Elysee chooses new coordinator for Africa-France summit

摘要

French diplomat Elisabeth Barbier is tipped to succeed Stéphanie Rivoal as secretarygeneral for the Africa-France Summit. The next gathering is due to take place in July in the southern city of Montpellier, but whether it will go ahead or not depends on the health situation in France in the coming months. Barbier, a former deputy director general of the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), was previously France's ambassador to Kenya (2006-2010) and to South Africa (2013-2016). She was head of the French foreign ministry's Direction Afrique et Océan Indien (DAOI) before being dismissed just a few months after her appointment in October 2012 amidst tensions with then president François Hollande's foreign minister, Laurent Fabius.