Vol 49 No 18 | RWANDAFRANCE The dead bite back 5th September 2008 Rwanda accuses France of involvement in the 1994 genocide; France blames Rwanda; expect more accusations soon France had hoped to repair the breach but Rwandan President Paul Kagame rejected the olive branch. On 5 August, his government published the report of an ‘independent’ commission,...
Vol 49 No 7 | FRANCEFRANCOPHONE WEST AFRICA La Françafrique est morte, vive la Françafrique 28th March 2008 It was right in the spirit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's energetic ambivalence on Africa policy that he chose to announce Paris's new military plans for the region on a state visit to South Africa, the continent's economic powerhouse. Sarkozy was visiting the usual Francophone redoubts of Libreville and Ndjamena last month but he saved the big announcements for South Africa. It was not the policy revolution that President Nicolas Sarkozy had been promising with his calls for a 'rupture' with France's past African policies. Faced with the complexities...
Vol 49 No 5 | FRANCEAFRICA Bad marks 29th February 2008 Just before President Nicolas Sarkozy and his new wife, Carla Bruni, set off on their African safari on 27 February to Chad, South Africa and Angola, Germany’s Bertelsmann...
Vol 49 No 2 | SOUTH AFRICAFRANCE Taxing times 16th January 2008 Two politicians – South Africa’s highly effective Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and France’s forthright Cooperation Minister Jean-Marie Bockel – are adding to the pressure on international institutions to...
Vol 48 No 25 | LIBYAFRANCE Pitching camp 14th December 2007 Serious divisions emerged in French President Nicolas Sarkozy's government over his lavish hosting of Libya's Colonel Moammar el Gadaffi.
Vol 48 No 25 | FRANCEAFRICA Cross patch 14th December 2007 Bored with the fractious Euro-African summit in Lisbon on 8-9 December, French President Nicolas Sarkozy used the opportiunity to try to patch up quarrels with Côte d'Ivoire, Rwanda...
Vol 48 No 20 | RWANDAFRANCE Healing the rift 5th October 2007 Diplomatic relations between France and Rwanda may be on the mend. Rwanda broke them off in November 2006, after a French judge, Jean-Louis Bruguière, issued arrest warrants against...
Vol 48 No 16 | FRANCEAFRICA Rapture not rupture 3rd August 2007 President Nicolas Sarkozy is billed as France's first post-colonial head of state but his first state visit to Africa did not presage a rupture with the Françafrique system....
Vol 48 No 16 | LIBYAQATARFRANCE Winning ways 3rd August 2007 French and Qatari commercial interests are the clear winners from Presidential wife Cécilia Sarkozy's success in persuading Libyan leader Colonel Moammar el Gadaffi to release five Bulgarian nurses...
Vol 48 No 15 | DJIBOUTIFRANCE Jacques et le juge 20th July 2007 Police raids on the house of ex-President Jacques Chirac's Africa advisor Michel de Bonnecourse on 9 and 10 July raise the stakes in the investigation into claims by...