French-African summit to be held amid challenges

Ahmed Adel

Some security issues will feature highly during the French-African summit, slated for 15 and 16 February.

These issues include the specific problems of the states that will be represented in the summit as well as the Libyan crisis.

The issues also include border disputes between African countries and the effects these disputes have on the security of these countries.

French President Emmanuel Macron will participate in the summit, which will be held in Chadian capital, N’Djamena, virtually. The presidents of the five African Sahel states will also participate in the summit, which will consist of two main sessions, including a closed one to be attended by the heads of state only.

The second meeting will be attended by the heads of state, United Nations representatives and the representatives of West Africa groupings.

Participation by the United States

The United States will participate in the summit virtually as well. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will deliver a speech, but his speech will be recorded beforehand because the United States is located in a time zone different from this of Chad.

The summit faces political and military challenges. Paris believes some military achievements had been made during 2020. This is why it is calling for maintaining the dynamisms that contributed to making these achievements and even expanding.

Paris also believes that the balance of power has already become in favor of African governments.

The previous French-African summit focused on the border triangle that includes Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger where ISIS was active along with other terrorist organizations.