Cornered by African youth, Macron intends to repair FrancAfrique

French president invited no government leaders at event seen as bid to reshape France’s ties with former colonies.

Cheikh Fall did not hold back last week when he saw French President Emmanuel Macron during a plenary session of a France-Africa conference.

“I asked Macron to seek forgiveness from Africans, stop empowering African dictators and stop the pseudo paternalistic cooperation,” the Senegalese social entrepreneur told Al Jazeera, recalling the exchange.

Fall was one of several young Africans who peppered Macron with unfiltered criticism of France during Friday’s event, seen as part of the French president’s attempt to reshape his country’s relations with former colonies on the continent.