President of the Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara (Wikipedia)

By Gary  Raynaldo      –  DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

French President Emmanuel Macron and Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara met in Paris Wednesday. The two leaders engaged in discussions at the Élysée Palace that reportedly included the recent coup in Niger and the “rapidly deteriorating” security situation in the African Sahel region, according to RFI. They also spoke discussed civil and military cooperation as well as bilateral economic relations. Last year, Ouattara  criticised the planned departure of French and European troops from Mali, saying it “creates a void”.  Meanwhile, he stressed that  it was the responsibility of domestic African armies to “solve problems in their own countries, France24 reported.