2023-11-19 11:25:03
Dr Manon Aminatou in front of the Château de Saint-Jean-Le-Blanc, commune of Loiret, near Orléans, of which she is the elected official (© DR)
President of ACTE (Alliance of Committed Communes and Territories), Franco-Cameroonian Manon AMINATOU is organizing the first North-South/South Decentralized Cooperation Forum on November 24 and 25 in Saint-Jean-le-Blanc (near Orléans). -North. A great first in which around thirty elected officials from around ten French-speaking African countries will participate.
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Interview with Bruno FANUCCHI
for AfricaPresse.Paris (APP) @africa_presse
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APP – A few words to first identify your personality?
Dr Manon AMINATOU – Originally from Cameroon, but arrived in France following my baccalaureate in 1997, I continued and completed my studies in Strasbourg with a doctorate in pharmacology and I am today both a scientist specializing in toxicology and an elected official local.
After a career in international groups specializing in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry, I created and have managed for more than ten years the VisaTox firm, a recognized specialist in toxicological and regulatory expertise for companies and public organizations in Africa and in Europe.
I am an expert in the identification of chemical risks to guarantee the conformity of consumer goods and the protection of the environment in accordance with current European regulations.
But I have also, since the 2020 municipal elections, been a local elected official in my town of Saint-Jean-le-Blanc, near Orléans, in Loiret, just one hour from Paris.
APP – How was ACTE born and what is the goal of this association of which you are the founding President?
Dr Manon AMINATOU – The Alliance of Committed Communes and Territories (ACTE), which I created in 2022, was born in the wake of the renewed relations between Africa and Europe brought regarding by the Europe-Africa Summit of Brussels, in February 2022, when Emmanuel Macron chaired the European Union and the Senegalese Macky Sall the African Union. The two presidents had expressed the desire to renew these relations. I was already doing this through my professional activities and I told myself that we needed to explore this path further by giving ourselves some concrete means and objectives.
This association brings together elected officials from all political sides as well as a certain number of economic actors who will support the implementation of projects with Public/Private Partnerships (PPP). Our primary goal is to develop diplomacy and decentralized economic cooperation.
The association’s objective is, on the one hand, to develop territories and employment areas by integrating societal issues, and particularly health, access and quality of water as well as the environment. It also advocates a framework of mutual respect in exchanges and balanced agreements between actors in the North-South, South-South and South-North private and public sectors.
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“We must involve the diasporas because
we need all the living forces”
“We must involve the diasporas because
we need all the living forces”
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APP – So the event that you are organizing on November 24 and 25 in your town of Saint-Jean-le-Blanc constitutes a great first?
Dr Manon AMINATOU – That’s perfectly correct. Under the name IMP’ACTE, we have created an original and completely unique concept in the region. It is to create a Forum which is divided into two stages: a first day with exchanges and debates by presenting role models that can inspire communities and a second day devoted to training, because it is always important to be well trained. Training intended for both elected officials and territorial agents, particularly concerning city management and the management of international projects.
Dr Manon Aminatou during her speech at the Salon Afrique Unie in Cotonou (November 9-11, 2023). ©DR
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APP – But with a completely new perspective?
Dr Manon AMINATOU – I have, in fact, observed that exchanges are unequal between the countries of the North and the countries of the South. I will give you two very specific examples:
1/ Some 10% of the richest countries on the planet are still responsible for half of the cumulative greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to today;
2/ Half of the materials that are consumed in the countries of the North come from the countries of the South and it seems necessary to me to change this paradigm to transform these raw materials in the countries of the South as well, so that they can get more from them. local value and thus accelerate their development.
We might therefore only note a certain failure in our North-South relations. I rely on the principle of subsidiarity by saying: for our relations to be more fruitful, we must go to the territories, by associating the municipalities that we will find in all our countries, the economic actors of these territories that we must involve in their development, but also diasporas from all horizons; the diasporas from the North that we find in the South and vice versa.
This is important because we too often forget that French expatriates in African countries are not necessarily involved in the development of these territories, even though they are both a diplomatic and certainly an economic force. And we need all the strength.
APP – What is the program for this first IMP’ACTE Forum?
Dr Manon AMINATOU – This Forum will take place over two days. November 24 with conferences and debates, as well as a presentation of the model role of the Center Val de Loire Region. We have, in fact, in St Denis de l’Hôtel a dairy which carries within it a principle of integration and development of humans at the center of its actions and a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) component which acts already with an African company. It will therefore be interesting to show that, on our territory, we have economic actors who are active in this direction.
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“The fine example
of the Songhai Center of Porto-Novo »
“The fine example
of the Songhai Center of Porto-Novo »
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APP – And do you sometimes take an example from what is already done in Africa?
Dr Manon AMINATOU – Our second model comes to us from Benin: it is the Songhaï Center, which I had the pleasure of visiting a few days ago in Porto-Novo, the capital. It is an agro-ecological Center, which has existed since 1985 and should frankly be duplicated in all territories. For what ? In a circular economy, it integrates both animal and plant production and fish farming in a closed circuit, with the recovery of waste into energy which can power the production factory. Farm in total autonomy, we transform market garden products, plantains and fruit juices.
But it also provides training to anyone who wants to learn in this area and I really like that. Representatives from several African countries (such as Nigeria, Gambia and Mali) come there to draw inspiration from the fine example of the Songhai Center and do the same thing in their territories. It is a flagship model for us and even the Île-de-France Region had sent interns there. For this first edition of the IMP’ACTE Forum, it was absolutely necessary for this Songhaï Center to be present.
APP – Do you still give great importance to training?
Dr Manon AMINATOU – The second day of the Forum will in fact be devoted to training: training of elected officials and territorial agents. It will be provided on the one hand by the National Union of Directors General of Territorial Communities, and on the other hand by Centraider which supports structures in implementing their projects.
APP – How many African elected officials will be present for this first edition?
Dr Manon AMINATOU – We are going to welcome for the first time around thirty African elected officials, two thirds of whom are mayors and the last third economic operators, all of whom came at their own expense. They will come from French-speaking Africa, notably from Cameroon of course, even if it is bilingual, from Senegal with a strong delegation, from Mauritania, Guinea Conakry, Gabon, Morocco, Togo and Benin. We had some visa issues, but they were resolved.
The goal, for us, is also to now raise awareness among the elected representatives of the Center Val de Loire Region so that they are present and meet their African counterparts who sometimes come with solutions because we want new relations with Africa, relations balanced and respectful which might be summed up in three words: trust, consideration and cooperation.
APP – And other French regions are also associated with this great adventure?
Dr Manon AMINATOU – The Greater Aquitaine region, the Île de France of course and, I hope, Alsace should be represented even if that is not yet certain.
Each time, we raise a problem and we provide a solution. For our Center Val de Loire region, which is a cereal-producing region, we might draw inspiration from Africa’s millet and sorghum. And in return we would introduce them to our waste management, because we have excellent sorting centers here.
APP – Why not have this Forum in Paris?
Dr Manon AMINATOU – I might indeed have organized this Forum in Paris, perhaps at the National Assembly, but I wanted to do it in the provinces, in a small town of 10,000 inhabitants, because I believe that it It is important that the territories reclaim decentralized cooperation.
A Cooperation which will have local impacts with:
1/ The creation of jobs both here and there, which will contribute to the fight once morest unemployment;
2/ The multiplication and development of new social links between us all;
3/ The mechanical reduction of uncontrolled immigration if Africans find employment in their own country.
I would like to send a big thank you to the Center Val de Loire Region for having partially subsidized this first IMP’ACTE Forum which intends to put territories and communities at the center of decentralized cooperation.
LEARN MORE:
www.acteafriqueeurope.com
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