Macron in Madagascar for the first state visit by a French leader to the former colony in 20 years

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron started a two-day visit to the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar on Wednesday and spoke of the need for his country to find new markets and boost economic cooperation in the region.

Macron’s trip is the first state visit by a French leader to the former colony off the east coast of Africa since President Jacques Chirac ‘s in 2005.

Macron met with Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina in the capital, Antananarivo, and they signed several agreements and memoranda of understanding, including in energy, agriculture and education.

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The trip delved into disputes between the nations stemming from the colonial era, including Madagascar’s claims over a group of small islands that are French territory, and its demands that France return the remains of a local king who was killed by French colonial forces in the late 1800s.

Macron also announced funding from the French Development Agency and a loan for the construction of a hydroelectric dam in Volobe, in eastern Madagascar, which has been planned for nearly a decade.

Macron is due to attend a summit Thursday of the Indian Ocean Commission, a bloc comprising Madagascar, Mauritius, Comoros, Seychelles and the French territory of Reunion. China, India and the European Union are among a group of countries and international bodies that have observer status at the commission.

“We need to conquer, at least, the market of the (Indian Ocean Commission),” Macron said. “And then, more widely, East Africa and the Indian Ocean.”

On some of their disagreements, Rajoelina said there would be a new round of meetings on June 30 over the fate of the Scattered Islands, five small islands around Madagascar that fall under France’s overseas territories but are claimed by Madagascar.

France favors a system where the islands would be jointly managed by the two countries, but the U.K.'s decision last year to hand over control of the Chagos Islands, in the Indian Ocean, to Mauritius has spurred some in Madagascar to push for full control of the Scattered Islands — which are known as the Eparses Islands in France.

Madagascar and France “are determined to find a solution together,” Rajoelina said.

Macron said he would work with Madagascar over the agreed return of three skulls that were taken from Madagascar more than 125 years ago and are being kept in a Paris museum. One of them is believed to be the skull of King Toera of the Sakalava people, who was beheaded by French troops in 1897.

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