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Article: France-Africa: Chirac's new partnership
- Article from:
- New African
- Article date:
- April 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright International Communications Apr 2003. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Feature
Plenty of nice words flowed at the 22nd France-Africa Summit held in Paris. A "new partnership" between France and Africa was even announced. So why are the Africans not jumping for joy? Ruth Nabakwe, in Paris, explains.
Despite the high sounding statements made by the host, President Jacques Chirac, on what needs to be done to get Africa out of the doldrums, particularly in areas such as agriculture and governance, most Africans are sceptical that the fine words would lead to anything concrete in real terms.
Even President Omar Bongo of Gabon, a very close ally of Chirac, had his doubts when interviewed on French television. "At these summits," he said, "we speak a lot, but we ...