François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande

The defence theme continues the policy established by Macron's predecessor François Hollande when he despatched French troops to Mali in 2013...

He spent six months in Nigeria early in his civil service career and later as François Hollande's economy adviser and then minister he inevitably had dealings with Africa though in contrast to many French politicians he has avoided claiming to have a special empathy with the continent...

Defence Minister and de facto Monsieur Afrique for President François Hollande Jean-Yves Le Drian was a key leader of Socialist Party support for Macron's presidential candidacy...

Macron will be carrying on former President François Hollande's policy of making security in Mali a European Union responsibility instead of a purely French one...

Such issues still count in North Africa's cold war; during French election week Morocco's King Mohammed VI paid one of his regular 'private visits' to Paris where he was very publicly filmed dining with the outgoing President François Hollande and together visiting an exhibition...

Condé found more international acclaim in Paris where he was among the last foreign leaders to visit outgoing French President François Hollande in an elaborate two-day programme ending on 12 April...

During an official visit to Paris last month President François Hollande received Guelleh at the Elysée albeit for the first time in five years...

Hydroquest is also French and CEO Jean-François Simon accompanied French President François Hollande on official visits to Angola in 2015 and 2016...

If he is elected he is likely to maintain the strong military commitment to the Sahel established by President François Hollande although he wants other European countries to join in...

Yet being outside the Economic Community of West African States Mauritania would be spared the regional peer pressure Gambia is experiencing while the departure of United States President Barack Obama and French President François Hollande may well ease international pressures over governance and democracy...

The fallout from Gabon's election triggered significant criticism from President François Hollande's government which has sought to distance itself from the Françafrique networks of the past while the Paris judiciary has conducted several investigations into property belonging to the Bongo clan...

More than 30 African leaders meet today (13 January) in Bamako marking President François Hollande's farewell to the continent and a restatement of France's commitment to fight jihadism in the region...