to be announced.

In 2009, the now 64-year-old Bongo took over from his father Omar Bongo Ondimba, the oil-rich west African country’s ruler for 41 years, and he is widely expected to run for re-election.

The president was narrowly re-elected in 2016 with just 5,500 votes more than rival Jean Ping who claimed the election had been fixed.

Bongo suffered a stroke in 2018 and spent months on the sidelines recovering, leaving the opposition to question his fitness to run the nation.

His powerful Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) holds strong majorities in both houses of parliament and is pushing for the president to announce he will stand again.

The Bongo family has ruled the country for 55 years already and is branded a “dynastic power” by the opposition.

But the opposition has failed to agree on a single candidate for the presidential election, leaving some 15 candidates to announce their intentions to stand.

Source: AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron has concluded his Africa tour, which took him to several countries including The Republic of Gabon, Angola and The Democratic Republic of Congo.

The ultimate goal was to restore the tarnished image of France in the continent. In Gabon this was obvious since day one. Some soldiers welcomed the arrival of the French president at the airport, but red, white and blue flags and crowds on the road were absent all the way to the presidential palace.

Later Macron and several African heads of state participated in a summit devoted to protecting tropical forests.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Macron held talks with the country’s president, Felix Tshisekedi, in the capital Kinshasa, which last week saw several demonstrations in a sign of rising anti-French sentiments in many parts of Africa.

At a joint press conference Macron acknowledged that France was among foreign powers pushing for influence in Africa. He, however, said that he was committed to working with African nations on an equal footing.

Macron stressed that his country wants to be long term partners to African countries, adding that the continent is a theater of competition.

Macron’s tour to Africa was his 18th visit to the continent. This trip follows a recent slew of African tours by high level American, Russian, and Chinese officials seeking closer ties with African nations.

The French President has promised not to interfere in the internal affairs of African countries and to focus mostly on trade.

France has endured a recent massive breakdown in relations with some former colonies in West Africa, and Macron’s first time visit to Gabon, Angola and The Republic of Congo, indicates the French wish to turn the page.

The French president last week outlined France’s new Africa policy saying military bases will be co-run with host nations and that commercial and other interests would be pursued with respect and humility.

This new approach comes amid a deepening security crisis in the West African region of Sahel region which has fueled anti French protests and brought juntas to power in several countries.

Anti-French sentiment runs high in some former African colonies.

While France is still trying to keep its hand on Africa, the anti French sentiment has been high across the continent, given the country’s dark history in Africa.

From genocide in Rwanda, Nigeria, Senegal and a whole host of other nations, to other crimes as part of French colonialist policies, have prompted many people in several countries to stand up against the presence of France.

Growing dissatisfaction with France is largely visible in other former colonies across Africa, including Mali.

In Burkina Faso, anger against the foreign presence can be clearly seen in nationwide protests, with demonstrators condemning the former colonizer.

More broadly, the popular resentment against the West has been on the rise for the past several years due to the historic oppression of the continent.

Macron has called on African youth, not least the Algerians, to refrain from considering France as an “enemy” of their countries.

France has been a former colonizer in Africa, and, after years of outright colonization, still seeks control over countries.

This has prompted many African nations to turn toward countries in the Eastern Bloc. The visit by a top Russian diplomat to South Africa recently, in an effort to refurbish the common pursuit of the two countries for upholding world peace and security, is among the many examples.

With the summit of five emerging economies commonly known as BRICS in Africa this year, the idea of using the opportunity to push for the admission of new members to expand the block and challenge global arrogance has taken momentum.

Source: Presstv

Burkina Faso has scrapped a 1961 agreement on military assistance with France, a move that comes only weeks after it told the French ambassador and troops supporting its anti-jihadist campaign to quit the country.

The Burkinabe foreign ministry advised the French government that the country was “renouncing the technical military assistance agreement reached in Paris on April 24 1961”, according to the correspondence, dated Tuesday.

The accord was forged between the newly independent Republic of Upper Volta, as Burkina Faso used to be called, and its long-time colonial power.

It is one of the legal bases for French military support in the deeply troubled Sahel state.

In the correspondence, seen by AFP on Wednesday, the ministry said Burkina was giving one month’s notice for “the final departure of all French military personnel serving in Burkinabe military administrations”.

The move marks a further downward spiral in relations since the military toppled Burkina’s elected president last year.

The breakdown mirrors to a large degree a bust-up between France and neighbouring Mali, which is also junta-ruled.

Both nations have been battered by a long-running jihadist insurgency that in Burkina alone has killed thousands and forced more than two million people to flee their homes.

Anger within the Burkinabe military at failures to roll back the insurgency led to two coups last year.

The latest ruler is Captain Ibrahim Traore, who at 34 became the world’s youngest leader outside monarchies.

He has vowed to recover land seized by the jihadists but, as in Mali, emphasised national “sovereignty” over the strategy.

In both countries, tensions with France at government level have been accompanied by anti-French demonstrations and criticism on social media.

Burkina asked France to withdraw its ambassador, Luc Hallade, after he made comments about the country’s security problems. He was pulled out, ostensibly for consultations.

Burkina also gave France a month to pull out a special forces unit of 400 men that was based near the capital. The French flag was lowered on the base last month.

France withdrew the last of its troops from Mali last year, climaxing a break-up that was largely triggered by the junta’s growing alliance with Russia.

Source:  AFP

President Emmanuel Macron on Monday outlined France’s new strategy for Africa, where anti-French sentiment runs high in some of its former colonies. Ahead of a visit to Gabon, Angola, Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Macron said that France needs to demonstrate a “profound humility” in Africa.

Macron also said France is planning a “noticeable reduction” of its military presence in Africa.

“The change will happen in the coming months, with a noticeable reduction in our numbers and the increased presence of our African partners at these bases,” he said.

France will end its practice of hosting regular military bases in Africa and will instead establish “academies” to be co-run by French and African armies. He said there would be a notable fall in French military personnel but an increase in efforts to provide training and equipment.

But this “reorganisation” is not withdrawal, Macron said.

“We will remain but with a reduced footprint” to help local troops according to their needs.

Macron said he was “proud” of France’s military record in Mali, and would not allow the country to be made a scapegoat for a worsening of the security situation in the Sahel, where Islamist insurgents have made fresh progress as France’s involvement has waned.

According to February 2023 estimates from the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, fatalities linked to Islamist militants in Africa have surged by nearly 50 percent over the past year.

Macron went on to say that France’s objectif is to avoid giving “lectures” to its African partners.

“France’s role is not to fix all the problems in Africa,” he said.

He also expressed the hope that France could help foster small businesses and entrepreneurship in Africa and beyond.

“France is strong thanks to its diaspora,” Macron said, adding that France must help increase their economic and business ties with the continent and expressing hopes for an emergent “new generation of French-African entrepreneurs”.

His speech at the presidential palace comes two days ahead of a four-nation tour of central African countries, as Paris seeks to counter growing Chinese and Russian influence in the region.

Macron has insisted Africa is a priority of his second mandate in power, and in July he undertook a trip to Cameroon, Benin and Guinea-Bissau.

In a 2017 speech to students at a university in Burkina Faso, Macron pledged to break away from his country’s former post-colonial policies on the continent of more than 50 countries.

He criticised “the crimes of European colonisation” and called for a “truly new relationship” between Africa and Europe.

Russian influence

But much has changed in Burkina Faso and the wider Sahel region since he first expressed his intentions of redefining France’s relationship with the African continent.  

France has fallen out with the new military authorities in Mali and Burkina Faso, withdrawing its troops from both former French colonies after years of helping the authorities battle jihadists.

Alarm has grown in Paris and elsewhere in the West over the growing role of Russia in French-speaking African countries, alongside a Chinese push for influence that has been apparent for some years.

The Wagner Group of Russian mercenaries, infamous for their activities in Syria and Ukraine, are now active in Mali and the Central African Republic, both ruled by France during its colonial era. Reports have also suggested Wagner is seeking to implant itself in Burkina Faso, claims Moscow dismissed last week.

Last month the United Nations called for an independent investigation into allegations of “gross human rights abuses and possible war crimes and crimes against humanity” in Mali committed by both government forces and the Wagner Group since 2021.

Macron said that African nations would eventually stop turning to the Wagner Group as they would see that it only sows misery wherever they are active.

“It’s a group of criminal mercenaries, ‘life insurance’ used by failing regimes and putschists,” he said.

France still has thousands of troops in the region, including in Niger and Chad, but is seeking to redeploy some towards the Gulf of Guinea and tone down its presence on the ground.

Paris has also accused Russia of spreading disinformation to undermine French interests in its African former colonies.

Abstentions on the Ukraine war

The French president is also looking to boost ties in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

“Faced with strategic threats – the war in Ukraine as well as economic and pandemic shocks – it is crucial that Europe and Africa be as aligned and as close as possible in their dialogue,” a French presidential adviser told AFP, asking not to be named.

Macron has repeatedly urged countries of the Global South to condemn the war in Ukraine.

But when the United Nations on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to demand Russia immediately withdraw its troops from its pro-Western neighbour, three of the four countries Macron is visiting this week – Gabon, Angola and Congo-Brazzaville – abstained alongside China and India.

Macron will arrive in Gabon, a former French colony, on Wednesday to attend the One Forest Summit on preserving forests along the vast Congo River basin.

He will then head to the former Portuguese colony of Angola as part of a drive to enhance French ties with English- and Portuguese-speaking parts of Africa.

After Congo-Brazzaville, another former French colony, he will end his trip in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo – ruled by Belgium during the colonial era – on Friday and Saturday.

Source:  AFP