Montpellier summit comes to an end

The Montpellier summit was brought to an end with a direct dialogue between young Africans and the French president. Even the most sensitive questions were discussed in a candid way.

The Africa-France Summit was held under a different framework than the previous one. It took place around new issues involving new actors. Civil society, entrepreneurs, artists and sportsmen reflected on the relationship between Africa and France.

"We will not be given a turnkey solution. It is a solution that we will invent ourselves and that we will put in place. The African youth is the one who will lead Africa in a few years. And we must arm them, sufficiently arm them so that they can face the realities that will perhaps revolutionize the world." according to Jean Jacques Mulumba, from the DRC.

"We have seen a lot of these great events between Africa, France and all these initiatives. But today it is very good, but once again let it be in action. Concretely, what are we doing? How do we really transform the process in order to have a new relationship between the two shores that will generate values and be mutually beneficial?" Laurine Kouassi, from Ivory Coast further stressed.

Beyond the political issues, the summit gives a large place to economic actors. It was preceded by two days of meetings in Paris with 350 African entrepreneurs.