EUROPE
FRANCE – What results for the summit of African economies?
The summit on the financing of African economies, held in Paris on the initiative of President Emmanuel Macron, ended on Tuesday evening, 18 May, with the main announcement of support from the international community in the health field, but without a firm financial commitment on the economic front. Recall that the objective of this summit was to launch a “New Deal” as the French president put it, in order to revive the African economies asphyxiated by the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. The ambition was to raise $100 billion to partially meet Africa’s financing need.
Moving towards 100 billion SDR to Africa
Although the continent is relatively unharmed from a health perspective, with 130,000 Covid-19 deaths, according to official figures, out of a global total of nearly 3.4 million, it is paying a very heavy economic and social toll, For lack of being able like the richest countries to launch pharaonic recovery plans. According to the IMF, a continent that needs massive investments to eradicate poverty, develop infrastructure, address climate change and the jihadist threat is short nearly $300 billion.
At the end of the summit, participants did not announce a firm commitment on this financial front, but promised to engage in discussions around the International Monetary Fund’s “Special Drawing Rights” (SDRs). Equivalent to an IMF banknote board, these monetary assets can be converted into foreign currency and spent without creating debt.
The international community has already agreed on the principle of a global SDR issue of 650 billion dollars, of which 33 billion must mechanically return to Africa, through the use of quotas within the Washington institution. “This is too little,” said the French president, who calls on rich countries to allocate a large part of their SDR to African countries, as France pledges to do, to reach a total of $100 billion.
Commenting on “a lot of technical work to be done,” Emmanuel Macron said he hoped for a “political agreement” on the SDRs either at the next G7 summit, or at the G20 summit, or between June and October.
Convince Washington and continue discussions on African debt
The main thing is to convince the United States. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen supported a redistribution of SDRs in a press release, provided the use of funds is “transparent and accountable”.
France would also like to open the discussion on mobilizing the IMF’s gold reserves.
Another topic of discussion is the debt of African countries, which has exploded since the pandemic. If a moratorium has made it possible to give some air to the most indebted countries, the next step would be to cancel part of the debts, in a coordinated approach, under the aegis of the G20.
African leaders stressed the need to also support the African private sector, and to move away from a logic of international public assistance conditioned by harsh reforms. In particular, Macky Sall denounced the “agreed” framework of fiscal constraints imposed on African countries, which limit their investment capacity. And called to move from a logic of assistance to a dynamic of “co-construction” between the continent and the rest of the international community.
One step closer to lifting vaccine patents?
Could this co-construction become a reality in terms of health? Emmanuel Macron stressed that the participants had decided on a “very strong initiative to massively produce vaccines in Africa”, with in particular “World Bank financing”. “We support technology transfer and work that has been requested of the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization and the Medicines Patent Pool [supported by the UN, Editor’s note] to remove all intellectual property constraints that block the production of any type of vaccine,” the French president told the press at the end of the conference. This announcement confirms international support for the lifting of patents on vaccines, which India and South Africa have called for, following the appeal by US President Joe Biden, to which Europe has followed suit, despite opposition from pharmaceutical companies.
Given the time required to launch these productions, Emmanuel Macron explained that in the short term the summit participants had agreed to “push the ambition of Covax (organisation for the distribution of vaccines to poor countries) from 20% to 40% of people vaccinated in Africa”. For the time being, with the exception of Morocco, where 13% of the population received a first injection, vaccination rates remain low on the African continent, due to insufficient supplies.
Senegalese President Macky Sall pointed out that the widespread vaccination campaigns in industrialized countries do not guarantee «absolutely no health security». He warned against the development risk in Africa of “extremely resistant variants”.
The President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Félix Tshisekedi, who holds the rotating presidency of the African Union, stressed to him that the issue was also to convince the people, by countering the “work to undermine social networks that have demonized vaccination.” At the end of April, his country had to give the Covax initiative 1.3 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines because it could not administer them before their expiry date. The motive? People’s distrust of vaccines. “We received 1.6 million doses, only 10,000 people were vaccinated, and most expatriates,” he said.
Source : Le Point
For about fifteen years, social networks have conquered every corner of our lives, interfering as well in private conversations as in family, school or professional dynamics. What was once a communication tool has become a prism through which many teenagers—but also adults — perceive the world. Far from being mere platforms for exchange, these digital spaces influence tastes, shape opinions and model behaviours. 11-year-old children frantically scrolling videos on TikTok, while grandparents comment on political debates on Facebook. This massive penetration into all the strata of society raises new questions, particularly about the ability of the youngest to evolve without danger. Faced with this new reality, Emmanuel Macron is sounding the alarm.
President Emmanuel Macron was very clear on France 2, on June 10, 2025: he wants to ban social networks for young people under 15 years old. And if there is no quick agreement at the European level, France could decide to go it alone. For him, we must act quickly. In his eyes, these platforms—Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok — have become much more than simple communication tools: they act as amplifiers of violence, confusion, and psychological distress.
He believes that this early exposure, from the middle school age, shapes a generation facing a brutalization of exchanges and a form of permanent emotional instability. This observation, shared by a growing number of observers, fuels its desire to implement strict regulation at the European level. And if Brussels delays, Paris might well act alone.
This radical proposal highlights a growing generational divide. Today’s teenagers are, according to Macron, the first to have grown up in this digital universe saturated with images, viral content, and incessant notifications. A generation connected from the cradle, which has not known a world without smartphones or ubiquitous Wi-Fi. Where adults have seen social networks as progress, the younger ones experience them as a norm, even a social necessity.
However, this digital normality leads to deleterious effects. Online harassment, addiction, overexposure to violent or pornographic content, permanent quest for social validation… the risks are multiple and often invisible to the eyes of parents. The idea of a mandatory minimum age, already under debate in several countries, takes on a strong political dimension here. By setting this framework, the president hopes to stop a spiral that he considers uncontrollable.
For Emmanuel Macron, this initiative cannot remain isolated. He asks the European Union to reach an agreement and set clear rules together. The question is now asked: should social networks be treated as sensitive products, on a par with alcohol or cigarettes? France seems ready to take this step, even if it means shaking certain digital freedoms. The president mentions a delay of ‘a few months’ to reach an agreement with the European partners. Without a coordinated response, he claims that France will act alone.
This stance raises as much hope as controversy. How to enforce such a ban technically? What responsibility for the platforms? Will teenagers find ways to get around the measure? If the challenge is immense, the head of state seems determined to lay the foundations for a new digital contract between young citizens and their digital environment.
By setting the bar at 15 years old, Emmanuel Macron is not content with reacting to a trend. He proposes a break. In a society where digital technology continues to move forward without restraint, it wants to impose a threshold, a safeguard, a time of pause to reflect on what growing up in the connected world really involves.
Source: The new tribune
The deep sea, which covers 54% of the oceans, remains largely unknown: only 5% have been explored. Yet, since 2022, 33 states have called for a precautionary pause in the face of deep-sea mining projects. This position is based on alarming scientific studies: the abyss shelters a unique biodiversity, plays a key role in climate regulation and their destruction would have irreversible consequences.
Under international law (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), deep seabed resources are a heritage of mankind, managed by the International Seabed Authority (ISA). Any exploitation outside this framework would be illegal. However, the polymetallic nodules, coveted for their rare metals, take millions of years to form – their extraction would therefore be unsustainable.
Mining would generate plumes of toxic sediments, threatening abyssal wildlife and the food chain. Deep ecosystems, essential for carbon storage, could be sustainably altered. Yet, their genetic resources could revolutionize medicine, agri-food or the fight against global warming.
At the United Nations Ocean Conference (Nice, 9-13 June), the signatory States (Austria, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Palau, Panama, Peru[1], Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Vanuatu.) request:
Strict compliance with international law;
The acceleration of scientific research;
A cautionary pause on deep-sea mining.
[1] The Republic of Peru is not a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Photo Credit: chasse-marée.com
On 9 June, the leaders of ten Mediterranean countries and the European Union met at the invitation of the French president for the summit “For a better connected Mediterranean”, on the sidelines of the UN Ocean Conference. The objective: to strengthen maritime, land and digital links between Europe, the Mediterranean and the Arabian-Persian Gulf, in response to the common challenges of the region.
The Mediterranean, which accounts for 25% of global maritime traffic, is seeing its states step up their ecological efforts. Since 1 May 2025, a SECA (low sulphur emissions) zone covers the entire Mediterranean, while ports such as Algeciras, Beirut and Marseille have committed to reducing their emissions through charging stations and alternative fuels. Croatia also announced a new green and automated terminal in Rijeka.
The European Commission recalled its financial commitment through the Global Gateway strategy, with 5.9 billion euros released for North Africa and the Middle East, capable of generating 27.2 billion in investments. The new Pact for the Mediterranean aims to consolidate economic and energy partnerships, particularly through the India-Middle East-Europe (IMEC) corridor, supported by France.
Energy projects are multiplying: Saudi Arabia, France, Italy and Greece are studying collaborations on green hydrogen, while Cyprus and Greece are advancing on interconnections such as the GREGY cable (Egypt-Greece). The TeraMED initiative could also accelerate renewable energies in North Africa.
On the digital side, the EU presented Medusa, an undersea optical fibre network linking the two Mediterranean shores, while the digital hub in Aqaba (Jordan) strengthens regional technological influence.
