First stage in British-French policy coordination

The British and French foreign ministers, Robin Cook and Hubert Vedrine, arrived in Abidjan today (Thursday) on their first joint visit to West Africa - aimed at ending centuries of rivalry on the continent.

They flew in from Accra where they held talks yesterday (Wednesday) with Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings. In Abidjan, they met their ambassadors to discuss stronger British-French cooperation in Africa.

“Britain and France have many common interests and responsibilities in Africa and it is sensible that we should pool our assets and our experiences and coordinate our approach,” Cook said before the trip.

This outlook stems from an Anglo-French summit in St Malo in December 1998, where leaders committed their governments to harmonising policies on Africa and cooperating on the ground, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said today.

Under the Joint Declaration of Cooperation in Africa, which emerged from that summit, both countries plan to promote human rights and good governance, to tackle Africa’s debt and maintain development aid. To achieve these aims, London and Paris have set out to share information on Africa between capitals and local embassies “in particular on countries where one or other partner is not represented”.