Macron champions European-African unity on Ghana trip

By Umaru Sanda Amadu

ACCRA, Ghana

Concluding his tour of the continent on Thursday with a visit to Ghana, President Emmanuel Macron said France cannot succeed without Africa.

Addressing journalists after a short meeting with Ghanaian President Nana Akufo Addo, Macron called for closer relations between Europe and Africa.

Echoing the call made for African unity by Ghana’s first president and pan-Africanist, Kwame Nkrumah, Macron said: “Not only must Africa unite, but Europe and Africa must unite.”

“I don’t think that France or Europe can succeed without Africa. I don’t think Ghana can succeed without a stronger Africa and a stronger partnership between Africa and Europe,” he said.

Although Ghana is marking 60 years of independence this year, Macron’s visit is the first of a French president to the English-speaking West African country, which is an island in a sea of French-speaking countries.

Macron stressed his call for closer ties, saying: “Our two continents have a shared history but today, what we have above all is a shared destiny.”

“I come to you today to propose that we build together a common future for our children”, he concluded.

President Akufo Addo for his part said Ghana is poised to improve on trade with France.

He said French investment in Ghana totals 1.5 billion euros, making Ghana the 7th-biggest destination for French investment in sub-Saharan Africa.

He condemned the recent videotaped slave auctions of Africans in Libya as not only a “gross and scandalous abuse of human rights but also a mockery of the solidarity of African nations grouped in the union of which Libya is a member.”

“We stand shoulder to shoulder with France in the rejection of terrorism as a legitimate means of resolving political issues,” Addo stressed.