His Excellency Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal, decided to create the first Economic Forum of the Francophonie. The 57 member states of the international organization of the Francophonie (OIF) have more that a common language. With 220 million people, the Francophone space is also an economic zone on the international stage. The aim of this Forum is to make an inventory of the economic situation of the Francophonie and highlight the challenges and development opportunities while strengthening the links between members.

The Forum will be an opportunity to bring together economic operators of the Francophone and address the issues that this linguistic solidarity carries for the different sectors and the entire economy. Specifically, the forum will address economic, financial and legal conditions necessary for the construction of a true Francophone Economic Union.

The Francophone space has major economic potential. French is now the fourth most spoken language in the world, with approximately 230 million people (4 per cent of the world’s population).