by Jean-Pierre Campagne

    YAOUNDE, Jan 16 (AFP) - France goes into a mammoth Franco-African
summit this week seeking to promote its new foreign policy on the African
continent, but at the same time seeking to maintain its lucrative business
interests.

But with its post-colonial record dogged by scandal at home, France's
leaders have been left treading a difficult path to "laissez-faire" from a
role as a once-powerful military player in its former colonies. "Our
African policy is in place. We have abandoned interventionism to count on
the Africans themselves and on multilateral aid," France's overseas
development minister, Charles Josselin, told AFP. "We are in a crucial
period. But the end of 'Francafrique' does
 spell the end of France and
Africa."


On the eve of the 21st Franco-African summit in Yaounde, Cameroon, the
term "Francafrique" -- referring to the cosy and often corrupt ties
cultivated between France and African leaders in the post-colonial period
- has been thrown into the spotlight. Topping recent scandals has been the
son of late former president Francois Mitterrand, who is under judicial
investigation for illegal arms trafficking to Angola and misuse of
influence during the early 1990's.


The case of Jean-Christophe Mitterrand has sent shockwaves through the
French establishment, and threatens to overshadow the summit, where France--
the largest single donor to the world's poorest continent --will be
seeking,to look to the future, and not the past. But transition from this
past has not been easy, especially as France seeks to distance itself from
questionable practices while a
t the same time maintain lucrative oil
interests in countries such as Angola.


A policy pledge to support democratisation may also leave man unconvinced.
Prime Minister Lionel Jospin has been under fire over his support for Ivory
Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, in spite of the barring from elections of
prominent opposition leader Alassane Ouattara. Concern over
the "masquerade" October election of Gbagbo has been expressed by the Green
party -- a coalition government partner -- the party of President Jacques
Chirac, United Nations chief Kofi Annan, the United States and the
Organisation of African Unity (OAU).


The Greens have warned that Gbagbo's emphasis on Ivorian
nationality --the Abidjan authorities claim Ouattara is not Ivorian -- has
encouraged tribalism and xenophobia. "We must not allow this to be a second
Rwanda, in the name of bein Ivorian," the Greens said, just a month after

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------