28 September by CADTM France , Collectif
From October 6 to 10, a Counter-Summit Africa-France will take place in Montpellier to denounce Françafrique and to shed light on the hidden face of the Africa-France Summit organized at the same time. Conferences, workshops and demonstrations will punctuate these days of mobilization.
You will find below the call of the Collective of the Africa-France counter-summit in Montpellier, of which the CADTM is a member, as well as the program of the counter-summit
From October 7 to 9, an Africa-France Summit is to be held in Montpellier, which, under the banner of culture, higher education, youth and sport, announces the « refoundation of relations between France and Africa ». However, despite the announcement effects of President Emmanuel Macron, the neo-colonial spirit is still present. On the African continent, France still exercises monetary, economic, diplomatic and cultural domination, pursues military interventions, and supports regimes that flout human rights and prevent the emancipation of peoples. The support for the military coup in Chad in April 2021 is a sad example of this policy. The Mediterranean is a colonial border that has already killed more than 1200 of our sisters and brothers this year. This border pursues those who manage to cross, those who become undocumented, depriving them of all rights.
Thus, this summit is taking place in an extremely tense geopolitical context, where anti-French sentiment, which is above all an anti-French sentiment, that is to say a rejection of these policies, is growing in all the countries of French-speaking Africa. A strong and salutary rejection of French imperialism has ignited the populations in the streets of Dakar, Bamako, and elsewhere.
We demand :
an end to France’s military presence in Africa,
an end to the neo-liberal trade policy of France and the EU in Africa (Economic Partnership Agreements – EPAs – and other free trade agreements) which benefits above all the multinationals
an end to support for presidents who maintain themselves in power in an undemocratic manner (constitutional changes, coups d’état, etc.),
an end to French interference in the internal affairs of African countries,
the real end of the CFA Franc by reversing the unilateral decision taken in December 2019 by A. Ouattara and E. Macron, of the reform replacing the CFA franc by the ECO. This currency, too strong, which dispossesses African countries of their monetary sovereignty, harms African exports and promotes imports, ruining any industrial and agricultural policy in these countries.
the cancellation of the odious and illegitimate debts of African countries, the consequences of which are well known: decrease of investments in education, health and public services, increase of poverty, malnutrition, hindrance to any development, etc.
freedom of movement and settlement,
an end to expulsions from France.
To bring these demands to the fore :
we will organize meetings, debates, alternative events during the 3 days of the summit,
we will propose, in September-October 2021, times of explanations and debates, times of popular education to appropriate collectively the stakes of the relations between France and the countries of Africa,
we will express in the media, before and during the summit, the solidarity of struggle between the peoples of Africa and France to put an end to the relationships of domination, exploitation and oppression.
From today, we propose to all trade unions, collectives of undocumented migrants, associations, political organizations and to each and everyone, on an individual basis, to join the Collective of the Africa-France Counter-Summit in Montpellier.
First signatories: Amis du Monde Diplo 34 ; ATTAC 33 ; ATTAC34 ; ATTAC France ; CADTM France ; La Carmagnole de Montpellier ; CDTM Montpellier – Centre de Documentation Tiers Monde ; CNNR Hérault ; Collectif Ni Guerre Ni Etat de Guerre ; Comité Thomas Sankara de Montpellier (CTSM ) ; Fasti (Federation of Associations of Solidarity with All Immigrants) ; Third World Forum / World Forum of Alternatives ; Engineers Without Borders France ; Marche des Solidarités ; Nouvelle Dynamique de la Société Civile en RDC (NDSCI) ; Réseau Rapport Alternatif sur l’Afrique (RASA) ; Ritimo ; Survie ; UJFP
Associations and groups : Afrique Avenir; Association des Familles des Prisonniers et des Disparus Sahraouis (AFAPREDESA); Association des Travailleurs Maghrébins de France (ATMF); ASTI de Chalon sur Saône; ATTAC Gabon; ATTAC Rennes; Somaliland Representative Office in France; BDS France Montpellier Campaign; CEDETIM/IPAM; Dihiya Center for Human Rights, Democracy, and Development (Rabat, Morocco) ; CIBELE (Collectif Régional de Coordination Nord-Sud Île-de-France) ; CIE Noir Couleur ; Coalition internationale des Sans-Papiers et Migrants (CISPM) ; Collectif Chabatz Dentrar (Haute-Vienne 87) ; Collectif Diasporique camerounais ; Collectif Migrants 83 ; Collectif Sans-Papiers de Lyon (CSP69) ; CRID ; D’ailleurs nous ici 67 ; Droits Devant ; Droits Ici et Là-bas (DIEL) ; Dynamique unitaire panafricaine (DUP) ; Eau Bien Commun PACA ; EIC Corporation RDC ; États généraux des Migrations Montpellier ; Forum du Tiers Monde (Dakar, Senegal) ; Front Uni des immigrations et des Quartiers Populaires (FUIQP) ; FUIQP 34 ; Initiative in Gedenken an Oury Jalloh CISPM (International Coalition of Undocumented Migrants) Mannheim ; IRPAD/Africa ; L’âme immortelle de l’Afrique (The Immortal Soul of Africa) ; Le Guide du Bordeaux colonial (The Guide to Colonial Bordeaux) ; Ligue des Droits de l’Homme (Human Rights League) Montpellier; Ligue Panafricaine UMOJA France ; Organisation des Jeunes Africains pour le Développement et l’Emergence section Sofia à Madagascar (ONG OJADE SECTION SOFIA) ; Organisation pour la Démocratie, la Transparence et le Patriotisme (Niger) ; Rete Dei Comunisti (Italy) ; Solidarité Asie-France ; Sortir du Colonialisme 33 ; Sortir du Franc CFA ; Toulouse Anti-CRA ; Rapport Alternatif Sur l’Afrique (RASA/AROA)
Supporting unions and political parties: ANC de France; CGT Éduc’action 31; ENSEMBLE !-Mouvement pour une Alternative de Gauche Écologiste et Solidaire; Ensemble ! 34; Ensemble! 33; NPA; NPA 34; Communist Party of the Workers of France; Revolutionary Communist Party of France; Left Party; Left Party 34; Party of the Indigenous of the Republic (PIR); PEPS (For a Popular and Social Ecology); Libertarian Communist Union (UCL) Montpellier; Union syndicale Solidaires; Union syndicale Solidaires 34; Union syndicale Solidaires 31; UPC MANIDEM (Cameroon)
