YAOUNDE (Dispatches) -- President Emmanuel Macron has begun his visit to Africa amid new questions about France’s involvement in so-called “war on terror” and it brutal colonial role across the continent.
Macron, who arrived late Monday in Cameroon, was due to hold talks Tuesday the presidential palace with his Cameroonian counterpart Paul Biya who has ruled Cameroon with an iron fist for nearly four decades.
Cameroon has also been riven by an insurgency by anglophone separatists who have been fighting for independence for two English-speaking provinces since 2017. Northern part of the country has also seen attacks by the Boko Haram terrorist group.
On Wednesday, Macron will move to Benin, which has faced deadly raids from militants and its democracy has steadily eroded under President Patrice Talon over the last half-decade.
On Thursday, Macron will finish his tour in Guinea-Bissau, which has been riven by political crises.
All three countries have been strongly criticized by activists over their human rights records.
An unnamed French presidential official said that the visit should allow Macron to “show the commitment of the president in the process of renewing the relationship with the African continent.”
His visit comes at a time when the former colonial power has seen its influence decline in the face of China and some other emerging nations.
In recent years, several African nations have criticized the colonial and paternalistic attitude of France in Africa.
Mali’s military administrators recently announced to fully cut off its military cooperation with the French government. The development came after Malian troops discovered a mass grave close to a former French military base.
The French troops’ withdrawal from the country in February prompted celebrations by the anti-French population.
Mali’s government earlier also expelled France’s ambassador, a sign of mounting tensions between the West African country and its former colonial power.
In April 2019, Rwandans gathered to begin a solemn commemoration of a genocide which killed some 800,000 Tutsis 25 years ago, amid new questions about France’s role in the extermination.
Thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets of the Malian capital of Bamako at the time, to celebrate the planned withdrawal.