The Conferences of Heads of State from France and Africa (1990-2001)
16th FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
LA BAULE, JUNE 19-20-21, 1990
A democracy dividend?
The 35 participants
Twenty-three Heads of State
Benin: Mathieu Kerekou
Burkina Faso: Blaise Compaoré
Burundi: Pierre Buyoya
Cape Verde: Aristide Pereira
Central Africa: André Kolingba
Chad: Hissène Habré
Comoros: Saïd Mohamed Djohar
Congo: Denis Sassou-Nguesso
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Djibouti: Hassan Gouled Aptidon
France: François Mitterrand
Equatorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang Nguema
Gabon: Omar Bongo
Gambia: Daouda Jawara
Guinea-Bissau: Joao Bernardo Vieira
Mali: Moussa Traoré
Morocco: King Hassan II
Niger: Ali Saïbou
Uganda: Yoweri Museveni
Rwanda: Juvenal Habyarimana
Sao Tomé and Principe: Manuel Pinto da Costa
Senegal: Abdou Diouf
Togo: Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Twelve Ministerial delegations
Angola: Pedro de Castro Van-Dunem, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Côte d’Ivoire: Siméon Aké, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Egypt: Boutro Boutros-Ghali, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Guinea: Jean Traoré: Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mauritius: Sateam Boolell, Vice-Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs
Namibia: Ben Amathila, Minister of Trade and Industry
Seychelles: Mrs Danielle Saint-Jorre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Sierra Leone: Abdul Koroma, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Somalia: Mohamed Ali Hamoud, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Sudan: El A. Khalifa, Member of the RC
Tunisia: Hamed Karoui, Prime Minister
Zaire: Lunda Bululu, Prime Minister
The Conference
“…There will be a normal aid from France as concerns African countries, but it is obvious that this aid will be luke-warm towards those who behave in an authoritarian fashion, and more enthusiastic towards those who courageously take this step towards democracy…”
This was the first time that France, through the intermediary of its president, clearly stated that it would, from then on, grant a “democracy dividend” to African regimes.
The announcement could have come as a surprise, at a time when the “Eastern wind” was sweeping away the authoritarian regimes in Eastern and Central Europe, and when a good number of African countries themselves, under pressure from the street, had had to begin a process of “democratic opening.”
But the French President took one precaution: “We do not want to interfere in internal affairs. For us, this subtle form of colonialism, which consists of constantly giving lessons to African states, and to those who lead them, is a form of colonialism as perverse as any other. It would be to consider there are superior peoples, who grasp the truth, and the others, who would not be capable of it. While I know the efforts of so many leaders who love their people, and who intend to serve them, even if it is not in the same way as on the banks of the River Seine or the River Thames…”
He made his idea perfectly clear: “When I say democracy, when I say it is the only way to reach a balanced state at a time when the necessity for greater freedoms presents itself, I have, naturally, a ready-made model: a representative system, free elections, multi-party democracy, freedom of the press, the independence of the judiciary, refusal of censure… It is up to you, free peoples, to you sovereign states that I respect, to choose your path, to determine the stages and the speed …”
Would this “friendly advice” please all those present? Nothing could be less sure. While presenting the situation in Gabon, President Bongo preferred “to let the events council him”. President Abdou Diouf, shared his thoughts on multi-party democracy in Senegal, to assure that, according to him, it is the ideal regime, on the condition that there is “a strong government” and “a sincere and truthful opposition.” Chad’s President, Hissène Habré, for his part, regretted, that African states were being asked “to carry out, at one and the same time, democracy and economic and financial policies which somewhat limit their sovereignty… Africa is the victim of a sort of ideological suffocation.”
For King Hassan II “Africa is too open to the world to remain indifferent to what is happening around it.” He called on Western countries “to help the young democracies blossom, without putting a knife to their throats, without jumping abruptly to multi-party politics…”
The 16th Summit was not limited only to political considerations. Franco-African cooperation, as usual, held an important place on the agenda. “A few simple reminders,” deserved to be underlined according to President Mitterrand: “France is still the first of the advanced industrialized countries when it comes to aid for developing countries. The first, far ahead of all the others.”
To respond to the expectations of France’s African partners, President Mitterrand announced “the unilateral decision” of his country to “only grant money to the least developed countries” and to “limit to 5%, instead of 10%, interest rates on public aid to countries said to have intermediary revenues.”
But there was no question of stopping at that: “I intend to ask our partners, the six other industrialized countries, to go further…”
Furthermore, President Mitterrand intended to re-launch his idea of a “Special World Fund” to be financed by an allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) in the IMF. He also reiterated his hostility to any idea of a devaluation of the CFA franc which “would not resolve any of the difficulties”, and he “would gurantee” that the CFA franc would be pegged to the future European currency.
The Outcome
Two important decisions were announced by France at this 16th Summit as far as its financial aid to Africa was concerned:
To the least developed countries (LDC) - with a yearly per capita Gross National Product of less than 500 dollars per person - France would henceforth only give grants;
For the middle income countries - those whose yearly per capita GNP was over 500 dollars, but less than 6,000 dollars - the interest rates on French public loans would be “limited to 5%” instead of 10%. This decision concerned the Côte d’Ivoire, Congo, Cameroon and Gabon.
17th FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
LIBREVILLE, OCTOBER 5-6-7, 1992
Economic austerity
The 34 participents
Fourteen Heads of State
Benin: Nicéphore Soglo
Burkina Faso: Blaise Compaoré
Burundi: Pierre Buyoya
Chad: Idriss Deby
Congo: Pascal Lissouba
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Equatorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang Nguema
Gabon: Omar Bongo
Guinea-Bissau: Joao Bernardo Vieira
Mali: Alpha Omar Konaré
Namibia: Sam Nujoma
Rwanda: Juvenal Habyarimana
Sao Tomé and Principe: Miguel Trovoada
Senegal: Abdou Diouf
Seventeen Ministerial delegations
Cape Verde: Alfredo Teixera, Minister of Public Administration
Cameroon: Jospeh Owona, Minister of Transportation and Communication
Central Africa: Christian Lingama, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Comoros: Saïd Hassane, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Djibouti: Omar Abbas, Minister of National Education
France: Pierre Bérégovoy, Prime Minister
Guinea: Ibrahim Sylla, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Madagascar: Guy Razanamasy, Prime Minister
Mauritania: Mohamed Abderrahmane, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mauritius: Paul Bérenger, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Morocco: Taich Chikli, Minister of National Education
Mozambique, Pascal Mocumbi, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Niger: Amadou Cheffou, Prime Minister
Seychelles: Mrs Danielle de Saint-Jorre, Minister of Foreign Affrairs
Togo: Ouattara Natchaba, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Tunisia: Ahmed Karoui, Prime Minister
Zaire: Pierre Lumbi, Minister of foreign Affairs
One other participent
Egypt: Samir Safouat, Presidential Advisor
The Conference
For the first time since 1973, the Summit met in the absence of the French President. France was represented by Prime Minister Pierre Bérégovoy at the 17th Summit, as President Mitterrand was convalescing after a delicate surgical intervention. There had never been so few African Heads of State at a summit since the Nice Summit (1980). Despite the importance of face-to-face talks between the French president and his African counterparts in this kind of meetings, the absence of François Mitterrand was not the only explanation. The president's speech at La Baule two years earlier - on the “democracy dividend” - was beginning to have consequences as much in Togo, Zaire, Niger and Madagascar as in the Central African Republic. The leaders of these countries preferred to stay out of the limelight for the moment. Not to mention those of the Comoros and Djibouti who were confronted with internal instability.
In a message he read on behalf of President Mitterrand, Bérégovoy stressed: “Today, wherever we look around the continent, the movement for democracy is on the tracks… Democracy is never easy to build, even less so when economic crisis exacerbates tensions and exasperates impatience". "But,” he added, “democracy is the twin sister of development. It is a law of history from which none can escape; everywhere democracy takes root, development can get a new start… Those among you, and you are more and more numerous, who have chosen the road of democracy, know that their choice brings them increased respect from the outside world. But this choice merits a more attentive solidarity from the world community, so that your countries can both manage better and produce more…”
France, for the first time, joined the African states’ opinion that conditions imposed by the IMF and the World Bank in exchange for their support were draconian. “Adjustment is necessary in your countries, there are savings to be made” - the French Prime Minister pointed out - “but you have to be aided and not forced… We all have duties to the international monetary institutions, but we also have rights.” Bérégovoy also said: “What shocks me the most, is that the flow of capital has become negative, in other words, that African countries receive less than they pay out … Because a certain number of countries refused the devaluation of the CFA franc, which the World Bank suggested, they now find themselves denied assistance… I say no! There must be greater understanding…”
The summit host, Gabonese President Omar Bongo, said: “The African continent is swinging between hope and anxiety. In Southern Africa, we have at last seen the beginning of the liquidation of the odious system of Apartheid. … Our countries are running up against grave financial, economic and social difficulties today, more than ever. The lack of natural resources in some cases, the insufficient selling price for mining or agricultural production in others, seriously limits Africa’s revenues. Furthermore, the funds obtained through the sale of African production are by and large absorbed by the payment of the foreign debt.
President Bongo added: “We thus severely lack ever more the means to assure our economic growth, to respond to the increased social demands from our people, and to comfort, through economic and social progress, the democratic development, which we continue to push forward despite all the material difficulties of our continent. This is why we appeal for solidarity…”
The summit discussed a series of African conflicts.
Liberia: the Summit encouraged the ECOWAS member states in their efforts to try to restore peace and stability in the country.
Somalia: the proposal made by the Senegalese President, Abdou Diouf, before the UN General Assembly, to convene an international conference (UN, OAU, OIC, The Arab League, EEC) to resolve the conflict in Somalia, was warmly approved by the Summit.
Mozambique: The Rome Accord of October 1991 opened the road for peace.
Rwanda: the government in Kigali and the Rwandan Patriotic Front were encouraged to continue their negotiations in view of reaching a global agreement which would allow a return to peace and with respect for the country’s territorial integrity.
Angola: The Summit urged all the parties to respect the pledges they made within the framework of the Estoril Accords.
The Touareg problem: the National Pact signed in Bamako on April 11, 1992, was welcomed with relief as it guaranteed the different parties would work for peace, security and stability in the region within the democratic institutions.
The Outcome
France announced the creation of a “Fund to convert debt for development”. This Fund, with 4 billion French francs, was to be operational before the end of the year 1992. The beneficiaries were to be middle income countries in the franc zone in sub-Saharan Africa: Cameroon, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon, all four heavily indebted countries (a total of 32.744 billion dollars at the end of 1990). The Fund would intervene once the projects were approved, by converting the debts of these countries vis-à-vis France. In this way, France renounced its right to be paid back the debt concerned by the conversion. The management of the Fund was to be assured by the Caisse centrale de coopération économique française (The French Central Fund for Economic Cooperation).
The summit gave the green light to a harmonization of Business and Labor Rights between the countries of the franc zone and for the elaboration of a treaty on the subject. The project, drawn up by the Finance Ministers of the zone, and presented to the Summit by President Abdou Diouf, was to be put into operation by the end of 1992. All interested African countries, whether members of the franc zone or not, could join. The objective was, notably, to improve free trade, to restore the confidence of economic operators and to prepare economic integration.
MFI - Hubert Fagla
18th FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
BIARRITZ, NOVEMBER 7-8-9, 1994
Security and military interventions
The 36 participants
Twenty-seven Heads of State
Benin: Nicéphore Soglo
Burkina Faso: Blaise Compaoré
Burundi: Sylvestre Ntibantunganya
Cameroon: Paul Bia
Cape Verde: Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro
Central Africa: Ange Félix Patassé
Chad: Idriss Deby
Comoros: Saïd Mohamed Djohar
Congo: Pascal Lissouba
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Djibouti: Hassan Gouled Aptidon
Ethiopia: Meles Zenaaawi
Eritrea: Issayas Afeworki
Equatorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasago
France: François Mitterrand
Gabon: El Hadj Omar Bongo
Guinea: Lansana Conté
Guinea-Bissau: Joao Bernardo Vieira
Madagascar: Albert Zafy
Mali: Alpha Omar Konaré
Mauritania: Maaouya Ould Sid-Ahmed Taya
Morocco: King Hassan II
Niger: Mahamane Ousmane
Namibia: Sam Nujoma
Senegal: Abdou Diouf
Togo: Gnassingbe Eyadéma`
Zimbabwe, Robert Gabriel Mugabe
One Vice-President
South Africa: Thabo Mbeki
Three Heads of Government
Angola: Marcelino Moco, Prime Minister
Mauritius: Sir Anerood Jugnauth, Prime Minister
Tunisia: Hamed Karoui, Prime Minister
Four Ministerial delegations
Egypt: Amr Moussa, Minister of foreign Affairs
Mozambique: Pascoal Manuel Mocumbi, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Saint-Thomas and Prince: Guilherme Posser da Costa, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
Seychelles: Mrs Danielle de Saint-Jorre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Planning and Environment
Other delegations
Namibia: Zedekia Ngavirue, Director General of the National Commission for Planning
The Conference
Devaluation and the Rwandan crisis
Physically weakened by illness that François Mitterrand nevertheless made the trip to Biarritz to defend, up to the end of his second mandate, his African policies and to bid farewell to the African Heads of State and to the continent he knew so well for such a long time. It was his tenth Franco-African Summit. Since 1988, these summits were being held every two years instead of annually.
The Biarritz Summit came at a time when France was experiencing a very difficult political situation. It strained an extenuated French President, marked by a second cohabitation, during which the Prime Minister, Edouard Baladur, also present at the Summit, and his Foreign Minister, Alain Juppé and Defense Minster, François Léotard, tried to impose their influence on French African policies, a realm which had traditionally been reserved for the Head of State.
Two major events were being played out since the beginning of the year 1994 and which largely dominated the debates in Biarritz.
First, the devaluation of the CFA franc in January which was a considerable shock for the 14 countries on the continent. Even if, between January and November, the donors, and in particular France, succeeded in concluding accords with most of the 14 countries allowing the allocation of substantial financial aid destined to weather the first effects of this devaluation, the Heads of State of the 14 countries made known in Biarritz their ongoing disquiet. This led Mitterrand to insist heavily, on the need to maintain the international aid effort for Africa, and for African countries to continue their efforts to restructure their economies. He did not miss the opportunity to harshly criticize the IMF, and especially the World Bank. He also stressed the role he had insisted on playing in the devaluation put in place by Prime Minister Edouard Baladur and his Cooperation Minister, Michel Roussin: “Financial reorganization is only one means,” François Mitterrand explained in his Biarritz speech. “It is for this reason, among others, that I wanted, along with the government of the Republic who conducted the major share of the process, to make sure that the devaluation of the CFA franc stick to certain conditions, capable of preserving the chances for development in the franc zone. One of the essential conditions put forward consisted in the commitment of France and international financial institutions in favor of major measures of accompaniment, capable of protecting the affected populations and to assure a re-launching of the economies. France respected its word and is watchful that the international multilateral institutions respect theirs."
Post-Turquoise: an inter-African Force
The second event came in April 1994. The massacre of several hundreds of thousands of Rwandans and the launching of Operation Turquoise, following the attack which caused the death of President Juvenal Habyarimana (who personally took part in 12 Franco-African Summits between 1978 and 1992). Operation Turquoise was a military intervention with humanitarian goals insisted upon by François Mitterrand despite the indifference of the international community and the reticence of certain ministers within the French government. The limits and conditions of the mission, and the length of the intervention, were determined by Prime Minister Edouard Baladur. During the Summit, this operation, as well as the Rwandan policies of François Mitterrand, were the subjects of sharp controversy. This was made even sharper by the fact that Rwanda had not been invited to take part in this Summit. Foreign Minister Alain Juppé explained that the government in Kigali had not been invited because “the stabilization of democracy had not yet been achieved”. He also criticized Rwandan officials for having made “particularly aggressive statements” against France. “That is not how one integrates a meeting among friends,” Juppé added.
The lessons drawn from Operation Turquoise and the context of a general breakdown in security on the continent put the project of creating an inter-African Force at the center of debate in Biarritz. Already back in July 1994, during a tour in Africa, Prime Minister Edouard Baladur had launched the idea, explaining that the development of post-Cold War conflicts made it imperative for Africa to progressively take over its own security, with the necessary backing of its partners and in particular, France.
François Mitterrand reverted to the issue in Biarritz: “We are very pleased … that the decision taken at the OAU Summit in Dakar in 1992, to create a mechanism for the prevention, management and settlement of conflicts, was formally adopted at the Cairo Summit in July 1993. This mechanism has already played an appreciable role in Congo and elsewhere. But this mechanism lacks all material and logistic means. That these recent events inspire us and allow us to go further! (…) Several among you, later suggested to me the formation of an inter-African Peacekeeping Force which could be used in an emergency in such situations, while waiting for the United Nations disposition be put in place. France is ready to play its part, technically and logistically. But it is up to you Africans to define the outlines, the missions and the conditions of its use. For our part, we will discuss it with our European partners.”
Following the tragedy in Rwanda, the majority of African Heads of State were, in principle, in favor of the creation of such a force. But not all were in agreement on its articulation with the OAU and the UN, on its regional or sub-regional structure etc….
Togolese Head of State Gnassingbé Eyadéma was asked by the Biarritz summit to assume the mission of drawing up a report on the subject. The results were never made public.
In concluding his speech, François Mitterrand formulated his African Will as follows: “For my part, I have always opposed any attempts, either open or insidious, to bargain off the African policies of France, or to make the decisions for such or such a country, in the place of those whose job it is to do so, as if we were inspired prophets, charged with dictating to the African peoples which one was the best road for them to travel. These are permanent temptations, a form of reverse colonialism that I can not accept any more than any other (…) I appeal to those who will have the charge of the country’s affairs after me. France would no longer be herself in the eyes of the world, if she renounced being present in Africa, at the side of the Africans, to be simply at their side, to contribute to the construction of a framework for peace, democracy and development, to succeed a great human adventure together, in the worst of difficulties, but while keeping her old traditions, her strong cultures and this human nature which hopes and which always believes in the chance of humanity.”
19th FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
OUAGADOUGOU, DECEMBER 4-5-6, 1996
Good governance and development
Forty-six countries in attendance
All African countries, except for three (Sudan, Somalia and Libya) were invited, fourteen of them for the first time. Several of these, among them Algeria, Kenya and Lesotho did not think it useful to attend the Summit. Eighteen countries sent delegations led by ministers, ambassadors or directors of ministries: South Africa, Angola, Cameroon, Central Africa, Egypt, Eritrea, Gambia, Ghana, Mauritius, Namibia, Uganda, Rwanda, Seychelles, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zaire, Zambia. Morocco was represented by the Crown Prince.
The 27 Heads of State and Government
Benin: Mathieu Kerekou
Botswana: Quett Ketumile Masire
Burkina Faso: Blaise Compaoré
Burundi: Pierre Buyoya
Cape Verde: Antonio Manuel Mascarenhas Monteiro
Chad: Idriss Deby
Comoros: Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim
Congo: Pascal Lissouba
Côte d’Ivoire: Henri Konan-Bedié
Djibouti: Hassan Gouled Aptidon
Ethiopia: Meles Zenawi
Equatorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasago
France: Jacques Chirac
Gabon: El Hadj Omar Bongo
Guinea: Lansana Conté
Guinea-Bissau: Joao Bernardo Vieira
Liberia: Mrs Ruth Sando Perry
Madagascar: Norbert Lala Ratsirahonana
Mali: Alpha Omar Konaré
Mauritania: Maaouya Ould Sid-Ahmed Taya
Mozambique: Joachim Alberto Chissano
Niger: Ibrahim Maïnassara Bare
Nigeria: Sani Abacha
Sao Tomé and Principe: Miguel Trovoada
Senegal: Abdou Diouf
Togo: Gnassingbe Eyadéma`
Zimbabwe, Robert Gabriel Mugabe
The Conference
The Burkinabe hosts, under the authority of Blaise Compaoré and his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ablasse Ouedraogo, wanted to give the 19th Franco-African Summit a more structured and a little less informal content than the preceding summits. The theme retained was “good governance and development”.
After the opening speech, right from the first closed-door session, three Heads of State assumed introduced the discussions. French President Jacques Chirac evoked the role of aid donors and the efforts deployed for development aid since the G-7 Summit which was held in Lyon in June 1996.
Botswana’s President, Ketumile Masire, gave a presentation on the relationship between good governance and democratization while the Burkinabe President, Blaise Compaoré, spoke of the ties between good governance and decentralization. At the close of discussions between the Heads of State, a long final declaration was released, taking up a number of general principles on sustainable development and the necessity for economic reforms, on the social dimensions of development, on the rule of law and the obligations that come with it. As for economic reforms, the major themes were reiterated: reorganization of public services, consolidation of democratic institutions and reduction of military spending, transparence, regional integration, a secure environment for investment and support for the private sector.
Jacques Chirac strongly insisted that these principles must not be limited to declarations of good intention and that, from now on, for the donors, good governance had become a major element among the conditions for development aid: “the donors, who must apply to themselves the criteria of good governance - transparence, dialogue, rigor, efficiency - are particularly sensitive to the efforts made, and the progress achieved, by the countries who receive the aid. This is why they tend to turn away from countries in need of aid that do not respect the same criteria as they do. Good governance has become the very condition for development. It is an absolute imperative, which imposes itself to donors and aided countries alike".
The Great Lakes and anti-personnel mines
Questions of security also took up a major share of the discussions at the Ouagadougou Summit. Right from the ministerial meetings and those of the group limited to Francophone countries, the question of conflicts in Africa, the question of institutional security, problems linked to Africa’s capacity to maintain peace and the efforts undertaken within the sub-regional level were largely debated. The final declaration confirmed that “the Heads of State, of Government and Delegation have affirmed their determination to work together for stabilization and security in Africa, by supporting the processes already in progress, which are aimed at giving Africa the necessary instruments for the prevention, the management and settlement of conflicts, and especially those of the Organization of African Unity, as well as the use of sub-regional structures whose vocation is to assure better prevention of crises and a better coordination of national efforts, under the auspices of the United Nations.”
Special attention was given to the question of the spread of anti-personnel land mines, a question which concerns some 20 countries on the continent, and for which an international treaty was being negotiated.. This treaty was finally concluded in Ottawa in September 1997 and has since been signed by some 40 countries.
The crisis in the Great Lakes took center stage, pushed to the forefront by events on the ground. Zaire’s President Mobutu, following his “return” at the Biarritz Summit was one of the most noticeable absentees at this Franco-African Summit. Ousted from power by Laurent Désiré Kabila in May 1997, Mobutu died several months later while under threat from the armed opposition moving in from Eastern Zaire. In Ouagadougou, the participants were not able to resolve the question of an eventual deployment of an international force, which had been authorized by the UN Security Council in Resolutions 1078 and 1080/96. A force was never deployed. They were only able to reaffirm “their respect for the sacred character of borders and, in particular, the necessity for states to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the states in the region.” With the insistence of French diplomacy, they also made reference to the holding of an international conference on peace, security and stability in the Great Lakes region, under the auspices of the UN and the OAU.
The Summit was seriously agitated on the sidelines by the polemics around the renewal of the mandate of Boutros Boutros-Ghali as Secretary General of the United Nations and who was running up against a categorical veto from the United States. The Cameroonian President, Paul Biya, expected in the Burkinabe capital, but who in the end did not participate in the Summit, called for the field to be opened to other candidates from Africa so that the continent would not lose the seat of Secretary
The other big issue of the day was that of the Central African Republic. The country had been destabilized by three serious military mutinies during the year 1996 and the contested regime of Ange Félix Patasse only saw its survival thanks to the intervention of French troops stationed in Central Africa. But Paris clearly did not wish to assume alone the task of dealing with this crisis and risk finding itself bogged down in the Central African quagmire at a time when the French were demonstrating an urgent and primordial desire to no longer intervene militarily in the continent, and in particular, within internal crises. Following the three mutinies in April, May and November, the rebel soldiers remained strong in the South-West quarter of Bangui. It was extremely urgent to find a way out. This crisis put the credibility of the Franco-African Summit into question.
With the total backing of France and the other participants in Ouagadougou, four Heads of State accepted at the Summit to start political mediation to find a way out of the crisis: Gabon’s Omar Bongo, Chad’s Idriss Deby, Mali’s Alpha Oumar Konaré and the Burkinabe, Blaise Compaoré. The four traveled directly to Bangui, to get down to work. This initiative which went in the direction of Africans dealing with their own security problems, would come a settlement process often cited as exemplary.
The Malian, Amadou Toumani Touré, was to be given the task of presiding over an international monitoring committee, which would help conclude the March 1998 Reconciliation Pact. But, more importantly, an inter-African Force known under its French acronym as MISAB (the Inter-African Mission to Monitor the Bangui Accords) comprised of troops from six countries (Gabon, Chad, Senegal, Mali, Togo and Burkina Faso) was to be deployed to stabilize the situation and create a favorable environment for negotiations. The United Nations Force known by its French acronym, Minurca, relieved this force, which everyone agreed had correctly fulfilled its mission, in 1998.
20th FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
PARIS, NOVEMBER 27-28, 1998
Security in Africa
Forty-Nine participating countries
Three countries were excluded from the conference because of international sanctions: Libya, Sudan and Somalia. One country was absent: Algeria. There was a record participation of African Heads of State. Among the most notable absentees were Gabon’s Omar Bongo (due to elections being held in Gabon), South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, the Chadian Idriss Deby (for health reasons) and Angola’s President dos Santos. On the other hand, a strong point of this Summit, was the massive participation of Heads of States from English speaking countries visibly interested in France’s efforts to broaden its policies in Africa…. and who were also interested in the Great Lakes question. Also present were UN Secretary General, Koffi Annan, playing a very active role, and OAU Secretary General, Ahmed Salim Ahmed. And of course, the star of the show and the subject of much controversy: the Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Laurent Désiré Kabila, taking part in a Franco-African Summit for the first … and last time.
Thirty-five Heads of State
Benin: Mathieu Kerekou
Botswana: Festus Gontebanye Mogae
Burkina Faso: Blaise Compaoré
Burundi: Pierre Bouyoya
Cameroon: Paul Biya
Cape Verde: Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro
Central Africa: Ange Félix Patasse
Congo: Denis Sassou Nguesso
DRCongo: Laurent Désiré Kabila
Comoros: Tadjidine Ben Saïd Mosonde (interim)
Côte d’Ivoire: Henri Konan Bedié
Djibouti: Hassan Gouled Aptidon
Egypt: Hosni Mubarak
Equatorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
Eritrea: Issaias Afeworki
France: Jacques Chirac
Gambia: Yahya Jammeh
Ghana: Jerry John Rawlings
Guinea: Lansana Conté
Kenya: Daniel Arap Moi
Liberia: Charles Taylor
Madagascar: Didier Ratsiraka
Mali: Alpha Oumar Konaré
Mauritania: Maaouya Ould Sid’Hamed Taya
Mozambique Joaquim Chissano
Namibia: Sam Nujoma
Niger: Ibrahim Maïnassara Baré
Uganda: Yoweri Museveni
Rwanda: Pasteur Bizimungu
Sao Tomé and Principe: Miguel Trovoada
Senegal: Abdou Diouf
Sierra Leone: Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
Tanzania: Benjamin William Mkapa
Togo: Gnassinge Eyadéma
Zimbabwe: Robert Gabriel Mugabe
Three Vice-Presidents
South Africa: Thabo Mbeki
Gabon: Didjob Divungi-Di-Ndinge
Nigeria: Admiral Okhai Akhigbe
Seven Heads of Government
Ethiopia: Meles Zenawi
Guinea-Bissau: Carlos Correia
Losotho: Pakalitha Mosisili
Mauritius: Navinchandra Ramgoolam
Swaziland: Sibusiso Dlamini
Tunisia: Mohamed Karoui
Zambia: Eric Silwanba
The Conference
The agenda was heavily charged with security questions. Several presentations had been programmed in advance on such questions as: Peace-Keeping missions and the role of the OAU and regional organizations, the traffic in small calibre arms and the elimination of anti-personnel mines. Other subjects also brought up were post-conflict reconstruction and the relationship between security and development. The Heads of State expressed satisfaction in the efforts deployed by ECOWAS for the prevention, management and settlement of conflicts. They also spoke of the project to create a West African Peace-Keeping force for Guinea-Bissau. They summed up the UN Mission in the Central African Republic as very satisfactory. Discussions also dealt with the crisis in the Comoros and efforts by the OAU to set up an inter-Island conference as well as with efforts by Nigeria’s President Abubakar to get his country on the road to Democracy. The conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia was raised and participants insisted on doing everything possible to find a peaceful settlement. They all hoped for a face-to-face meeting between the Ethiopian, Meles Zenawi and the Eritrean, Issaias Afeworki, a meeting that never happened. The UN General Secretary, Kofi Annan, was, nevertheless, able to meet the two protagonists separately on the sidelines of the Summit. Finally, the question of the AIDS epidemic gave African Heads of State the opportunity to express their support to the French project, presented by Jacques Chirac, for the creation of an International Therapeutic Solidarity Fund (ITSF).
The Great Lakes Conflict
With Laurent Désiré Kabila in the limelight and especially with the attendance of all the Heads of State implicated and directly concerned by the conflict, the Great Lakes file was the No. 1 subject of this 20th Summit. It upset the agenda and gave rise to extraordinary closed-door meetings, during which frank, direct and passionate discussions were held. Following a great number of unproductive inter-African meetings and summits on the subject, a strong determination emerged at this Summit to finalize a text for a peace accord that would call for a cease-fire, a withdrawal of all foreign troops, whether invited or not, and a scheme for the democratization of the DRC. At the end of this process, a conference for peace in the Great Lakes region, under the auspices of the United Nations and the OAU, could be held to consolidate the peace. Despite all the pressure and the meetings at the Elysées between Jacques Chirac, Thabo Mbeki, Robert Mugabe, Yoweri Museveni and Laurent Désiré Kabila at the end of the Summit, an accord could not be reached. But the Conference did conclude with a promise for an end to the fighting and the rapid signature of an accord at an upcoming meeting in Africa, in particular the one planned in Lusaka, Zambia in December.
21st FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
YAOUNDE, JANUARY 18-19, 2001
Africa faced with the challenge of globalization
Fifty-two African countries participate
Paul Biya invited every African country to attend this Summit, except the Comoros, boycotted by the OAU since Colonel Azzali’s coup d’Etat. Also present were the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, OAU Secretary General Amara Essy, as well as the President of the African development Bank, Omar Kabbaj, and the Director General of the FAO, Jacques Diouf. A major first in Yaoundé was the first ever participation of Algeria’s Head of State in a Franco-African Summit. It was also a first for the Ivorian President, Laurent Gbagbo. Noticeable absences were the Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe and the Congo's Denis Sassou Nguesso who decided not to attend following the assassination of Laurent Désiré Kabila on the eve of the opening of the Summit. Other important absences were the Nigerian and Angolan Heads of Sate.
Twenty-six Heads of State
Algeria: Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Benin: Mathieu Kerekou
Botswana: Festus Gontebanye Mogae
Burkina Faso: Blaise Compaoré
Burundi: Pierre Bouyoya
Cameroon: Paul Biya
Central Africa: Ange Félix Patasse
Chad: Idriss Deby
Côte d’Ivoire: Laurent Gbagbo
Djibouti: Ismael Omar Guelleh
Equatorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
France: Jacques Chirac
Gabon: El Hadj Omar Bongo
Guinea-Bissau: Kumba Yala
Kenya: Daniel Arap Moi
Madagascar: Didier Ratsiraka
Mali: Alpha Oumar Konaré
Morocco: His Majesty, King Mohamed VI
Namibia: Sam Nujoma
Niger: Mamdou Tandja
Sao Tomé and Principe: Miguel Trovoada
Senegal: Abdoulaye Wade
Sierra Leone: Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
Somalia: Abdoulkassim Salat Hassan
Sudan: Omar Hassan Ahmed El Bechir
Togo: Gnassinge Eyadéma
Other Participants
South Africa, Ghana and Liberia were represented by their Vice-Presidents. Guinea, Lesotho, Mauritania, Mozambique, Rwanda and Swaziland were represented by their Heads of government.
The Conference
The agenda was very rigorously prepared to cover the vast and complex theme of Africa and Globalization. Several Heads of State made introductory presentations. King Mohammed VI of Morocco and Gabon's President Omar Bongo dealt with the theme of economic challenges. Omar Bongo proposed the creation in Africa of Regional Reconstruction Banks. During the debates, the Senegalese President, Abdoulaye Wade, stressed the urgent need for a Euro-African mobilization in favor of infrastructure development. Togo’s Minister of Defense, presenting a paper by his President, Gnassingbe Eyadéma, who had to leave Yaoundé earlier than planned, spoke of peace and security problems. Mali’s President and acting Chairman of ECOWAS, Alpha Konaré, reported on the progress made by ECOWAS in the area of security and the projects of the African Union in this field. The question of the environment was introduced by Kenyan President Arap Moi, and the question of Democracy, Human Rights and Good Governance by South African Vice-President Jacob Zuma. Algeria’s President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, made a much noted statement on Africa and economic globalisation. He concluded with a string of concrete proposals on debt, health and medicines and the North-South dimension in the WTO negotiations. In response, French President Jacques Chirac insisted on the actions that had already been carried out by France. He also announced a series of measures to speed up the process of debt relief for the poorest most indebted countries.
The Assassination of Kabila… and the Côte d’Ivoire
The announcement of Congolese President Laurent Désiré Kabila’s assassination came just before the official opening of the Yaoundé Summit. The killing caused several leaders to desist from attending the Summit at the last minute and created sharp tensions, which weighed on the debates and sideline discussions. But, except for a clash between the DRC Foreign Minister and the Rwandan Prime Minister and the intervention of Jacques Chirac in favor of sanctions against foreign countries occupying Congolese territory, a debate which came at the end of the Summit, no significant progress was made on the Great Lakes issue, despite the determination by Togolese President and acting OAU Chairman Gnassingbé Eyadéma, to organize a meeting himself on the sidelines of the Summit with the representatives of seventeen countries to discuss the OAU mechanisms for the prevention and settlement of conflicts.
Finally, still on the sidelines of the Summit, along with the first meeting between Jacques Chirac and Laurent Gbagbo since the election of the latter, a meeting of the Council of the Entente was held, to improve relations between Abidjan and its two neighbors, Burkina Faso and Mali, following an attempt to destabilize Côte d’Ivoire at the beginning of January.
LA BAULE, JUNE 19-20-21, 1990
A democracy dividend?
The 35 participants
Twenty-three Heads of State
Benin: Mathieu Kerekou
Burkina Faso: Blaise Compaoré
Burundi: Pierre Buyoya
Cape Verde: Aristide Pereira
Central Africa: André Kolingba
Chad: Hissène Habré
Comoros: Saïd Mohamed Djohar
Congo: Denis Sassou-Nguesso
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Djibouti: Hassan Gouled Aptidon
France: François Mitterrand
Equatorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang Nguema
Gabon: Omar Bongo
Gambia: Daouda Jawara
Guinea-Bissau: Joao Bernardo Vieira
Mali: Moussa Traoré
Morocco: King Hassan II
Niger: Ali Saïbou
Uganda: Yoweri Museveni
Rwanda: Juvenal Habyarimana
Sao Tomé and Principe: Manuel Pinto da Costa
Senegal: Abdou Diouf
Togo: Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Twelve Ministerial delegations
Angola: Pedro de Castro Van-Dunem, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Côte d’Ivoire: Siméon Aké, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Egypt: Boutro Boutros-Ghali, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Guinea: Jean Traoré: Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mauritius: Sateam Boolell, Vice-Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs
Namibia: Ben Amathila, Minister of Trade and Industry
Seychelles: Mrs Danielle Saint-Jorre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Sierra Leone: Abdul Koroma, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Somalia: Mohamed Ali Hamoud, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Sudan: El A. Khalifa, Member of the RC
Tunisia: Hamed Karoui, Prime Minister
Zaire: Lunda Bululu, Prime Minister
The Conference
“…There will be a normal aid from France as concerns African countries, but it is obvious that this aid will be luke-warm towards those who behave in an authoritarian fashion, and more enthusiastic towards those who courageously take this step towards democracy…”
This was the first time that France, through the intermediary of its president, clearly stated that it would, from then on, grant a “democracy dividend” to African regimes.
The announcement could have come as a surprise, at a time when the “Eastern wind” was sweeping away the authoritarian regimes in Eastern and Central Europe, and when a good number of African countries themselves, under pressure from the street, had had to begin a process of “democratic opening.”
But the French President took one precaution: “We do not want to interfere in internal affairs. For us, this subtle form of colonialism, which consists of constantly giving lessons to African states, and to those who lead them, is a form of colonialism as perverse as any other. It would be to consider there are superior peoples, who grasp the truth, and the others, who would not be capable of it. While I know the efforts of so many leaders who love their people, and who intend to serve them, even if it is not in the same way as on the banks of the River Seine or the River Thames…”
He made his idea perfectly clear: “When I say democracy, when I say it is the only way to reach a balanced state at a time when the necessity for greater freedoms presents itself, I have, naturally, a ready-made model: a representative system, free elections, multi-party democracy, freedom of the press, the independence of the judiciary, refusal of censure… It is up to you, free peoples, to you sovereign states that I respect, to choose your path, to determine the stages and the speed …”
Would this “friendly advice” please all those present? Nothing could be less sure. While presenting the situation in Gabon, President Bongo preferred “to let the events council him”. President Abdou Diouf, shared his thoughts on multi-party democracy in Senegal, to assure that, according to him, it is the ideal regime, on the condition that there is “a strong government” and “a sincere and truthful opposition.” Chad’s President, Hissène Habré, for his part, regretted, that African states were being asked “to carry out, at one and the same time, democracy and economic and financial policies which somewhat limit their sovereignty… Africa is the victim of a sort of ideological suffocation.”
For King Hassan II “Africa is too open to the world to remain indifferent to what is happening around it.” He called on Western countries “to help the young democracies blossom, without putting a knife to their throats, without jumping abruptly to multi-party politics…”
The 16th Summit was not limited only to political considerations. Franco-African cooperation, as usual, held an important place on the agenda. “A few simple reminders,” deserved to be underlined according to President Mitterrand: “France is still the first of the advanced industrialized countries when it comes to aid for developing countries. The first, far ahead of all the others.”
To respond to the expectations of France’s African partners, President Mitterrand announced “the unilateral decision” of his country to “only grant money to the least developed countries” and to “limit to 5%, instead of 10%, interest rates on public aid to countries said to have intermediary revenues.”
But there was no question of stopping at that: “I intend to ask our partners, the six other industrialized countries, to go further…”
Furthermore, President Mitterrand intended to re-launch his idea of a “Special World Fund” to be financed by an allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) in the IMF. He also reiterated his hostility to any idea of a devaluation of the CFA franc which “would not resolve any of the difficulties”, and he “would gurantee” that the CFA franc would be pegged to the future European currency.
The Outcome
Two important decisions were announced by France at this 16th Summit as far as its financial aid to Africa was concerned:
To the least developed countries (LDC) - with a yearly per capita Gross National Product of less than 500 dollars per person - France would henceforth only give grants;
For the middle income countries - those whose yearly per capita GNP was over 500 dollars, but less than 6,000 dollars - the interest rates on French public loans would be “limited to 5%” instead of 10%. This decision concerned the Côte d’Ivoire, Congo, Cameroon and Gabon.
17th FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
LIBREVILLE, OCTOBER 5-6-7, 1992
Economic austerity
The 34 participents
Fourteen Heads of State
Benin: Nicéphore Soglo
Burkina Faso: Blaise Compaoré
Burundi: Pierre Buyoya
Chad: Idriss Deby
Congo: Pascal Lissouba
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Equatorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang Nguema
Gabon: Omar Bongo
Guinea-Bissau: Joao Bernardo Vieira
Mali: Alpha Omar Konaré
Namibia: Sam Nujoma
Rwanda: Juvenal Habyarimana
Sao Tomé and Principe: Miguel Trovoada
Senegal: Abdou Diouf
Seventeen Ministerial delegations
Cape Verde: Alfredo Teixera, Minister of Public Administration
Cameroon: Jospeh Owona, Minister of Transportation and Communication
Central Africa: Christian Lingama, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Comoros: Saïd Hassane, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Djibouti: Omar Abbas, Minister of National Education
France: Pierre Bérégovoy, Prime Minister
Guinea: Ibrahim Sylla, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Madagascar: Guy Razanamasy, Prime Minister
Mauritania: Mohamed Abderrahmane, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mauritius: Paul Bérenger, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Morocco: Taich Chikli, Minister of National Education
Mozambique, Pascal Mocumbi, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Niger: Amadou Cheffou, Prime Minister
Seychelles: Mrs Danielle de Saint-Jorre, Minister of Foreign Affrairs
Togo: Ouattara Natchaba, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Tunisia: Ahmed Karoui, Prime Minister
Zaire: Pierre Lumbi, Minister of foreign Affairs
One other participent
Egypt: Samir Safouat, Presidential Advisor
The Conference
For the first time since 1973, the Summit met in the absence of the French President. France was represented by Prime Minister Pierre Bérégovoy at the 17th Summit, as President Mitterrand was convalescing after a delicate surgical intervention. There had never been so few African Heads of State at a summit since the Nice Summit (1980). Despite the importance of face-to-face talks between the French president and his African counterparts in this kind of meetings, the absence of François Mitterrand was not the only explanation. The president's speech at La Baule two years earlier - on the “democracy dividend” - was beginning to have consequences as much in Togo, Zaire, Niger and Madagascar as in the Central African Republic. The leaders of these countries preferred to stay out of the limelight for the moment. Not to mention those of the Comoros and Djibouti who were confronted with internal instability.
In a message he read on behalf of President Mitterrand, Bérégovoy stressed: “Today, wherever we look around the continent, the movement for democracy is on the tracks… Democracy is never easy to build, even less so when economic crisis exacerbates tensions and exasperates impatience". "But,” he added, “democracy is the twin sister of development. It is a law of history from which none can escape; everywhere democracy takes root, development can get a new start… Those among you, and you are more and more numerous, who have chosen the road of democracy, know that their choice brings them increased respect from the outside world. But this choice merits a more attentive solidarity from the world community, so that your countries can both manage better and produce more…”
France, for the first time, joined the African states’ opinion that conditions imposed by the IMF and the World Bank in exchange for their support were draconian. “Adjustment is necessary in your countries, there are savings to be made” - the French Prime Minister pointed out - “but you have to be aided and not forced… We all have duties to the international monetary institutions, but we also have rights.” Bérégovoy also said: “What shocks me the most, is that the flow of capital has become negative, in other words, that African countries receive less than they pay out … Because a certain number of countries refused the devaluation of the CFA franc, which the World Bank suggested, they now find themselves denied assistance… I say no! There must be greater understanding…”
The summit host, Gabonese President Omar Bongo, said: “The African continent is swinging between hope and anxiety. In Southern Africa, we have at last seen the beginning of the liquidation of the odious system of Apartheid. … Our countries are running up against grave financial, economic and social difficulties today, more than ever. The lack of natural resources in some cases, the insufficient selling price for mining or agricultural production in others, seriously limits Africa’s revenues. Furthermore, the funds obtained through the sale of African production are by and large absorbed by the payment of the foreign debt.
President Bongo added: “We thus severely lack ever more the means to assure our economic growth, to respond to the increased social demands from our people, and to comfort, through economic and social progress, the democratic development, which we continue to push forward despite all the material difficulties of our continent. This is why we appeal for solidarity…”
The summit discussed a series of African conflicts.
Liberia: the Summit encouraged the ECOWAS member states in their efforts to try to restore peace and stability in the country.
Somalia: the proposal made by the Senegalese President, Abdou Diouf, before the UN General Assembly, to convene an international conference (UN, OAU, OIC, The Arab League, EEC) to resolve the conflict in Somalia, was warmly approved by the Summit.
Mozambique: The Rome Accord of October 1991 opened the road for peace.
Rwanda: the government in Kigali and the Rwandan Patriotic Front were encouraged to continue their negotiations in view of reaching a global agreement which would allow a return to peace and with respect for the country’s territorial integrity.
Angola: The Summit urged all the parties to respect the pledges they made within the framework of the Estoril Accords.
The Touareg problem: the National Pact signed in Bamako on April 11, 1992, was welcomed with relief as it guaranteed the different parties would work for peace, security and stability in the region within the democratic institutions.
The Outcome
France announced the creation of a “Fund to convert debt for development”. This Fund, with 4 billion French francs, was to be operational before the end of the year 1992. The beneficiaries were to be middle income countries in the franc zone in sub-Saharan Africa: Cameroon, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon, all four heavily indebted countries (a total of 32.744 billion dollars at the end of 1990). The Fund would intervene once the projects were approved, by converting the debts of these countries vis-à-vis France. In this way, France renounced its right to be paid back the debt concerned by the conversion. The management of the Fund was to be assured by the Caisse centrale de coopération économique française (The French Central Fund for Economic Cooperation).
The summit gave the green light to a harmonization of Business and Labor Rights between the countries of the franc zone and for the elaboration of a treaty on the subject. The project, drawn up by the Finance Ministers of the zone, and presented to the Summit by President Abdou Diouf, was to be put into operation by the end of 1992. All interested African countries, whether members of the franc zone or not, could join. The objective was, notably, to improve free trade, to restore the confidence of economic operators and to prepare economic integration.
MFI - Hubert Fagla
18th FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
BIARRITZ, NOVEMBER 7-8-9, 1994
Security and military interventions
The 36 participants
Twenty-seven Heads of State
Benin: Nicéphore Soglo
Burkina Faso: Blaise Compaoré
Burundi: Sylvestre Ntibantunganya
Cameroon: Paul Bia
Cape Verde: Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro
Central Africa: Ange Félix Patassé
Chad: Idriss Deby
Comoros: Saïd Mohamed Djohar
Congo: Pascal Lissouba
Côte d’Ivoire: Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Djibouti: Hassan Gouled Aptidon
Ethiopia: Meles Zenaaawi
Eritrea: Issayas Afeworki
Equatorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasago
France: François Mitterrand
Gabon: El Hadj Omar Bongo
Guinea: Lansana Conté
Guinea-Bissau: Joao Bernardo Vieira
Madagascar: Albert Zafy
Mali: Alpha Omar Konaré
Mauritania: Maaouya Ould Sid-Ahmed Taya
Morocco: King Hassan II
Niger: Mahamane Ousmane
Namibia: Sam Nujoma
Senegal: Abdou Diouf
Togo: Gnassingbe Eyadéma`
Zimbabwe, Robert Gabriel Mugabe
One Vice-President
South Africa: Thabo Mbeki
Three Heads of Government
Angola: Marcelino Moco, Prime Minister
Mauritius: Sir Anerood Jugnauth, Prime Minister
Tunisia: Hamed Karoui, Prime Minister
Four Ministerial delegations
Egypt: Amr Moussa, Minister of foreign Affairs
Mozambique: Pascoal Manuel Mocumbi, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Saint-Thomas and Prince: Guilherme Posser da Costa, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
Seychelles: Mrs Danielle de Saint-Jorre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Planning and Environment
Other delegations
Namibia: Zedekia Ngavirue, Director General of the National Commission for Planning
The Conference
Devaluation and the Rwandan crisis
Physically weakened by illness that François Mitterrand nevertheless made the trip to Biarritz to defend, up to the end of his second mandate, his African policies and to bid farewell to the African Heads of State and to the continent he knew so well for such a long time. It was his tenth Franco-African Summit. Since 1988, these summits were being held every two years instead of annually.
The Biarritz Summit came at a time when France was experiencing a very difficult political situation. It strained an extenuated French President, marked by a second cohabitation, during which the Prime Minister, Edouard Baladur, also present at the Summit, and his Foreign Minister, Alain Juppé and Defense Minster, François Léotard, tried to impose their influence on French African policies, a realm which had traditionally been reserved for the Head of State.
Two major events were being played out since the beginning of the year 1994 and which largely dominated the debates in Biarritz.
First, the devaluation of the CFA franc in January which was a considerable shock for the 14 countries on the continent. Even if, between January and November, the donors, and in particular France, succeeded in concluding accords with most of the 14 countries allowing the allocation of substantial financial aid destined to weather the first effects of this devaluation, the Heads of State of the 14 countries made known in Biarritz their ongoing disquiet. This led Mitterrand to insist heavily, on the need to maintain the international aid effort for Africa, and for African countries to continue their efforts to restructure their economies. He did not miss the opportunity to harshly criticize the IMF, and especially the World Bank. He also stressed the role he had insisted on playing in the devaluation put in place by Prime Minister Edouard Baladur and his Cooperation Minister, Michel Roussin: “Financial reorganization is only one means,” François Mitterrand explained in his Biarritz speech. “It is for this reason, among others, that I wanted, along with the government of the Republic who conducted the major share of the process, to make sure that the devaluation of the CFA franc stick to certain conditions, capable of preserving the chances for development in the franc zone. One of the essential conditions put forward consisted in the commitment of France and international financial institutions in favor of major measures of accompaniment, capable of protecting the affected populations and to assure a re-launching of the economies. France respected its word and is watchful that the international multilateral institutions respect theirs."
Post-Turquoise: an inter-African Force
The second event came in April 1994. The massacre of several hundreds of thousands of Rwandans and the launching of Operation Turquoise, following the attack which caused the death of President Juvenal Habyarimana (who personally took part in 12 Franco-African Summits between 1978 and 1992). Operation Turquoise was a military intervention with humanitarian goals insisted upon by François Mitterrand despite the indifference of the international community and the reticence of certain ministers within the French government. The limits and conditions of the mission, and the length of the intervention, were determined by Prime Minister Edouard Baladur. During the Summit, this operation, as well as the Rwandan policies of François Mitterrand, were the subjects of sharp controversy. This was made even sharper by the fact that Rwanda had not been invited to take part in this Summit. Foreign Minister Alain Juppé explained that the government in Kigali had not been invited because “the stabilization of democracy had not yet been achieved”. He also criticized Rwandan officials for having made “particularly aggressive statements” against France. “That is not how one integrates a meeting among friends,” Juppé added.
The lessons drawn from Operation Turquoise and the context of a general breakdown in security on the continent put the project of creating an inter-African Force at the center of debate in Biarritz. Already back in July 1994, during a tour in Africa, Prime Minister Edouard Baladur had launched the idea, explaining that the development of post-Cold War conflicts made it imperative for Africa to progressively take over its own security, with the necessary backing of its partners and in particular, France.
François Mitterrand reverted to the issue in Biarritz: “We are very pleased … that the decision taken at the OAU Summit in Dakar in 1992, to create a mechanism for the prevention, management and settlement of conflicts, was formally adopted at the Cairo Summit in July 1993. This mechanism has already played an appreciable role in Congo and elsewhere. But this mechanism lacks all material and logistic means. That these recent events inspire us and allow us to go further! (…) Several among you, later suggested to me the formation of an inter-African Peacekeeping Force which could be used in an emergency in such situations, while waiting for the United Nations disposition be put in place. France is ready to play its part, technically and logistically. But it is up to you Africans to define the outlines, the missions and the conditions of its use. For our part, we will discuss it with our European partners.”
Following the tragedy in Rwanda, the majority of African Heads of State were, in principle, in favor of the creation of such a force. But not all were in agreement on its articulation with the OAU and the UN, on its regional or sub-regional structure etc….
Togolese Head of State Gnassingbé Eyadéma was asked by the Biarritz summit to assume the mission of drawing up a report on the subject. The results were never made public.
In concluding his speech, François Mitterrand formulated his African Will as follows: “For my part, I have always opposed any attempts, either open or insidious, to bargain off the African policies of France, or to make the decisions for such or such a country, in the place of those whose job it is to do so, as if we were inspired prophets, charged with dictating to the African peoples which one was the best road for them to travel. These are permanent temptations, a form of reverse colonialism that I can not accept any more than any other (…) I appeal to those who will have the charge of the country’s affairs after me. France would no longer be herself in the eyes of the world, if she renounced being present in Africa, at the side of the Africans, to be simply at their side, to contribute to the construction of a framework for peace, democracy and development, to succeed a great human adventure together, in the worst of difficulties, but while keeping her old traditions, her strong cultures and this human nature which hopes and which always believes in the chance of humanity.”
19th FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
OUAGADOUGOU, DECEMBER 4-5-6, 1996
Good governance and development
Forty-six countries in attendance
All African countries, except for three (Sudan, Somalia and Libya) were invited, fourteen of them for the first time. Several of these, among them Algeria, Kenya and Lesotho did not think it useful to attend the Summit. Eighteen countries sent delegations led by ministers, ambassadors or directors of ministries: South Africa, Angola, Cameroon, Central Africa, Egypt, Eritrea, Gambia, Ghana, Mauritius, Namibia, Uganda, Rwanda, Seychelles, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zaire, Zambia. Morocco was represented by the Crown Prince.
The 27 Heads of State and Government
Benin: Mathieu Kerekou
Botswana: Quett Ketumile Masire
Burkina Faso: Blaise Compaoré
Burundi: Pierre Buyoya
Cape Verde: Antonio Manuel Mascarenhas Monteiro
Chad: Idriss Deby
Comoros: Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim
Congo: Pascal Lissouba
Côte d’Ivoire: Henri Konan-Bedié
Djibouti: Hassan Gouled Aptidon
Ethiopia: Meles Zenawi
Equatorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasago
France: Jacques Chirac
Gabon: El Hadj Omar Bongo
Guinea: Lansana Conté
Guinea-Bissau: Joao Bernardo Vieira
Liberia: Mrs Ruth Sando Perry
Madagascar: Norbert Lala Ratsirahonana
Mali: Alpha Omar Konaré
Mauritania: Maaouya Ould Sid-Ahmed Taya
Mozambique: Joachim Alberto Chissano
Niger: Ibrahim Maïnassara Bare
Nigeria: Sani Abacha
Sao Tomé and Principe: Miguel Trovoada
Senegal: Abdou Diouf
Togo: Gnassingbe Eyadéma`
Zimbabwe, Robert Gabriel Mugabe
The Conference
The Burkinabe hosts, under the authority of Blaise Compaoré and his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ablasse Ouedraogo, wanted to give the 19th Franco-African Summit a more structured and a little less informal content than the preceding summits. The theme retained was “good governance and development”.
After the opening speech, right from the first closed-door session, three Heads of State assumed introduced the discussions. French President Jacques Chirac evoked the role of aid donors and the efforts deployed for development aid since the G-7 Summit which was held in Lyon in June 1996.
Botswana’s President, Ketumile Masire, gave a presentation on the relationship between good governance and democratization while the Burkinabe President, Blaise Compaoré, spoke of the ties between good governance and decentralization. At the close of discussions between the Heads of State, a long final declaration was released, taking up a number of general principles on sustainable development and the necessity for economic reforms, on the social dimensions of development, on the rule of law and the obligations that come with it. As for economic reforms, the major themes were reiterated: reorganization of public services, consolidation of democratic institutions and reduction of military spending, transparence, regional integration, a secure environment for investment and support for the private sector.
Jacques Chirac strongly insisted that these principles must not be limited to declarations of good intention and that, from now on, for the donors, good governance had become a major element among the conditions for development aid: “the donors, who must apply to themselves the criteria of good governance - transparence, dialogue, rigor, efficiency - are particularly sensitive to the efforts made, and the progress achieved, by the countries who receive the aid. This is why they tend to turn away from countries in need of aid that do not respect the same criteria as they do. Good governance has become the very condition for development. It is an absolute imperative, which imposes itself to donors and aided countries alike".
The Great Lakes and anti-personnel mines
Questions of security also took up a major share of the discussions at the Ouagadougou Summit. Right from the ministerial meetings and those of the group limited to Francophone countries, the question of conflicts in Africa, the question of institutional security, problems linked to Africa’s capacity to maintain peace and the efforts undertaken within the sub-regional level were largely debated. The final declaration confirmed that “the Heads of State, of Government and Delegation have affirmed their determination to work together for stabilization and security in Africa, by supporting the processes already in progress, which are aimed at giving Africa the necessary instruments for the prevention, the management and settlement of conflicts, and especially those of the Organization of African Unity, as well as the use of sub-regional structures whose vocation is to assure better prevention of crises and a better coordination of national efforts, under the auspices of the United Nations.”
Special attention was given to the question of the spread of anti-personnel land mines, a question which concerns some 20 countries on the continent, and for which an international treaty was being negotiated.. This treaty was finally concluded in Ottawa in September 1997 and has since been signed by some 40 countries.
The crisis in the Great Lakes took center stage, pushed to the forefront by events on the ground. Zaire’s President Mobutu, following his “return” at the Biarritz Summit was one of the most noticeable absentees at this Franco-African Summit. Ousted from power by Laurent Désiré Kabila in May 1997, Mobutu died several months later while under threat from the armed opposition moving in from Eastern Zaire. In Ouagadougou, the participants were not able to resolve the question of an eventual deployment of an international force, which had been authorized by the UN Security Council in Resolutions 1078 and 1080/96. A force was never deployed. They were only able to reaffirm “their respect for the sacred character of borders and, in particular, the necessity for states to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the states in the region.” With the insistence of French diplomacy, they also made reference to the holding of an international conference on peace, security and stability in the Great Lakes region, under the auspices of the UN and the OAU.
The Summit was seriously agitated on the sidelines by the polemics around the renewal of the mandate of Boutros Boutros-Ghali as Secretary General of the United Nations and who was running up against a categorical veto from the United States. The Cameroonian President, Paul Biya, expected in the Burkinabe capital, but who in the end did not participate in the Summit, called for the field to be opened to other candidates from Africa so that the continent would not lose the seat of Secretary
The other big issue of the day was that of the Central African Republic. The country had been destabilized by three serious military mutinies during the year 1996 and the contested regime of Ange Félix Patasse only saw its survival thanks to the intervention of French troops stationed in Central Africa. But Paris clearly did not wish to assume alone the task of dealing with this crisis and risk finding itself bogged down in the Central African quagmire at a time when the French were demonstrating an urgent and primordial desire to no longer intervene militarily in the continent, and in particular, within internal crises. Following the three mutinies in April, May and November, the rebel soldiers remained strong in the South-West quarter of Bangui. It was extremely urgent to find a way out. This crisis put the credibility of the Franco-African Summit into question.
With the total backing of France and the other participants in Ouagadougou, four Heads of State accepted at the Summit to start political mediation to find a way out of the crisis: Gabon’s Omar Bongo, Chad’s Idriss Deby, Mali’s Alpha Oumar Konaré and the Burkinabe, Blaise Compaoré. The four traveled directly to Bangui, to get down to work. This initiative which went in the direction of Africans dealing with their own security problems, would come a settlement process often cited as exemplary.
The Malian, Amadou Toumani Touré, was to be given the task of presiding over an international monitoring committee, which would help conclude the March 1998 Reconciliation Pact. But, more importantly, an inter-African Force known under its French acronym as MISAB (the Inter-African Mission to Monitor the Bangui Accords) comprised of troops from six countries (Gabon, Chad, Senegal, Mali, Togo and Burkina Faso) was to be deployed to stabilize the situation and create a favorable environment for negotiations. The United Nations Force known by its French acronym, Minurca, relieved this force, which everyone agreed had correctly fulfilled its mission, in 1998.
20th FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
PARIS, NOVEMBER 27-28, 1998
Security in Africa
Forty-Nine participating countries
Three countries were excluded from the conference because of international sanctions: Libya, Sudan and Somalia. One country was absent: Algeria. There was a record participation of African Heads of State. Among the most notable absentees were Gabon’s Omar Bongo (due to elections being held in Gabon), South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, the Chadian Idriss Deby (for health reasons) and Angola’s President dos Santos. On the other hand, a strong point of this Summit, was the massive participation of Heads of States from English speaking countries visibly interested in France’s efforts to broaden its policies in Africa…. and who were also interested in the Great Lakes question. Also present were UN Secretary General, Koffi Annan, playing a very active role, and OAU Secretary General, Ahmed Salim Ahmed. And of course, the star of the show and the subject of much controversy: the Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Laurent Désiré Kabila, taking part in a Franco-African Summit for the first … and last time.
Thirty-five Heads of State
Benin: Mathieu Kerekou
Botswana: Festus Gontebanye Mogae
Burkina Faso: Blaise Compaoré
Burundi: Pierre Bouyoya
Cameroon: Paul Biya
Cape Verde: Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro
Central Africa: Ange Félix Patasse
Congo: Denis Sassou Nguesso
DRCongo: Laurent Désiré Kabila
Comoros: Tadjidine Ben Saïd Mosonde (interim)
Côte d’Ivoire: Henri Konan Bedié
Djibouti: Hassan Gouled Aptidon
Egypt: Hosni Mubarak
Equatorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
Eritrea: Issaias Afeworki
France: Jacques Chirac
Gambia: Yahya Jammeh
Ghana: Jerry John Rawlings
Guinea: Lansana Conté
Kenya: Daniel Arap Moi
Liberia: Charles Taylor
Madagascar: Didier Ratsiraka
Mali: Alpha Oumar Konaré
Mauritania: Maaouya Ould Sid’Hamed Taya
Mozambique Joaquim Chissano
Namibia: Sam Nujoma
Niger: Ibrahim Maïnassara Baré
Uganda: Yoweri Museveni
Rwanda: Pasteur Bizimungu
Sao Tomé and Principe: Miguel Trovoada
Senegal: Abdou Diouf
Sierra Leone: Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
Tanzania: Benjamin William Mkapa
Togo: Gnassinge Eyadéma
Zimbabwe: Robert Gabriel Mugabe
Three Vice-Presidents
South Africa: Thabo Mbeki
Gabon: Didjob Divungi-Di-Ndinge
Nigeria: Admiral Okhai Akhigbe
Seven Heads of Government
Ethiopia: Meles Zenawi
Guinea-Bissau: Carlos Correia
Losotho: Pakalitha Mosisili
Mauritius: Navinchandra Ramgoolam
Swaziland: Sibusiso Dlamini
Tunisia: Mohamed Karoui
Zambia: Eric Silwanba
The Conference
The agenda was heavily charged with security questions. Several presentations had been programmed in advance on such questions as: Peace-Keeping missions and the role of the OAU and regional organizations, the traffic in small calibre arms and the elimination of anti-personnel mines. Other subjects also brought up were post-conflict reconstruction and the relationship between security and development. The Heads of State expressed satisfaction in the efforts deployed by ECOWAS for the prevention, management and settlement of conflicts. They also spoke of the project to create a West African Peace-Keeping force for Guinea-Bissau. They summed up the UN Mission in the Central African Republic as very satisfactory. Discussions also dealt with the crisis in the Comoros and efforts by the OAU to set up an inter-Island conference as well as with efforts by Nigeria’s President Abubakar to get his country on the road to Democracy. The conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia was raised and participants insisted on doing everything possible to find a peaceful settlement. They all hoped for a face-to-face meeting between the Ethiopian, Meles Zenawi and the Eritrean, Issaias Afeworki, a meeting that never happened. The UN General Secretary, Kofi Annan, was, nevertheless, able to meet the two protagonists separately on the sidelines of the Summit. Finally, the question of the AIDS epidemic gave African Heads of State the opportunity to express their support to the French project, presented by Jacques Chirac, for the creation of an International Therapeutic Solidarity Fund (ITSF).
The Great Lakes Conflict
With Laurent Désiré Kabila in the limelight and especially with the attendance of all the Heads of State implicated and directly concerned by the conflict, the Great Lakes file was the No. 1 subject of this 20th Summit. It upset the agenda and gave rise to extraordinary closed-door meetings, during which frank, direct and passionate discussions were held. Following a great number of unproductive inter-African meetings and summits on the subject, a strong determination emerged at this Summit to finalize a text for a peace accord that would call for a cease-fire, a withdrawal of all foreign troops, whether invited or not, and a scheme for the democratization of the DRC. At the end of this process, a conference for peace in the Great Lakes region, under the auspices of the United Nations and the OAU, could be held to consolidate the peace. Despite all the pressure and the meetings at the Elysées between Jacques Chirac, Thabo Mbeki, Robert Mugabe, Yoweri Museveni and Laurent Désiré Kabila at the end of the Summit, an accord could not be reached. But the Conference did conclude with a promise for an end to the fighting and the rapid signature of an accord at an upcoming meeting in Africa, in particular the one planned in Lusaka, Zambia in December.
21st FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT
YAOUNDE, JANUARY 18-19, 2001
Africa faced with the challenge of globalization
Fifty-two African countries participate
Paul Biya invited every African country to attend this Summit, except the Comoros, boycotted by the OAU since Colonel Azzali’s coup d’Etat. Also present were the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, OAU Secretary General Amara Essy, as well as the President of the African development Bank, Omar Kabbaj, and the Director General of the FAO, Jacques Diouf. A major first in Yaoundé was the first ever participation of Algeria’s Head of State in a Franco-African Summit. It was also a first for the Ivorian President, Laurent Gbagbo. Noticeable absences were the Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe and the Congo's Denis Sassou Nguesso who decided not to attend following the assassination of Laurent Désiré Kabila on the eve of the opening of the Summit. Other important absences were the Nigerian and Angolan Heads of Sate.
Twenty-six Heads of State
Algeria: Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Benin: Mathieu Kerekou
Botswana: Festus Gontebanye Mogae
Burkina Faso: Blaise Compaoré
Burundi: Pierre Bouyoya
Cameroon: Paul Biya
Central Africa: Ange Félix Patasse
Chad: Idriss Deby
Côte d’Ivoire: Laurent Gbagbo
Djibouti: Ismael Omar Guelleh
Equatorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
France: Jacques Chirac
Gabon: El Hadj Omar Bongo
Guinea-Bissau: Kumba Yala
Kenya: Daniel Arap Moi
Madagascar: Didier Ratsiraka
Mali: Alpha Oumar Konaré
Morocco: His Majesty, King Mohamed VI
Namibia: Sam Nujoma
Niger: Mamdou Tandja
Sao Tomé and Principe: Miguel Trovoada
Senegal: Abdoulaye Wade
Sierra Leone: Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
Somalia: Abdoulkassim Salat Hassan
Sudan: Omar Hassan Ahmed El Bechir
Togo: Gnassinge Eyadéma
Other Participants
South Africa, Ghana and Liberia were represented by their Vice-Presidents. Guinea, Lesotho, Mauritania, Mozambique, Rwanda and Swaziland were represented by their Heads of government.
The Conference
The agenda was very rigorously prepared to cover the vast and complex theme of Africa and Globalization. Several Heads of State made introductory presentations. King Mohammed VI of Morocco and Gabon's President Omar Bongo dealt with the theme of economic challenges. Omar Bongo proposed the creation in Africa of Regional Reconstruction Banks. During the debates, the Senegalese President, Abdoulaye Wade, stressed the urgent need for a Euro-African mobilization in favor of infrastructure development. Togo’s Minister of Defense, presenting a paper by his President, Gnassingbe Eyadéma, who had to leave Yaoundé earlier than planned, spoke of peace and security problems. Mali’s President and acting Chairman of ECOWAS, Alpha Konaré, reported on the progress made by ECOWAS in the area of security and the projects of the African Union in this field. The question of the environment was introduced by Kenyan President Arap Moi, and the question of Democracy, Human Rights and Good Governance by South African Vice-President Jacob Zuma. Algeria’s President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, made a much noted statement on Africa and economic globalisation. He concluded with a string of concrete proposals on debt, health and medicines and the North-South dimension in the WTO negotiations. In response, French President Jacques Chirac insisted on the actions that had already been carried out by France. He also announced a series of measures to speed up the process of debt relief for the poorest most indebted countries.
The Assassination of Kabila… and the Côte d’Ivoire
The announcement of Congolese President Laurent Désiré Kabila’s assassination came just before the official opening of the Yaoundé Summit. The killing caused several leaders to desist from attending the Summit at the last minute and created sharp tensions, which weighed on the debates and sideline discussions. But, except for a clash between the DRC Foreign Minister and the Rwandan Prime Minister and the intervention of Jacques Chirac in favor of sanctions against foreign countries occupying Congolese territory, a debate which came at the end of the Summit, no significant progress was made on the Great Lakes issue, despite the determination by Togolese President and acting OAU Chairman Gnassingbé Eyadéma, to organize a meeting himself on the sidelines of the Summit with the representatives of seventeen countries to discuss the OAU mechanisms for the prevention and settlement of conflicts.
Finally, still on the sidelines of the Summit, along with the first meeting between Jacques Chirac and Laurent Gbagbo since the election of the latter, a meeting of the Council of the Entente was held, to improve relations between Abidjan and its two neighbors, Burkina Faso and Mali, following an attempt to destabilize Côte d’Ivoire at the beginning of January.
Article publié le 17/02/2003 Dernière mise à jour le 15/12/2008 à 13:58 TU
