Macron On Trip To Woo Djibouti Amid China's African Expansion

President Emmanuel Macron visited former French colony Djibouti Tuesday with promises of "respectful" partnership in the face of growing African indebtedness to China, fast expanding its foothold on the continent.

Both Paris and Beijing, as well as Japan and the United States, have military bases in East Africa's smallest country due to its strategic location along a key shipping lane leading to the Suez Canal.

Macron described Djibouti, the last colony to gain independence from France, as a "historical partner and strategic ally", and "the point of entry" to the Horn of Africa region.

Its geographic importance forms the foundation of Djibouti's hopes of becoming a major trading hub.

Two years ago, it inaugurated its newest and biggest port -- part of an infrastructure expansion, partly funded by China, that includes three other ports and a railroad to the capital of landlocked Ethiopia.

President Ismail Omar Guelleh's administration hopes to turn Djibouti into a "new Dubai" competing for business with overcrowded African ports such as Mombasa in Kenya.

Sandwiched between Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea, tiny Djibouti is a crucial part of Beijing's "Belt and Road" global infrastructure initiative along what has been dubbed the "Maritime Silk Road".

It allows China to reach Africa and Europe via the Indian Ocean.

The project has seen Beijing lend developing countries in Asia and Africa huge amounts of money to develop infrastructure and ease trade.

'Sovereignty'

But the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has sounded the alarm over an increase of Djibouti's public debt from 50 percent of GDP in 2014 to 85 percent in 2017.

The US-based China Africa Research Initiative in 2017 estimated Djibouti's debt to China at some $1.3 billion.

Major ports on the African side of the Red Sea.. By William ICKES (AFP)

"I would not want international investments to weaken the sovereignty of our partners," Macron said Tuesday, in a reference to China's growing African presence.

"French companies are able to offer a respectful partnership," the president added.

Guelleh, who visited Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2017, when he described himself as "a great friend of China," told Macron: "There are opportunities for French companies, particularly in the field of infrastructure.

"Our country is open, I have not lost hope that France can boost its investments in Djibouti."

Later Tuesday, Macron is to visit the remote Ethiopian town of Lalibela with its renowned 13th-century church complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The president is expected to announce support for a new protective system to replace the metal-and-tarpaulin structures which loom over the erosion-threatened monuments today, much to residents' chagrin.

He is set to conclude his visit with a state dinner in Addis Ababa as the country mourns the crash of a Boeing 737 just two days earlier that killed all 157 on board.

On Wednesday, he will meet leaders of the African Union before making the first-ever trip to Kenya by a French president. On Thursday, he will attend the One Planet Summit in Nairobi on reversing climate change.

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