France

The continuing crisis of the rich world’s financial system has thrown off balance the main surviving element of France’s African empire, the franc of the Communauté financière d’Af...

The initials CFA once stood for the Communauté française d’Afrique, later changing to Communauté financière d’Afrique. The name is a colonial legacy and considerable monetary power...

The resignation of Alain Joyandet, secretary of state for cooperation, will reinforce the grip of the Elysée Palace on France’s Africa policy. Joyandet, who was forced out after it...

The meeting between Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Paul Kagame in Kigali on 26 February enables France to regain a foothold in central Africa and allows Rwanda to normalise diploma...

The lucrative commercial and political networks between France and Africa have survived a remarkable month in the French courts but more embarrassing cases are coming soon. On 27 O...

French defence company Thales has won US$150 million of business in Angola in partnership with Manuel Vicente, Chairman and Chief Executive of state oil company Sonangol, and Migue...

France hopes to diversify its trade with Africa and also to hold on to its traditional influence in its former African empire. This tricky balance is reflected in a report on overs...

Bouygues: Went to Africa in the 1960s; by 2008, Africa operations had a turnover of over 1.6 billion euros (US$2.3 bn.), led by infrastructure subsidiary Colas (E707 million) and B...

On 16 June, Francophone leaders came to bury El HadjOmar Bongo Ondimba, éminence grise of the occult Françafrique networks, and to keep alive the personalised relations between Fra...

Three important African allies of French President Nicolas Sarkozy could find their French assets under scrutiny after Juge d'Instruction Françoise Desset ruled on 6 May that an an...