Sharjah24 - AFP: On Monday, President Emmanuel Macron will lay out France's revised approach to the continent of Africa, where anti-French sentiment is at an all-time high in parts of its former colonies.
His speech at the presidential palace comes two days ahead of a four-nation tour of central African countries, as Paris seeks to counter growing Chinese and Russian influence in the region.
Macron is to visit Gabon for an environmental summit, followed by Angola, then the Republic of Congo, or Congo-Brazzaville, and finally the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
The president has insisted Africa is a priority of his second mandate in power, and in July he undertook a trip to Cameroon, Benin and Guinea-Bissau.
The French head of state, who was re-elected last year, is set to unveil on Monday "his priorities and his method to deepen the partnership between France, Europe and the African continent", the presidential office has said.
His address follows a 2017 speech to students at a university in Burkina Faso in which he pledged to break away from his country's former post-colonial policies on the continent of more than 50 countries.
He criticised "the crimes of European colonisation" and called for a "truly new relationship" between Africa and Europe.