France's Hollande vows more aid, stronger trade ties with Africa

French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday pledged to double aid to African countries and to cement trade links enough to help create needed posts for young and desperate French jobseekers. "Africa is the continent of tomorrow, the continent of the future. A continent which has managed to reach sustainable high growth exceeding 5 percent per year," Hollande said. "Africa's time has come and France should see that as a chance... The road between France and Africa is not a one-way street," he added. Addressing participants at France-Africa economic forum, held on Wednesday in Paris, the president affirmed that "France must double its trade with Africa" from the current total of 30 billion euros (40.7 billion U.S. dollars). "We can estimate 200,000 of jobs that could be created in France in five years, if we doubled our exports to the African continent," he noted. The French head of state also vowed to double the country's aid to help financing development schemes in African countries from the 10 billion euros offered over 2008-2013 period. Looking to win back France's share of African market, Hollande announced the creation of a "Franco-African foundation for growth" to "promote the talents of our two continents," which is expected to be launched in 2014. French top official will head on Friday a two-day meeting in Paris with a focus on political instability and insecurity in the African countries.