The 16th Francophone Summit will be held from 22 to 27 November 2016 in Antananarivo, capital of Madagascar. The village of La Francophone will open on Monday 21st November. Thirty heads of state and government are expected.
The Summit will be chaired by the President of Madagascar. The Conference of Heads of State and Government of the countries that share the French language, commonly called “Francophone Summit” is the highest authority in La Francophone. At the summit and as every two years since its creation in 1986, the Heads of State or Government attending will discuss international politics, global economy, Francophone cooperation, human rights, education, culture and democracy.
The broad guidelines of the Francophone will also be defined through statements, resolutions, strategies adopted in the Summit; membership applications from new members and status change for others will be discussed and there will be the election of the Secretary General of the Francophone.
At least “34 Heads of State and Government and 11 first ladies, 37 foreign ministers will be attending the Summit” , welcomed the Malagasy government. François Hollande will attend. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also confirmed participation on November 26 after passing through Liberia. This will be his first official visit to Africa.
274 French million people worldwide
According to the organization, French is now the fifth most spoken language in the world with 274 million speakers, it is also the second language learned as a foreign language after English and third language of business worldwide. French is the 4th Internet language.
Finally, they are 125 million to learn French in the world.
