Macron says France to deepen cultural ties with Africa

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said his country is taking steps to deepen cultural and economic ties with Africa.

Paris would be hosting an African Cultural Session 2020 to promote black culture in Europe, Macron said in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos on the last day of his two-day visit to the continent’s economic powerhouse.

Accompanied by Lagos Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Macron was in the city to commission Alliance Francaise, a French Cultural Center which he said was part of the measures to deepen relationship between Paris and Abuja.

“Lagos is one of the main challenges for not just Nigeria but for the whole of Africa. In this huge city, there is a tremendous challenge of how to make people live together in peace, in a better place and I want France to be part of this story and I do want my country and my people being part of this experience,” Macron said.

“It means (having) same values, sharing cultures, languages, literatures, music, movies, building projects together, having common economic projects and so on.”

On Tuesday night, the French leader visited the preeminent ‘Afrika Shrine’, a cultural center symbolizing black cultural heritage founded by the late social critic and music legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

Macron recalled visiting the shrine a couple of times when he was in Nigeria in the early 2000s, saying: “This place is an iconic place and it is a place where the best of music is given.”

Ambode, for his part, thanked the French leader for the visit and said Lagos -- known for its rich tourist attractions -- would partner Paris to make the African Cultural Session 2020 a huge success.

Macron had met with Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari in the capital city Abuja on Tuesday evening, calling for renewed efforts by African countries to fight violent extremism and terrorism.

“What is important to me is how the different African governments organize themselves to fight against terrorism,” he said at a joint news conference with Buhari.

Buhari and Macron also held a bilateral meeting during which officials from both countries signed letters of intent for French sponsorship of some infrastructural projects worth $275 million in northwestern Kano state and Lagos.

Nigeria appears to have ditched its differences with Paris for its alleged role in Nigeria’s civil war of 1967 in favor of a rapprochement it needs to crush Boko Haram militants who reportedly have hideouts in Chad, Niger or Cameroon.