Emmanuel Macron receives Central African President Faustin-Archange Touadéra on Wednesday noon. The two men had already met at the Élysée six months ago to mark their desire to reconnect after years of estrangement.
In recent years, France has denounced the growing influence of the Russian mercenary group Wagner in the Central African Republic, accusing it of abuses and pillaging of natural resources. Paris also deplored disinformation campaigns which fueled anti-French sentiment in this country and beyond. The Central African Republic is one of the French-speaking countries in Africa where Paris has seen its influence challenged by Russia. It is also a country where a large majority of the territory was controlled by rebels, which his army then pushed back thanks to the help of Moscow and the massive intervention of Wagner's mercenaries. The President of the Republic was elected in 2016 in the middle of the civil war, and was re-elected in 2020 under conditions contested by the opposition. He had the Constitution modified in July 2023 by a referendum to authorize himself to run for a third term in 2025.