Africa International

The View from Paris : Africa Should ‘Ensure its Own Security’

Africa must first “ensure its own security” so it can realize its “destiny”, asserted French President François Hollande when addressing some 40 African leaders as a key Franco-African security summit opened Friday in Paris. French President Hollande also pledged to help with the creation of a special African rapid-reaction force that would train as many […]

Business Emerging Markets

President Hollande : France ‘Must Double’ Trade with Africa

“France must double its trade with Africa,” Hollande called on French business leaders during a major conference of French and African business leaders in Paris on Wednesday (4 December). If France can manage to achieve this, some 200,000 jobs will be created in France over the next five years. Hollande’s comments came ahead of a […]

Africa Features International

Paris Honors African Soldiers Supporting France during WWI

France has launched the commemorations for next year’s 100-year anniversary of the start of World War I. In his solemn speech, French President François Hollande said that he wanted the program of commemorative events to unfold in a spirit of national unity, as well as friendship between all the countries involved in the conflict that […]

Africa Features International

France’s Persistent Role in Africa: The Other ‘Indispensable Nation’?

While recently attending a conference in Benin, the crisis in Mali still loomed large. The conflict in Mali had threatened to unravel the entire security situation in the Sahel and Western African nations spent much of the last year bickering whether a military intervention to save Bamako from approaching Islamist militias was feasible. In the […]

Features Headlines Morocco

Morocco’s King, a driving force in promoting African development

King Mohammed VI of Morocco participated Thursday in the inauguration ceremony of the new president of Mali Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, along a number of other heads of state, including France’s François Hollande. The presence of the Moroccan King at this ceremony did not go unnoticed because it was the first time that the king attended […]

Features Headlines Tunisia

Tunisia follows Egypt and launches Tamarud

After Egypt’s Tamarud campaign was made a succes with the intervention of the military, Tunisia’s opposition activists have decided to begin a similar move against the coalition government led by Ennahda. They have vowed to start collecting signatures to end the government’s mandate. The spokesman of Tamarud Tunisia, Mohamed Bennour told reporters at a press […]

Features Headlines Libya

French Embassy Attack in Tripoli, Challenges Libya’s Security

The terrorist bombing that hit lately French embassy in Tripoli has tested the Libyan security apparatus and showed its vulnerability as the North African country is experiencing a turbulent and shaky transition after years of autocratic rule under Gadhafi regime. The attack comes as the new Libyan government is battling to disarm the militias which […]

Features Headlines Morocco

Morocco-France, an enduring win-win partnership

President François Hollande of France is paying as of Wednesday a two-day state visit to Morocco, his first since his election in May last year. The aims of this visit are both political and economic, Morocco being France’s major partner in the Maghreb and France being Morocco’s closest friend in Europe. “The relationship between the […]

Features Op Eds Opinions

Intervening in Mali – Securing the Sahel?

Last December, the U.N. Security Council passed a cautious resolution that outlined steps to be taken before an international military intervention into Mali to deal with the deteriorating security situation in the country. But in a surprise move on 11 January, French President Francois Hollande authorized airstrikes in Mali to stop a sudden southward push […]

Headlines Morocco

PM Ayrault in Morocco to Seal Special French-Moroccan Partnership

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault started Wednesday a two day visit to Morocco, his first to a Maghreban country, to seal the special and unique partnership existing between the two nations. In this time of crisis, the French official pleaded from the start for the revival of his country’s economic relations with Morocco, where President […]