Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo is to attend as part of his state visit to France
PARIS, July 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Students, entrepreneurs and sports stars are among some 400 representatives of the African diaspora invited to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris Friday as part of an “interactive debate” on Franco-African relations.
France is often accused of perpetuating “Françafrique”, a term which refers to an exploitative, neo-colonial relationship with its former colonies. But Paris hopes to show with the Elysée Palace event that it is ready to embrace a more modern approach in its dealings with the continent.
In March, France said it would invest $2.8bn in the African continent by 2022, to fund start-ups as well as small and medium businesses.
The French Development Agency and its private sector arm expected to raise the money to support about 10,000 enterprises on the continent.
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo, who is on an official visit to France, will also attend Friday’s event, alongside dozens of French politicians. It follows a similar session Macron held in Burkina Faso in 2017. — NNN-AGENCIES:
