2023-06-23 21:30:00
DISPATCH — Friday, June 23, during the “Summit for a new global financial pact”, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa sharply criticized the West. Denouncing broken promises and barely masked contempt, especially during the Covid-19 crisis, he brought to light tense and misleading relationships. What to expect from new geopolitical developments between the West and the BRICS.
Organized in Paris, the summit brought together around forty heads of state, in order to put in place “taxation intended to fight against global warming and poverty”. For Emmanuel Macron, it was a question of “building the unity of the international community”. If a roadmap has been established, the work on inequalities still seems laborious.
A growing resentment towards the West
It is the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, who suggests it. First, he raised the issue of access to vaccines, denouncing the monopoly created by the West and its massive purchases. African nations “felt like beggars when they needed access to vaccines,” he said. Worse, the African continent would have faced “enormous resistance” from the WTO (World Trade Organization)” when they wanted to manufacture their own vaccines. He asks the question without batting an eyelid: “What is the most important ? The life or the profits of your big pharmaceutical companies?” According to him, the shared feeling is that “life in the northern hemisphere is much more important than life in the south”.
Returning to the subject of the climate, he recalled a promise from the West dating from 2009: to provide 100 billion dollars per year. For the moment, he has not seen the color of it.
For all these reasons, he assures us that the resentment of African countries towards the West is growing.
BRICS par BRICS
A position that does not bode well for Emmanuel Macron, who asked to participate in the next BRICS summit next August. Once is not custom, the French president seeks to play the “intermediaries” by displaying “his availability and his interest”, but is not always welcome.
Bringing together Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, this meeting will take place in the country of Cyril Ramaphosa. It is therefore he who will authorize, or not, the presence of Emmanuel Macron. So far, and not surprisingly, Moscow has made its disapproval clear.
In view of what was said in Paris today, it seems unlikely that the French president will make his appearance at the summit, especially since it would be a great first in the history of the BRICS.
As a reminder, Emmanuel Macron’s recent visits to Africa have not always been viewed favorably. In July 2022, he had traveled to Cameroon to lecture its president, reproaching him for his docility vis-à-vis Russia, as well as his problems with corruption. This position, which was paternalistic to say the least, had earned him numerous criticisms. Journalist Christine Kelly summed up on Twitter:
France comes to tell Africa that it is guilty (of corruption).
Other countries (Russia, China) come to tell Africa that it has potential.— Christine KELLY (@christine_kelly) July 27, 2022
More recently, in March 2023, it is to the Congolese president that Emmanuel Macron confronted. While he wanted to lay the groundwork for a “new, balanced, reciprocal and responsible relationship” between the two countries, his counterpart himself rebalanced the relationship: “Look at us differently, by respecting us, by considering us as real partners, and not always with a paternalistic look with the idea of always knowing what is needed for us.”
If all this is eminently geopolitical, for some time now African countries seem to be turning more towards China and Russia than towards the West.
This month, Cyril Ramaphosa led a seven-nation African peace delegation to Moscow and Kyiv to try to end the conflict.
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