French Presidential Election : What Interest For Africa?

On Sunday April 24, the entire French nation will hold their breath as the 48 million voters decide who should be the next President of the country. After the first round battle that saw twelve candidates vying for the country’s most prestigious job, it was incumbent Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen that grabbed the second round tickets with a score of 27,84 percent (24,01 percent in 2017) of the votes and 23,15 per cent (21,30 percent in 2017), respectively. The victory of the two candidates which has not been a big surprise to most political analysts has again brought to light the burning question: what does the African continent stand to benefit after the election.
From a diplomatic point of view, one can without any fear of contradiction say, the African continent has never benefited from the successive change of leaders in France for many decades, but instead witnessed a regression because no matter who comes to power, the French foreign policy “based on interest” remains the same. But from a humanitarian stand, one is tempted to give a listening ear to what the two candidates have been unfolding vis-à-vis the African continent. For incumbent Emmanuel Macron a win will pave the way for a continuation of the set goals since coming to power in 2017. That is, focus on youth education, tackle certain psychological wounds linked to colonial and post-colonialism, define Europe and France’s place on the continent’s path to rapid growth over the coming decades, maintain France’s military engagements in the Sahel and more generally to assume a certain continuity with regard to French-speaking A...