Secretary General Louise Mushikiwabo said streamlining the work of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie had been the most significant reform of her leadership as she made her case for a third term.
In an interview with Africa24, Mushikiwabo reviewed the changes introduced since she took office in 2019 and addressed women’s economic empowerment, youth employment, trade, artificial intelligence, political instability and the forthcoming leadership election.
“If I had to choose, the most significant reform was streamlining the OIF’s activities,” she said.
Mushikiwabo explained that she had commissioned an external review of the organisation after taking office to identify its priorities and areas requiring reform.
The review led to changes in governance, human-resource management, working methods and programme implementation. The number of activities and projects was reduced from about 40 to 15, allowing the organisation to focus its resources on programmes expected to deliver clear results.
She described changing the institution’s working culture as one of the most difficult parts of the process. Staff were encouraged to focus on results and the people benefiting from OIF programmes instead of concentrating mainly on budgets and activities.
Mushikiwabo cited La Francophonie avec Elles as one of the initiatives that demonstrated the impact of the reforms.
The fund was established during the Covid-19 pandemic using money saved after travel, conferences and other activities were cancelled. It initially supported women facing economic hardship before becoming a regular OIF programme.
Between 2020 and 2025, the initiative provided €20.1 million in grants to 354 projects, benefiting nearly 100,000 women in 36 Francophone countries.
Mushikiwabo said she wanted the programme to reach at least one million women but acknowledged that the organisation would need more financial support from private partners to achieve that target.
She said the OIF had concentrated its gender programmes on girls’ education and women’s economic independence because access to education and reliable incomes placed women in a stronger position to confront other inequalities.
Youth employment also featured prominently in the interview. Mushikiwabo said the D-CLIC programme had trained about 21,000 young people in digital professions. Some participants had subsequently established businesses and created employment for others.
The programme targeted people aged between 18 and 35 and provided training linked to employment opportunities in participating countries.
Mushikiwabo said cooperation with the African Development Bank would help expand the training to reach an initial 100,000 young people.
She also called for greater African participation in artificial intelligence, arguing that the continent should not remain only a consumer of technologies and digital content developed elsewhere.
African countries needed to produce their own data, technological solutions and online content while ensuring that French and African languages were represented on artificial-intelligence platforms, she said.
Mushikiwabo added that artificial intelligence should feature prominently in future OIF programmes because the Francophone community of about 400 million French speakers represented a significant global market.
On economic cooperation, she said OIF trade missions had been created to connect small and medium-sized businesses with markets they might otherwise struggle to access.
She noted that many African businesses knew little about commercial opportunities in neighbouring countries and required practical assistance to identify investors, partners and customers.
Mushikiwabo cited an agreement worth about €30 million involving Belgian and Beninese partners in meat processing and exports as one of the deals that followed an OIF trade mission.
She said the success of such missions should be measured by the contracts and lasting business relationships they produced rather than by the number of officials and company representatives who attended.
Addressing political instability within the Francophone community, Mushikiwabo expressed regret over the withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from the organisation.
She attributed their departure to wider geopolitical tensions rather than opposition to OIF programmes and expressed hope that the three countries would eventually return.
Their withdrawal had disrupted several initiatives, including education and civil-registration projects. Mushikiwabo said she had contacted the countries’ leaders to seek permission for projects already underway to be completed.
She cautioned against overstating the ability of international organisations to resolve political crises. Institutions such as the OIF could encourage dialogue and support peace efforts, but lasting solutions depended on the political will of national leaders, she said.
Explaining her decision to seek another term, Mushikiwabo said several member states had encouraged her to continue. She believed the reforms had produced results and wanted an opportunity to consolidate them.
She acknowledged that discussions about limiting the number of terms or rotating the leadership among different regions were legitimate. However, any change would have to be formally adopted by member states, while competence and experience should remain central to the selection process.
Mushikiwabo rejected suggestions that African countries should unite behind a single candidate, describing competition among candidates from the continent as democratic rather than a sign of division.
She also welcomed the revised election procedure, under which candidates had presented their programmes and answered questions from representatives of member states. The process had made the leadership contest more transparent, she said.
The interview also addressed relations between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo as candidates backed by both countries competed for the OIF leadership.
Mushikiwabo said the situation between Rwanda and DR Congo appeared to be calming but remained unresolved. She argued that tensions between member states should not influence the assessment of individual candidates.
Four candidates representing Rwanda, DR Congo, Mauritania and Romania are competing for the position. The organisation’s full members will choose the next Secretary-General during the Francophonie Summit in Cambodia for a four year term beginning in 2027.
Elie GATETE
RADIOTV10