Join us for an online press conference featuring France's Mr. Africa, Robert Bourgi, to celebrate the release of the English version of his book, They Know I Know Everything: My Life in Françafrique.

The online press conference will be held in French, with simultaneous translation available in English.

Both English and French-speaking journalists will have the opportunity to ask questions.

Date: Tuesday 29 October 2024

Time: 12 PM (GMT) / London Time: 1PM / Paris Time: 2PM  

Speakers: Robert Bourgi and Frédéric Lejeal

Language: English and French 

Media can register here to receive a Zoom link: https://apo-opa.co/3NhCBIr

A symbol of ‘Françafrique,’ Robert Bourgi's book examines his life, his relationship with his mentor Jacques Foccart, and the ‘missions’ he undertook over nearly forty years on behalf of African and French presidents, including prominent figures on the Right (Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, Charles Pasqua, Jacques Toubon, Dominique de Villepin, Claude Guéant, François Fillon, etc.).

He reveals the financing circuits of French political parties, drawing from personal notes kept over four decades. Bourgi also deciphers the sensitive issues in which he was involved: the release of French journalists from Lebanon in the 1980s, the rehabilitation of Mobutu Sese Seko, the release of French hostage Clothilde Reiss in Iran, the rescue of Laurent Gbagbo, the resignation of Jean-Marie Bockel, the appointment of French ambassadors to Africa, and lobbying the Élysée Palace on behalf of African heads of state, among others.

From Félix Houphouët-Boigny and Laurent Gbagbo (Côte d'Ivoire) to Mobutu Sese Seko (DR Congo), through Blaise Compaoré (Burkina Faso), Mathieu Kérékou (Benin), Abdoulaye Wade and Macky Sall (Senegal), Mohamed ould Abdel Aziz (Mauritania), and Gnassingbé Eyadéma (Togo), as well as Pascal Lissouba and Denis Sassou Nguesso (Congo), and notably Omar and Ali Bongo (Gabon), Bourgi lifts the veil on the psychology of many presidents south of the Sahara and their regimes, providing readers with a fresh perspective on France's African policy over several decades.

Link to the Book on Amazon in English: https://apo-opa.co/3ZVwZeD

Robert Bourgi: Born on April 4, 1945, in Dakar, Robert Bourgi, nicknamed ‘Bob’ by Jacques Foccart, is a Franco-Lebanese lawyer, lobbyist, and political adviser. With a doctorate in public law, this former teacher was responsible for relations with Africa at Club 89, an influential think tank of the Rassemblement des Républicains (RPR), before becoming a key figure in the transfer of funds between African presidencies and various political parties in France.

Frédéric Lejeal: A political scientist by training, Frédéric Lejeal has been a journalist specializing in Africa for twenty-five years. A former contributor to Jeune Afrique, he spent ten years running La Lettre du Continent, a confidential publication focused on politics and business networks in West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea.