France

France's Elf Aquitaine and Nigeria have joined forces against America's Mobil Oil and Equatorial Guinea in a latter-day variation of the Fashoda incident. Urged on by General Sani...

In the final months of Pascal Lissouba's presidential term, which officially ended on 31 August, over 6,000 people have died in the war between his supporters and those...

The triumph of the Parti Socialiste in Gaullist President Jacques Chirac's misjudged snap elections in May-June and the palpable failure of French strategy in Central Africa have precipitated...

The Parti Socialiste victory in France's general elections of 25 May and 1 June gave heart to opposition parties in Francophone countries whose leaders are close to French...

It is turning out worse than they had feared in Paris. President Omar Bongo's government in Gabon has cut out his old ally, France's Elf Aquitaine, in favour...

General Sani Abacha's 31 December announcement that by stepping up French teaching, Nigeria will in 'a very short time' become bilingual is a shrewd diplomatic move, however unrealistic...

Reports differ about how many people were killed when French soldiers launched a furious retaliatory attack on rebel positions in Bangui on 5 January but it raises more...

President Mobutu Sese Seko was detained elsewhere but everybody in Ouagadougou wanted to know what was happening to his country. The Rwandan and Zaïrean delegations had hardly...

Paris is cutting its unwieldy, mainly conscript, 500,000-strong army, to form a smaller, well equipped regular force. Defence Minister Charles Millon visited Chad and Gabon on 5-8 October...

A French judicial investigation into alleged embezzlement by the former chairman of Elf-Aquitaine, Loïk le Floch Prigent (currently in custody for his own protection) is embarassing Paris...