The French President continues Emmanuel Macron His visit to Africa is on Thursday Gabon He was to deliver a speech on tropical forest conservation at a forest summit.
The tour, which includes Angola, Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo, is his eighteenth visit to Africa since his first term in office began in 2017.
Macron visited the continent two days after presenting an African strategy for the next four years in Paris.
An emotional visit
On Wednesday evening, Gabon President Ali Bongo hosted a dinner at Macron’s presidential residence.
His visit to Gabon is sensitive as the opposition accuses him of “supporting” President Ali Bongo, who was elected under controversial circumstances in 2016 and may run again this year.
Gabonese opposition leaders said, “The Gabonese, whether they are wrong or not, will interpret your visit to their country as an expression of French support for the current regime to increase their chances of staying in power.”
For his part, Macron denied that he had any “political” ambitions, insisting that the only goal of the visit was to top the jungles of the Congo basin, the world’s first lung, and threatened by unjust agricultural exploitation, according to Elysée. .
Macron, who is committed to expanding France’s borders on the continent, will sign a deal in Luanda on Friday aimed at boosting Angola’s agricultural sector.
France 24/AFP
