France's President Emmanuel Macron, right, arrives in Cameroon's capital Yaounde on July 25, where he is welcomed by Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute. AFP
France's President Emmanuel Macron, right, arrives in Cameroon's capital Yaounde on July 25, where he is welcomed by Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute. AFP
France's President Emmanuel Macron, right, arrives in Cameroon's capital Yaounde on July 25, where he is welcomed by Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute. AFP
France's President Emmanuel Macron, right, arrives in Cameroon's capital Yaounde on July 25, where he is welcomed by Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute. AFP

France committed to Africa's security, Macron says


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President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday promised that France remains resolutely committed to the security of Africa amid a militant campaign in the Sahel.

Mr Macron made his pledge while in Cameroon, the first stop of his three-nation tour of West Africa.

He arrived in the Cameroonian capital Yaounde late on Monday night, when he was greeted at the airport by Prime Minister

"France remains resolutely committed to the security of the continent, acting in support and at the request of our African partners,” Mr Macron told a gathering of French people in Yaounde.

France is reconfiguring its position in the Sahel after falling out with the military junta in Mali, the epicentre of a bloody 10-year-old militant campaign in the region.

Mr Macron held talks on Tuesday morning with President Paul Biya, 89, who has ruled Cameroon with an iron fist for nearly 40 years.

They discussed security in Cameroon, which has been riven by ethnic violence and an insurgency by anglophone separatists who have been fighting for independence for two English-speaking provinces since 2017. Northern Cameroon has also suffered attacks by Boko Haram militants.

Mr Macron had provoked Mr Biya’s indignation in 2020 after declaring he would apply “maximum pressure” on the president over “intolerable” violence in the West African country.

Mr Macron’s first trip outside Europe since being re-elected will also take him to Benin and Guinea-Bissau. It should allow him to “show the commitment of the president in the process of renewing the relationship with the African continent”, said a French presidential official, who asked not to be named.

His visit comes at a time when former colonial power France has had its influence decline in the face of China, India and Germany, particularly in the economic and commercial sectors.

After lunch with Mr Biya and his wife Chantal, Mr Macron met representatives of youth and civil societies.

He ended the day in “Noah Village”. This is hosted by the 1983 French Open tennis champion Yannick Noah, who is developing a leisure and education centre in a popular district of Yaounde, where he lives for several months a year.

Mr Macron will on Wednesday head to Benin, which has faced deadly attacks from militants, who have spread from the Sahel to the Gulf of Guinea nations.

Benin was long praised for its thriving multi-party democracy. But critics say its democracy has steadily eroded under President Patrice Talon over the past five years.

On Thursday, Mr Macron will finish his tour in Guinea-Bissau, which has been divided by political crises at a time when its president, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, is preparing to take the helm of the Economic Community of West African States.

Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar. 

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1:  Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6:  The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.

September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29:  At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite  a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa. 

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.

December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Why seagrass matters
  • Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
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Updated: July 26, 2022, 6:05 PM`