Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister on Monday insisted that France’s policies in Africa have created poverty and triggered migration, calling for European Union’s sanctions on the member of the bloc. Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio accused Paris of continuing to colonize Africa and pushing people to migrate from the continent. He called on the European Union to impose sanctions on France saying Paris had “never stopped colonizing tens of African states”. The EU should impose sanctions on France and on all countries like France that “impoverish Africa and make these people leave, because Africans should be in Africa, not at the bottom of the Mediterranean,” he said. France has repeatedly argued that the CFA franc has brought monetary stability to the countries that use it.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 22, 2019 15:45 UTC