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French President Nicolas Sarkozy begins a three-nation tour Thursday in Africa aimed to promote peace, democracy and French business interests. Mr. Sarkozy promised a new relationship with Africa, but experts say not much has changed.
Nicolas Sarkozy (file)
President Sarkozy is focusing on three francophone nations, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Niger. He will be talking politics, notably1 peace in Congo Kinshasa where the government and Tutsi rebels just signed a peace agreement.
He will also advocate democracy, likely in Congo Brazzaville where the country's president is preparing for elections this summer. French officials reportedly say the visit should not be interpreted as endorsing2 his campaign.
When he took office in 2007, Mr. Sarkozy vowed3 to break with France's past relationship with Africa. But Muzong Kodi, an analyst4 at the London-based think-tank Chatham House says that promise has not yet been realized.
"Nothing has changed actually. If you follow his discourse5 in the last few months, he has not broken with the tradition of France-Africa relations," Kodi said.
French business interest in Africa is another constant. Mr. Sarkozy is traveling with a high-level business delegation6. Kodi says In Brazzaville French officials will be looking for new oil supplies. In Niger, the French nuclear company Areva has recently signed a contract for uranium exploitation, and in Kinshasa France will be loooking at possibilities to invest in the telecommunications and hydropower sectors7.
African leaders are looking forward to Mr. Sarkozy's visit as well, and not just because of business possibilities.
"In Congo Brazzavile, the president is going to be standing8 for elections soon, so the visit of President Sarkozy may strengthen the president's hand. The same goes for Niger, where the president has been itching9 to change the constitution so that he could be re-elected. So the visit of the French president there may be interpreted as support," Kodi said.
France is facing growing competition for influence in Africa from China. But as Kodi points out, French ties on the continent stretch back decades.
1 notably | |
adv.值得注意地,显著地,尤其地,特别地 | |
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2 endorsing | |
v.赞同( endorse的现在分词 );在(尤指支票的)背面签字;在(文件的)背面写评论;在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品 | |
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3 vowed | |
起誓,发誓(vow的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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4 analyst | |
n.分析家,化验员;心理分析学家 | |
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5 discourse | |
n.论文,演说;谈话;话语;vi.讲述,著述 | |
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6 delegation | |
n.代表团;派遣 | |
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7 sectors | |
n.部门( sector的名词复数 );领域;防御地区;扇形 | |
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8 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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9 itching | |
adj.贪得的,痒的,渴望的v.发痒( itch的现在分词 ) | |
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