French Foreign Minister Asserts Country's Eagerness to Build New Balanced Relations with Africa

Paris, June 07 (QNA) - French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna said that France will remain a close and significant partner on the African continent, signaling France's eagerness to build new and balanced mutual relations with African countries.
Addressing the French Senate on foreign policy, Colonna explained that in the context of Africa increasing its participation in the global economy, new markets emerge for French companies to invest in. However, she added that the challenge lies in Paris changing its way of doing things, especially after having heard the message of African youth, as well as the spread of an Anti-France rhetoric in some French-speaking African countries.
The French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs said that this rhetoric is stemming from historical legacies and the frustration of the youth.
She added that nothing is more erroneous than to think that relations between France and its African partners run smoothly and without hurdles in an ever competitive world, yet at the same time Colonna emphasized that French-African interests are firm and historical.
France is only second to China in being African's biggest foreign investor. (QNA)