French-Africa relations enter a new era

A French parliamentary delegation paid a two day visit to Ethiopia last week. The delegation led by Jean-Louis Christ, president of the parliamentary group and Mayor of Ribeauvillé, met and discussed with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Prof. Alpha Omar Konare, chairperson of African Union, Teshome Toga, Speaker of the House of People's Representatives and other political figures on various topical matters. The delegation is composed of ten members of the ruling and opposition parties of the French parliament. Capital's Abiy Demilew has interviewed the delegation. Excerpts follow.

Capital: What are the objectives of your visit to Ethiopia this time?
Jean-Louis CHRIST: We are members of a French parliamentary mission that studies and analyzes French policy in Africa.
We have auditioned various personalities in France with ties in Africa before we arrived to Addis Ababa. So on our visit to the continent we first came to Ethiopia in recognition of Addis Ababa’s status as the host of the African Union.
We have met and have been impressed by the personality of the chairperson of the African Union, Alpha Omar Konare, and understood that he is a strong advocate
We’ve also held talks with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and appreciated particularly his strong wish to be an active actor and essential partner for the strengthening of the AU.

Capital: Should we be sensing a change in Europe-Africa partnership after the Lisbon summit?
Jean-Louis CHRIST: Yes. The Europe-Africa summit in Lisbon has displayed the need for new areas of partnerships to be created between Europe-Africa and also French-Africa.
As parliamentarians, our hope today is to engage in real partnership, in a different way, in the development of Africa but also in the strengthening of Franco-Ethiopia relations.

Capital: What is your country’s position in this partnership with your new president?
Michel Terrot: Even if it’s too early to issue conclusive remarks, after the election of our new president, France is assessing itself and re-evaluating its Africa policy.
The objective of our mission is to benefit from the new executive body in France to look into the advantages and drawbacks of our cooperation.
We are here to propose a number of action plans amongst which seeks to determine whether France will benefit from strengthening its assets in Africa and also relocating new dimensions of bi-lateral and multi-lateral cooperation.
Another item is to look into the matter of whether France should maintain a special relationship with francophone Africa or if it should open-up for new partnerships with Anglophone countries as well.
Another important point in regard to the attraction of emerging powers; notably China, India and Brazil to Africa, the question is on how best France can mobilize its entrepreneurs to encourage them to come to the African market. This may raise the question of a better adaptation/suitability of our tools.

Capital: What is the composition of your delegation?
Jean-Louis CHRIST: The delegation mission is composed of ten members and represents all political elements of the parliament. This mission has a term of only one year and before that we hope to be able to propose directions for French policy in Africa.

Capital: How do you define the current image of French-Ethiopia relations?
François LONCLE: Of course Francophone Africa is a major partner with France and we maintain a privileged relationship. But we’ve also understood that we should extend French policy in Africa to other dynamic countries and emerging countries with which France has not had robust relationships with until now.
We have to reinforce and strengthen our political and economic partnerships with countries like Ethiopia, DRC, Nigeria and South Africa, in addition to the traditional francophone ties. Therefore we are enhancing our partnership with Ethiopia.
Michel Terrot: We have to underscore that we are participating in the European Development Fund (EDF) to an extent of providing 25% of the resources. Ethiopia is a beneficiary of the EDF so our involvement in the program is a facet of relations.

Capital: What are the developments of French-Africa and French-Ethiopia relations in the new initiative?
Jean-Louis CHRIST: There has been a change since the election of president Sarkozy as both he and the parliament agree that there should be revision in our foreign policy especially in the context of Africa. I don’t think there ever was a dedicated mission for this task before so this is really groundbreaking.
Michel Terrot: There are several factors that justify that French institutions; the parliament and the government, be more engaged in Ethiopia, and not only because this country is the seat of the AU. There is also the fact that Ethiopia is a huge country with dynamic economic growth and a political presence which is very important in the horn of Africa, in terms of building peace and stability in the region.
We believe that Europe & France must collaborate with Ethiopia in order to find solutions towards peace and Stability.

Capital: what lessons can the Ethiopian parliament learn from your parliament?
Jean-Louis CHRIST: I wouldn’t say we can give lessons to any parliament. However, the French parliament has 200 years of history while Ethiopia’s is only 15 years old. We are ready to share our experiences and tradition of building democracy, good governance and peace and stability.
Michel Terrot: We were very impressed when we met Ethiopian parliamentary representatives and were able to see how dynamic this young assembly is. They are concerned to contribute to strengthening democracy in their country and to legislate in the interest of citizens.
We assure you that if requested, France is ready to share its parliamentary experiences.

Capital: Which are currently the major areas of French-Africa and French-Ethiopia cooperation?
Jean-Louis CHRIST: France is interested in all areas of cooperation including peace and security, economy, health and development in general.
But the most important concern is that we want to create a real partnership with the African continent to start new era. We believe that this will create a new synergy and fresh new exchanges but also a bigger participation with Africa especially in the economic sector.
Michel Terrot: Economic cooperation is the main aspect. We have many French investors working in Ethiopia and Africa. We will provide awareness and sensitizations for more French investors to come and invest in this country.

Capital: What was your perception during your discussion with Prime Minister Meles, in regard to the Ethiopia and Eritrea situation as well as Somalia
Jean-Louis CHRIST: The Prime Minister seems to regret Eritrean resistance towards a peaceful resolution of the border issue. However, he also assured us Ethiopia will take the longest journey to a peaceful resolution of the issue.
Jean-Louis CHRIST: Prime Minister Meles expressed his desire to solve the problem in Somalia in cooperation with the European Union, the United States and the African Union.
He also expressed his wish to disengage as soon as possible.

Capital: The world recalls your government position regarding the Iraq war...
François LONCLE: France and a few European countries were against the Iraq invasion. After observing the results of the war, we still think we took the right position on the situation. This is an example of our independent stance in world politics.