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In late 2016, peaceful protests started against what was perceived to be the creeping use of the francophone legal system in the region's courtrooms.

The militants were - and still are - fighting for the independence of Cameroon's two anglophone regions in what is a predominantly francophone country.

What happens in Ivory Coast really matters and is widely noticed, across West Africa and indeed, also right across francophone Africa more generally.

And at a time of rising popular support across Francophone Africa for a more visibly assertive defence of national interests, his government has acquired the Gabonese assets of several foreign oil companies, including the UK's Tullow.

That’s not the same as saying they don’t have any crass blowhards in politics — Canadians will remember the escapades of former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford or the efforts by former Quebec Premier Rene Levesque to have his francophone province secede from English-speaking Canada.