PHNOM PENH: A summit of French-speaking nations opened Sunday in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, with leaders including France's President Emmanuel Macron seeking to avoid a walkout by the group's biggest African member.
The Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), a post-colonial entity resembling the Commonwealth, gathers around 90 states and nations including 53 full members, from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Canada.
But the two-day talks are being overshadowed by tensions between two men, DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda's Paul Kagame, and a row over the organisation's new head.
Rwanda's Louise Mushikiwabo has led the OIF for eight years and is running for a third term, but the DR Congo is strongly opposed – and has threatened to quit the organisation if she is re-elected on Monday.
