So, What Exactly Did Emmanuel Macron Accomplish With His African Finance Summit? Nothing Substantive.

French President Emmanuel Macron (C) greets Ethiopia's President Sahle-Work Zewde (L) and Senegal's President Macky Sall (R) before the opening session of the Summit on the Financing of African Economies on May 18, 2021 in Paris. Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP

The day-long Summit on the Financing of African Economies wrapped up in Paris on Tuesday and left a lot of people scratching their heads wondering what exactly was the purpose of the gathering.

Unlike Monday’s event that focused on Sudanese debt relief and featured host Emmanuel Macron unveiling a series of concrete measures, including the cancellation of $5 billion of loans that Khartoum owes Paris and a $1.5 billion loan for Sudan to repay its obligations to the IMF,  the final communiqué for Tuesday’s summit was non-committal and vague.

  • Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis.
  • Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations.
  • Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South.

China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening.

Subscribe today for unlimited access.

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.