A moment to air grievances takes place against a background of heightened tension
On October 8th, at a France-Africa summit in the French city of Montpellier, none other than Mr Mbembe will host a discussion between the president and a dozen young people. The 3,000 or so guests, from Africa and its diaspora in France, will include entrepreneurs, activists, intellectuals, film directors, scientists and students. No African government leader is invited.
Yet distrust of French policy has if anything hardened, as has French frustration over those suspicions. Mr Macron keeps 5,100 soldiers in the Sahel as part of an American-backed anti-jihadist mission, Operation Barkhane. He will wind this down in northern Mali, closing three military bases there, and reshape it from a base in Niger around a European special-forces unit, Takuba.
Amid such tension the unstated purpose of the summit is a “need to clarify the way France is questioned”, says a presidential aide. The idea is to let each side voice grievances, in the hope of clearing the air at a non-governmental level. The French feel that they are “reproached for silence”, says the Elysée, and when they do speak, “for interference”.
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