The Conferences of Heads of State from France and Africa (1973-1979)
FIRST FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
PARIS, NOVEMBER 13, 1973
A new framework for dialogue
The 21 conferences of heads of state from france and africa
The 11 participants
Seven Heads of State:
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
France: Georges Pompidou
Gabon: Albert-Bernard Bongo
Niger: Hamani Diori
Central Africa: General Jean-Bedel Bokassa
Senegal: Léopold Sédar Senghor
Upper Volta: General Sangoulé Lamizana
Four Ministerial Delegations (Finance Ministers)
Congo: Saturnin Okabé
Dahomey: Commander Michel Alladayé
Mali: Thiéoulé Konaté
Togo: Joachim Hunlédé
The Conference
The first Franco-African Summit was held in Paris on November 13, 1973, under the chairmanship of France’s Head of State, Georges Pompidou The Summit was organized as the result of an initiative from Niger’s Head of State, Hamani Diori,
This conference would later be referred to as “historical”. It offered a new framework for dialogue between France and French speaking (Francophone) Africa. The meeting came on the heels of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, which had left some 10,000 people dead. This compelled the participants to affirm their desire for a peace “which interests the whole international community and not only the two Superpowers.”
The Outcome
This first Franco-African Summit decided to become an instrument for mutual consultations, which would meet informally once a year.
Commenting on the work accomplished at this Summit, then French Foreign Minister, Michel Jobert, declared: “Franco-African cooperation, so often joked about, certainly constitutes, in the world as it is today, an element of progress and stability.”
2nd FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
BANGUI, MARCH 7-8, 1975
The new world economic order
The 15 Participants
Nine Heads of State:
Burundi: Michel Micombero
The Central African Republic: Marchal Jean-Bedel Bokassa
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
France: Valéry Giscard d’Estaing
Gabon: Omar Bongo
Niger: Lieutenant-Colonel Seyni Kountché
Rwanda: Major-General Juvénal Habyarimana
Senegal: Léopold Sédar Senghor
Upper Volta: General Sangoulé Lamizana
Six Ministerial delegations:
Dahomey: Barthélémy Ohouens, Minister of Justice
Mali: Thiéoulé Konaté, Minister of Finance
Mauritius: Sir Seewoosagur Rammgoolam, Prime Minister
Seychelles: James Mancham (as an observer)
Togo: Edem Kodjo, Minister of Finance
Zaire: Niati Boula Mandongo, State Commissioner for Foreign Affairs
The Conference
The meeting in Bangui had more delegations than the meeting in Paris in November 1973. The different delegations expressed their desire to work, “within the format of a friendly reunion”, to make progress on problems faced by Francophone Africa such as the situation of landlocked countries, the so-called “landlocked countries”, the struggle against drought and natural disasters and the future for Francophonie (those linked by the French language and with historical and cultural affinities).
The Outcome
President Senghor, while summing up the Conference along with President Houphouët-Boigny, expressed satisfaction with the frank and friendly spirit that marked this “family reunion.”
It was decided that the venue of the Franco-African Summit would alternate every year, between Africa and France.
Valéry Giscard d’Estaing told his African partners he wished to see French aid to African countries increase. He also expressed the wish to one day see the Conference welcome Portuguese speaking countries and thus become Latin rather than remain exclusively Francophone.
3rd FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
PARIS, MAY 10-11, 1976
Priority for development
The 20 participants
Nine Heads of State
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
France: Valéry Giscard d’Estaing
Gabon: Omar Bongo
Mali: Colonel Moussa Traoré
Niger: Lieutenant-Colonel Seyni Kountché
Rwanda: Major-General Juvénal Habyarimana
Senegal: Léopold Sédar Senghor
Togo: General Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Upper Volta: General Sangoulé Lamizana
Eleven Ministerial delegations:
Benin: Lieutenant-Colonel Barthélémy Ohouens, Minister of Industry and Crafts
Burundi: Melchior Bwakira, Minister of Foreign Affairs and of Cooperation
Cape Verde: Cordeiro Almada, Minister of Justice
Central African Republic: Alphonse Koyamba, State Minister charged with Organization of the Public Treasury
Chad: Colonel Djime Ngakinar, Vice President of the Superior Military Council
Comoros: Salim Himidi, Minister of the Interior
Guinea-Bissau: Vasco Cabral, State Commissioner for Economic Development and Planning
Mauritius: Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, Prime Minister
Sao Tomé and Principe: Lao Chang, Minister of Administration
Seychelles: James Mancham, Prime Minister
Zaire: Nguza Karl I Bond, Commissioner for Foreign Affairs
The Conference
While the two preceding conferences were dominated /by the examination of specifically African or Euro-African problems, this Conference in Paris had a more ambitious agenda: that of an independent Africa in search of its own development. The debates at the Conference centered around four points: inflation, the international monetary system, North-South dialogue and development aid.
The Outcome
Under French initiative, the Conference proposed the setting up of two aid funds:
-An extraordinary fund for the promotion of Africa: This fund was to be set up by industrialized countries with historical ties to Africa and to which the United States could be affiliated. The fund would be used in several precise development sectors such as building railroads and roads for landlocked countries to have access to the sea, the struggle against drought or the development of mining to exploit mineral resources. The organization of this fund was jointly entrusted to a council of donor countries and a council exclusively made up of African recipient countries.
-An African solidarity fund: financed jointly by African states and France and whose aid would go to investment projects in the least developed countries.
Moreover, Paris decided to join the OAU’s African Development Fund, in which Germany, Sweden and Canada already took part.
4th FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
DAKAR, APRIL 20-21, 1977
Increased dangers in Africa
The 20 participants
Eleven Heads of State
Chad: General Félix Malloum
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
France: Valéry Giscard d’Estaing
Gabon: Omar Bongo
Mali: Colonel Moussa Traoré
Niger: Lieutenant-Colonel Seyni Kountché
Rwanda: Major-General Juvénal Habyarimana
Senegal: Léopold Sédar Senghor
Seychelles:James Mancham
Togo: General Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Upper Volta: General Sangoulé Lamizana
Nine Ministerial delegations:
Benin: Isidore Amoussou, Minister of Finance
Burundi: Lieutenant-Colonel Edouard Nzambimana, Prime Minister
Comoros: Ali Mlamali, Minister of Education
Cape Verde: Oswaldo Lopes da Silva
Central Africa: Ange Patassé, Prime Minister
Guinea-Bissau: Vasco Cabral, Minister of Economic Development
Mauritius: Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, Prime Minister
The Territory of the Afars and the Issas, as observers
Zaire: Karl I Bond, Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Conference
The work at this Summit in Dakar was dominated by what Valéry Giscard d’Estaing called “the increased dangers in Africa.” The climate of uncertainty created by the sudden development of Soviet influence and the rivalry between the two Superpowers in several regions of the African continent weighed heavily on the debates at the Conference.
France, which had provided logistical support to Zaire during the first “invasion” of Shaba, was firm and reassuring: “All African states have the right to security within their borders, no matter what their political opinions may be,” the French president said at the opening of the Fourth Franco-African Summit.
However, the security problems, despite their seriousness, did not hide the economic problems of the day, such as world inflation, the worsening of terms of trade and the future of North-South dialogue.
The 19 African countries taking part in the Dakar Summit stated firmly that “the only fight which deserves to be fought in Africa is the fight for development in peace, unity and cooperation.”
5 th FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
PARIS, MAY 22-23 1978
Security and development
For the first time the Ministers of Foreign Affairs were given the task of preparing the meeting of the Heads of State and the agenda for the Conference (the preparatory meeting in Paris was held on May 12 and 13).
The 20 participants
Sixteen Heads of State
Benin: Lieutenant-Colonel Mathieu Kerekou
Central Africa: Emperor Bokassa 1st
Chad: General Félix Malloum
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
France: Valéry Giscard d’Estaing
Gabon: Omar Bongo
Mali: Colonel Moussa Traoré
Mauritania: Moktar Ould Daddah
Niger: Lieutenant-Colonel Seyni Kountché
Rwanda: Major-General Juvénal Habyarimana
Senegal: Léopold Sédar Senghor
Seychelles: France Albert Réné
Togo: General Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Upper Volta: General Sangoulé Lamizana
Zaire: General Mobutu Sese Seko
Five Ministerial delegations
Burundi: Lieutenant-Colonel Edouard Mzambinana, Prime Minister
Congo: Alexander Danguet-Attiki, Ambassador to Paris
Guinea-Bissau: Vasco Cabral, State Commissioner for Economic Development and Planning
Mauritius: Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, Prime Minister
Sao Tomé: Maris de Amorin, Ambassador to Paris
It is worth noting the first participation by Mauritania and a veritable attendance for Congo.
The Conference
The 20 participants gathered around the French president had their eyes turned towards the events taking place at that very moment in the Zairian province of Shaba.
Thus, even more than in Dakar, questions of security weighed on the debate. The participants’ anxiety increased with the dimensions of the conflicts tearing Africa apart: the conflicts in the Western Sahara, in the “Horn”, and in Chad along with the painful de-colonization process in Rhodesia and in Southern Africa.
“We must refuse to let the policies of blocks ravage Africa,” declared French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing.
For his part, Togolese President, General Gnassingbé Eyadéma, speaking on behalf of African states, denounced “the blind violence, the brutal foreign interference in the affairs of sovereign states” and claimed “the right to security, the only thing, which can guarantee the continuation of development.”
The Gabonese Head of State, and acting OAU Chairman, Omar Bongo, championed the idea of creating a military assistance pact with all the states that would like to be associated.
The Outcome
- The creation under the authority of the Senegalese Foreign Ministry of a fact-finding committee of five experts in charge of examining the ramifications of eventually setting up a structure grouping the Heads of State and Government of the Francophone countries;
- An exceptional contribution from France for the implementation of a special program to fight drought (a contribution of 60 million French francs increased to 100 million in 1979);
- The French decision to increase the financing for operations by the Aid and Cooperation Fund. The money would be allocated first of all to the most disinherited and to improve the conditions for loans granted by the Central Fund for Economic Cooperation.
6th FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
KIGALI, MAY 21-22, 1979
Euro-African relations
The 21 participants
Thirteen Heads of State:
Burundi: Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bagaza
Central Africa: Emperor Bokassa 1st
Comoros: Ahmed Abdallah
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Djibouti: Hassan Gouled
France: Valéry Giscard d’Estaing
Gabon: Omar Bongo
Mali: Colonel Moussa Traoré
Rwanda: Major-General Juvénal Habyarimana
Senegal: Léopold Sédar Senghor
Togo: General Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Upper Volta: General Sangoulé Lamizana
Zaire: General Mobutu Sese Seko
Nine Ministerial delegations:
Benin: Barthélémy Ohouens, Minister of Industry
Congo: Louis-Sylvain Goma, Prime Minister
Guinea-Bissau: Victor Saudé Maris, State Commissioner for Foreign Affairs
Liberia: Cecil Dennis, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mauritania: Lieutenant-Colonel Bouceif, Prime Minister
Morocco: M. Senoussi, former Minister
Niger: Captain Djermakoye, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Sao Tomé and Principe: Maria de Amorin, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Seychelles: Guy Simon, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Liberia’s exceptional presence at the Francophone meeting was noteworthy. Liberia took the chairmanship of the OAU in July 1979. Also worth noting was the unexpected presence of Morocco at a time when negotiations on the Western Sahara crisis were deadlocked. Chad’s absence was keenly felt.
The Conference
Even though the Kigali Conference was more serene than the previous two summits, which had been marked by the two “invasions” of Shaba, the Conference was not without /incidents:
-There was the hasty departure of the Chadian delegation led by General Djogo, Vice-President of the Provisional Government in N’Djamena and whose legitimacy had been put into question by a certain number of delegations.
- “The Bokassa Affair”: the shattering statements made in Paris by General Bangui, the resigning Central-African ambassador. He confirmed Amnesty International allegations of the massacres of Central-African school children. The Kigali Summit decided to set up a fact-finding mission composed of five African countries: /Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Rwanda, Senegal and Togo.
Along with these events, the participants also largely discussed security problems. The Conference distinguished three levels for security:
Franco-African actions of solidarity.
The creation of a pan-African force, aimed principally against “the racist states of Southern Africa.”
The signature of regional non-aggression treaties.
But economic and developmental problems as well as Euro-African relations retained most of the attention at the Conference. Worth noting is the examination in Kigali of African development problems. The Conference was held just as the fifth UNCTAD Assembly (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) was being held in Manila. UNCTAD was laboriously trying to advance North-South dialogue as the negotiations for the renewal of the Lomé Convention were nearing the deadline. It was within this context that the Kigali Summit issued a call to France to faithfully present the views and concerns of ACP states to its partners in the EEC and other industrialized countries.
Finally, with the approval of the participants at the Kigali Conference, Giscard d’Estaing, the acting President of the EEC, held a round of talks in Khartoum with the Sudanese Head of State and acting Chairman of the OAU, General Gaafar El Nimeiri. Giscard d’Estaing asked the Sudanese leader to officially submit “the idea put forward by France for a Euro-Arab-African conference. “Thus the idea of a “trilogue”, so dear to Giscard d’Estaing, progressed even though he had admitted himself that "it will be a complex and delicate task.”
PARIS, NOVEMBER 13, 1973
A new framework for dialogue
The 21 conferences of heads of state from france and africa
The 11 participants
Seven Heads of State:
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
France: Georges Pompidou
Gabon: Albert-Bernard Bongo
Niger: Hamani Diori
Central Africa: General Jean-Bedel Bokassa
Senegal: Léopold Sédar Senghor
Upper Volta: General Sangoulé Lamizana
Four Ministerial Delegations (Finance Ministers)
Congo: Saturnin Okabé
Dahomey: Commander Michel Alladayé
Mali: Thiéoulé Konaté
Togo: Joachim Hunlédé
The Conference
The first Franco-African Summit was held in Paris on November 13, 1973, under the chairmanship of France’s Head of State, Georges Pompidou The Summit was organized as the result of an initiative from Niger’s Head of State, Hamani Diori,
This conference would later be referred to as “historical”. It offered a new framework for dialogue between France and French speaking (Francophone) Africa. The meeting came on the heels of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, which had left some 10,000 people dead. This compelled the participants to affirm their desire for a peace “which interests the whole international community and not only the two Superpowers.”
The Outcome
This first Franco-African Summit decided to become an instrument for mutual consultations, which would meet informally once a year.
Commenting on the work accomplished at this Summit, then French Foreign Minister, Michel Jobert, declared: “Franco-African cooperation, so often joked about, certainly constitutes, in the world as it is today, an element of progress and stability.”
2nd FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
BANGUI, MARCH 7-8, 1975
The new world economic order
The 15 Participants
Nine Heads of State:
Burundi: Michel Micombero
The Central African Republic: Marchal Jean-Bedel Bokassa
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
France: Valéry Giscard d’Estaing
Gabon: Omar Bongo
Niger: Lieutenant-Colonel Seyni Kountché
Rwanda: Major-General Juvénal Habyarimana
Senegal: Léopold Sédar Senghor
Upper Volta: General Sangoulé Lamizana
Six Ministerial delegations:
Dahomey: Barthélémy Ohouens, Minister of Justice
Mali: Thiéoulé Konaté, Minister of Finance
Mauritius: Sir Seewoosagur Rammgoolam, Prime Minister
Seychelles: James Mancham (as an observer)
Togo: Edem Kodjo, Minister of Finance
Zaire: Niati Boula Mandongo, State Commissioner for Foreign Affairs
The Conference
The meeting in Bangui had more delegations than the meeting in Paris in November 1973. The different delegations expressed their desire to work, “within the format of a friendly reunion”, to make progress on problems faced by Francophone Africa such as the situation of landlocked countries, the so-called “landlocked countries”, the struggle against drought and natural disasters and the future for Francophonie (those linked by the French language and with historical and cultural affinities).
The Outcome
President Senghor, while summing up the Conference along with President Houphouët-Boigny, expressed satisfaction with the frank and friendly spirit that marked this “family reunion.”
It was decided that the venue of the Franco-African Summit would alternate every year, between Africa and France.
Valéry Giscard d’Estaing told his African partners he wished to see French aid to African countries increase. He also expressed the wish to one day see the Conference welcome Portuguese speaking countries and thus become Latin rather than remain exclusively Francophone.
3rd FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
PARIS, MAY 10-11, 1976
Priority for development
The 20 participants
Nine Heads of State
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
France: Valéry Giscard d’Estaing
Gabon: Omar Bongo
Mali: Colonel Moussa Traoré
Niger: Lieutenant-Colonel Seyni Kountché
Rwanda: Major-General Juvénal Habyarimana
Senegal: Léopold Sédar Senghor
Togo: General Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Upper Volta: General Sangoulé Lamizana
Eleven Ministerial delegations:
Benin: Lieutenant-Colonel Barthélémy Ohouens, Minister of Industry and Crafts
Burundi: Melchior Bwakira, Minister of Foreign Affairs and of Cooperation
Cape Verde: Cordeiro Almada, Minister of Justice
Central African Republic: Alphonse Koyamba, State Minister charged with Organization of the Public Treasury
Chad: Colonel Djime Ngakinar, Vice President of the Superior Military Council
Comoros: Salim Himidi, Minister of the Interior
Guinea-Bissau: Vasco Cabral, State Commissioner for Economic Development and Planning
Mauritius: Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, Prime Minister
Sao Tomé and Principe: Lao Chang, Minister of Administration
Seychelles: James Mancham, Prime Minister
Zaire: Nguza Karl I Bond, Commissioner for Foreign Affairs
The Conference
While the two preceding conferences were dominated /by the examination of specifically African or Euro-African problems, this Conference in Paris had a more ambitious agenda: that of an independent Africa in search of its own development. The debates at the Conference centered around four points: inflation, the international monetary system, North-South dialogue and development aid.
The Outcome
Under French initiative, the Conference proposed the setting up of two aid funds:
-An extraordinary fund for the promotion of Africa: This fund was to be set up by industrialized countries with historical ties to Africa and to which the United States could be affiliated. The fund would be used in several precise development sectors such as building railroads and roads for landlocked countries to have access to the sea, the struggle against drought or the development of mining to exploit mineral resources. The organization of this fund was jointly entrusted to a council of donor countries and a council exclusively made up of African recipient countries.
-An African solidarity fund: financed jointly by African states and France and whose aid would go to investment projects in the least developed countries.
Moreover, Paris decided to join the OAU’s African Development Fund, in which Germany, Sweden and Canada already took part.
4th FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
DAKAR, APRIL 20-21, 1977
Increased dangers in Africa
The 20 participants
Eleven Heads of State
Chad: General Félix Malloum
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
France: Valéry Giscard d’Estaing
Gabon: Omar Bongo
Mali: Colonel Moussa Traoré
Niger: Lieutenant-Colonel Seyni Kountché
Rwanda: Major-General Juvénal Habyarimana
Senegal: Léopold Sédar Senghor
Seychelles:James Mancham
Togo: General Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Upper Volta: General Sangoulé Lamizana
Nine Ministerial delegations:
Benin: Isidore Amoussou, Minister of Finance
Burundi: Lieutenant-Colonel Edouard Nzambimana, Prime Minister
Comoros: Ali Mlamali, Minister of Education
Cape Verde: Oswaldo Lopes da Silva
Central Africa: Ange Patassé, Prime Minister
Guinea-Bissau: Vasco Cabral, Minister of Economic Development
Mauritius: Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, Prime Minister
The Territory of the Afars and the Issas, as observers
Zaire: Karl I Bond, Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Conference
The work at this Summit in Dakar was dominated by what Valéry Giscard d’Estaing called “the increased dangers in Africa.” The climate of uncertainty created by the sudden development of Soviet influence and the rivalry between the two Superpowers in several regions of the African continent weighed heavily on the debates at the Conference.
France, which had provided logistical support to Zaire during the first “invasion” of Shaba, was firm and reassuring: “All African states have the right to security within their borders, no matter what their political opinions may be,” the French president said at the opening of the Fourth Franco-African Summit.
However, the security problems, despite their seriousness, did not hide the economic problems of the day, such as world inflation, the worsening of terms of trade and the future of North-South dialogue.
The 19 African countries taking part in the Dakar Summit stated firmly that “the only fight which deserves to be fought in Africa is the fight for development in peace, unity and cooperation.”
5 th FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
PARIS, MAY 22-23 1978
Security and development
For the first time the Ministers of Foreign Affairs were given the task of preparing the meeting of the Heads of State and the agenda for the Conference (the preparatory meeting in Paris was held on May 12 and 13).
The 20 participants
Sixteen Heads of State
Benin: Lieutenant-Colonel Mathieu Kerekou
Central Africa: Emperor Bokassa 1st
Chad: General Félix Malloum
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
France: Valéry Giscard d’Estaing
Gabon: Omar Bongo
Mali: Colonel Moussa Traoré
Mauritania: Moktar Ould Daddah
Niger: Lieutenant-Colonel Seyni Kountché
Rwanda: Major-General Juvénal Habyarimana
Senegal: Léopold Sédar Senghor
Seychelles: France Albert Réné
Togo: General Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Upper Volta: General Sangoulé Lamizana
Zaire: General Mobutu Sese Seko
Five Ministerial delegations
Burundi: Lieutenant-Colonel Edouard Mzambinana, Prime Minister
Congo: Alexander Danguet-Attiki, Ambassador to Paris
Guinea-Bissau: Vasco Cabral, State Commissioner for Economic Development and Planning
Mauritius: Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, Prime Minister
Sao Tomé: Maris de Amorin, Ambassador to Paris
It is worth noting the first participation by Mauritania and a veritable attendance for Congo.
The Conference
The 20 participants gathered around the French president had their eyes turned towards the events taking place at that very moment in the Zairian province of Shaba.
Thus, even more than in Dakar, questions of security weighed on the debate. The participants’ anxiety increased with the dimensions of the conflicts tearing Africa apart: the conflicts in the Western Sahara, in the “Horn”, and in Chad along with the painful de-colonization process in Rhodesia and in Southern Africa.
“We must refuse to let the policies of blocks ravage Africa,” declared French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing.
For his part, Togolese President, General Gnassingbé Eyadéma, speaking on behalf of African states, denounced “the blind violence, the brutal foreign interference in the affairs of sovereign states” and claimed “the right to security, the only thing, which can guarantee the continuation of development.”
The Gabonese Head of State, and acting OAU Chairman, Omar Bongo, championed the idea of creating a military assistance pact with all the states that would like to be associated.
The Outcome
- The creation under the authority of the Senegalese Foreign Ministry of a fact-finding committee of five experts in charge of examining the ramifications of eventually setting up a structure grouping the Heads of State and Government of the Francophone countries;
- An exceptional contribution from France for the implementation of a special program to fight drought (a contribution of 60 million French francs increased to 100 million in 1979);
- The French decision to increase the financing for operations by the Aid and Cooperation Fund. The money would be allocated first of all to the most disinherited and to improve the conditions for loans granted by the Central Fund for Economic Cooperation.
6th FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
KIGALI, MAY 21-22, 1979
Euro-African relations
The 21 participants
Thirteen Heads of State:
Burundi: Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bagaza
Central Africa: Emperor Bokassa 1st
Comoros: Ahmed Abdallah
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Djibouti: Hassan Gouled
France: Valéry Giscard d’Estaing
Gabon: Omar Bongo
Mali: Colonel Moussa Traoré
Rwanda: Major-General Juvénal Habyarimana
Senegal: Léopold Sédar Senghor
Togo: General Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Upper Volta: General Sangoulé Lamizana
Zaire: General Mobutu Sese Seko
Nine Ministerial delegations:
Benin: Barthélémy Ohouens, Minister of Industry
Congo: Louis-Sylvain Goma, Prime Minister
Guinea-Bissau: Victor Saudé Maris, State Commissioner for Foreign Affairs
Liberia: Cecil Dennis, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mauritania: Lieutenant-Colonel Bouceif, Prime Minister
Morocco: M. Senoussi, former Minister
Niger: Captain Djermakoye, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Sao Tomé and Principe: Maria de Amorin, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Seychelles: Guy Simon, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Liberia’s exceptional presence at the Francophone meeting was noteworthy. Liberia took the chairmanship of the OAU in July 1979. Also worth noting was the unexpected presence of Morocco at a time when negotiations on the Western Sahara crisis were deadlocked. Chad’s absence was keenly felt.
The Conference
Even though the Kigali Conference was more serene than the previous two summits, which had been marked by the two “invasions” of Shaba, the Conference was not without /incidents:
-There was the hasty departure of the Chadian delegation led by General Djogo, Vice-President of the Provisional Government in N’Djamena and whose legitimacy had been put into question by a certain number of delegations.
- “The Bokassa Affair”: the shattering statements made in Paris by General Bangui, the resigning Central-African ambassador. He confirmed Amnesty International allegations of the massacres of Central-African school children. The Kigali Summit decided to set up a fact-finding mission composed of five African countries: /Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Rwanda, Senegal and Togo.
Along with these events, the participants also largely discussed security problems. The Conference distinguished three levels for security:
Franco-African actions of solidarity.
The creation of a pan-African force, aimed principally against “the racist states of Southern Africa.”
The signature of regional non-aggression treaties.
But economic and developmental problems as well as Euro-African relations retained most of the attention at the Conference. Worth noting is the examination in Kigali of African development problems. The Conference was held just as the fifth UNCTAD Assembly (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) was being held in Manila. UNCTAD was laboriously trying to advance North-South dialogue as the negotiations for the renewal of the Lomé Convention were nearing the deadline. It was within this context that the Kigali Summit issued a call to France to faithfully present the views and concerns of ACP states to its partners in the EEC and other industrialized countries.
Finally, with the approval of the participants at the Kigali Conference, Giscard d’Estaing, the acting President of the EEC, held a round of talks in Khartoum with the Sudanese Head of State and acting Chairman of the OAU, General Gaafar El Nimeiri. Giscard d’Estaing asked the Sudanese leader to officially submit “the idea put forward by France for a Euro-Arab-African conference. “Thus the idea of a “trilogue”, so dear to Giscard d’Estaing, progressed even though he had admitted himself that "it will be a complex and delicate task.”
Article publié le 17/02/2003
