For the first official visit by a French head of state to west Africa, Macron arrived in Guinea Bissau on Wednesday night.
Umaro Sissoco Embaló, the president of Guinea, met the head of state of France at the Osvaldo Vieira airport.
This is the third time this year that the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and I have met; we have already done so twice in Europe. It is also the first time that Macron has visited Bissau.
This business trip is taking place as Umaro Sissoco Embaló begins his one-year term as the rotating president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
People were chanting President Macron’s name in the streets in anticipation of his arrival, which is eagerly anticipated.
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This historic occasion also comes at a time of turmoil for this small West African country, which is plagued by political crises. In May, Umaro Sissoco Embalo announced the dissolution of parliament and the calling of early parliamentary elections by the end of the year. This followed a few weeks after a new coup attempt on 1 February, in which 11 people were killed according to the government.
Instability and poverty have favoured the presence of drug traffickers, who use the territory to transport cocaine from Latin America to Europe, with the suspected complicity of army officials. Umaro Embalo presented the February 1st coup as directly linked to drug trafficking.
Thursday marks the end of Macron’s 3 nation tour
