Thani Mohamed Soilihi : « La France s'engage énormément dans le cadre de la Francophonie »

8.19am in Paris and Vilaire Cotteres is today in France, the opening of the 19th summit of Francophonie, the opportunity to reflect on the future of French in the four corners of the world. 321 million speakers on the five continents, French is the fifth most spoken language in the world, but what a challenge today to make it prosper. Our guest to talk about it this morning, Tani Mohamed Soali, hello. Hello. And thank you for being with us. You are the Secretary of State in charge of Francophonie and international partnerships within the new French government. So the start this morning of this summit of Francophonie with the theme of creating, innovating and undertaking in French, a choice focused on the economy. Why this choice? So before I tell you about the reason for this choice, allow me to tell you about Francophonie, which is a living reality, which is shared by 88 countries on the planet. You said 320 million speakers. So Francophonie is something that allows people to exchange. It is also an organization headed by the Secretary General of Francophonie, who does a great job. And why this choice? Because we have to live with our time. Focused on technology, especially artificial intelligence. I am transitioning to what your colleague said earlier about Tunisia. Yesterday, with the President of the Republic, we were in Francothèque. And the present is the future. Francophonie, this very important organization, has to adapt with its time. And that's why it's based on this theme. In the midst of this question, there is of course the question of the future of the French language in the world. Projections speak of a future where French speakers will be 715 million by 2050. I would like to mention this warning launched a few days ago by the French-speaking demographic and statistical observatory, which puts the limits of the only demographic as a factor of French expansion. It mentions in particular the stagnation of French in countries where school systems are weakened to highlight the importance of education, of support for education. Will the summit of Francophonie this weekend lead to concrete commitments from France and other Member States? We take this warning very seriously. And that's why, without wasting time, right now, within Francophonie, we have started a number of actions that will precisely allow us to avoid what is feared. Not later than yesterday, I signed a prelude to this summit with representatives of Louisiana, an agreement to allow young French people to teach French in Louisiana. Another convention was signed by the AFD and universities to encourage teaching French in French-speaking countries. So we are preparing, we are doing everything to prevent what is feared from happening. And this is precisely one of the objectives of Francophonie. But there is also the question of the attractiveness of French people. The Senate report published recently, which gives a number of recommendations, underlines that young people, especially in Africa, have a pragmatic approach to French people according to the outcomes they propose. When we see the government you are part of promise a new turn of screws on immigration, when we see that university students are having trouble getting visas to come to France, what do you do about the risk that this detours French students from coming to France? Isn't there a dissonance between the will of France to support the growth of Francophonie and its migratory policy? Beyond the figures you gave earlier, you should also know that French is the second language of international exchanges. And concerning the media and international organizations, it is also the second language. There is no decline. You know the constraints we are going through with our budget. We are going to make efforts, and these efforts are precisely to allow us to be at the rendezvous tomorrow. Because if we leave the situation periclited… I will rephrase my question in a different way. When a student finds himself in the impossibility of coming to study in France or Canada or in another French-speaking country and he quickly obtains a visa, for example in China, he turns away from learning French for another language. Isn't that what the French migratory policy can currently create? Reasonably, we cannot compare the migratory situation in China with that in France. China was an example. You know it. This government is making an effort to respond to the current concerns of the French. Immigration is part of these concerns, and it would be irresponsible not to act according to these concerns. This is why we are implementing a policy in line with the expectations of the French. And I tell you, as soon as the situation improves, especially on the budgetary level, we are going to take even better actions in terms of exchange between students. But today, the policy towards students and scholarships is not sacrificed. We are trying to keep it afloat. On top of the French-speaking summit, Oxfam denounces a hypocrisy of France that has reduced its public aid to development by a quarter in the last two years. The ONG says that Paris has provided only 1.7% of the humanitarian funding that French-speaking countries needed. The figures are not better, however, for the other rich countries of French-speaking countries. The ONG speaks of 70 million French-speakers in need of urgent humanitarian aid. Is this really enough for them today, in the rich countries of French-speaking countries, including France? France is doing a lot. France is committing a lot in the context of French-speaking countries. We would like, of course, that we do better everywhere in the world. But as you said, France is not alone. I can assure you that they are happy to be here, because they know that within this big family, there will be no sacrifice. We will hold each other's elbows in these difficult times for a better future. We have a little time left, Tani Mohamed Swayali, to discuss another topic that concerns you. In your nomination, the Mediapart newspaper reminded Selektiv, In 2015, you recruited the wife of Senator Joel Guerriot, who worked for him until then, when he hired one of your collaborators, Maoré, on the eve of the first declarations of interest that forced parliamentarians to show transparency about the composition of their teams. Has there been an arrangement, an exchange with Joel Guerriot on this subject? Dear sir, I have not committed any illegal act. These facts, which are not, were reported by Mediapart and by West France at a time when the texts on the hiring of relatives had not been voted. And as far as I'm concerned, I have never, ever hired relatives. Joel Guerriot's wife was not a relative. My collaborator was not a relative. You mention the article of West France. Well, Mediapart would have done well to take inspiration from it, because the article of West France clarified things. Here are a dozen years of this. And to start with these facts from 10 years ago, to exhume them in relation to a criminal case 10 years later, I find it really regrettable. Thank you, Tani Mohamed Soweli, for this clarification. You are Secretary of State in charge of Francophonie and international partnerships. Have a good day. Thank you.