Macron was welcomed by Cameroon PM
French president Emmanuel Macron is welcomed by Cameroonese Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute upon his arrival at the Nsimalen international airport of Yaounde, on July 25, 2022. (AFP)
Yaounde, The Gulf Observer: Macron was welcomed at the airport in Yaounde by Cameroonian Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute.
The first trip of his new term outside Europe, which will also take him to Benin and Guinea-Bissau, should allow Macron 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.
Macron is due to hold talks Tuesday morning at the presidential palace with his counterpart Paul Biya, 89, who has ruled Cameroon with an iron fist for nearly 40 years.
They are expected to discuss 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.
Macron will move on Wednesday to Benin, which has faced deadly attacks from jihadists, 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 last half-decade.
On Thursday, Macron will finish his tour in Guinea-Bissau, which has been riven 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.
All three countries have been criticised by activists over their rights records, but the Elysee has insisted that governance and rights issues will be raised, albeit “without media noise but in the form of direct exchanges between the heads of states”.
