He landed in Gabon's capital Libreville on Wednesday and will later head to Angola, Congo-Brazzaville and the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Macron's trip comes as alarm grows in Paris over Russia's rising influence in French-speaking African countries, joining China, which has been present in the region for some years.
Burkina Faso, according to official correspondence seen by AFP on Wednesday, has told France it is renouncing a 1961 agreement that provided a legal basis for French military aid.
In a speech on France's Africa policy on Monday, Macron called for a "mutual and responsible relationship" with the continent of more than 50 countries, including on climate issues.
He reiterated a pledge to break with former post-colonial policies.
"Our interest is first and foremost democracy," as well as economic partnerships, he said.
He also said the French military would reduce its footprint on the continent in the coming months, though a military source and analyst have said French army chiefs may be reluctant to do so.
More than 3,000 French soldiers are deployed in Senegal, Ivory Coast, Gabon and Djibouti, according to official figures.
Another 3,000 are in the Sahel region further north, including in Niger and Chad.
- Distraction? -
In Gabon, Macron will dine with President Ali Bongo Ondimba on Wednesday and present him with 900 recordings of songs, tales and other oral folklore made in the country between 1954 and 1970.
On Thursday he will attend the One Forest Summit on preserving forests worldwide, including along the vast Congo River basin.
Covering 1.62 million square kilometres (more than 625,000 square miles), the forests of Central Africa represent the planet's second-largest carbon sink after the Amazon.
They are also home to huge biodiversity including forest elephants and gorillas, and bear traces of the settlement of early humanity.
But they face threats such as poaching, deforestation for the oil palm and rubber industries, and illegal logging and mineral exploitation.
Gabonese environmental activist Marc Ona Essangui told AFP he was worried Macron's visit would detract from the rainforest summit's main goal.
Gabonese people would instead likely view his presence as giving a political boost to Bongo in the run-up to presidential elections later this year, he said.
"What people are registering is Emmanuel Macron coming to back his candidate," he said.
Bongo, 64, has been president since succeeding his long-ruling father in 2009.
Macron has insisted Africa is a priority of his second term, and in July he went to Cameroon, Benin and Guinea-Bissau.
After Gabon, he heads to the former Portuguese colony of Angola on Friday. There, he is set to sign an accord to develop the agricultural sector as part of a drive to enhance French ties with English- and Portuguese-speaking parts of Africa.
- Congo talks -
He will then stop in the Republic of Congo, another former French colony, where President Denis Sassou Nguesso has ruled for almost four decades, albeit in several stints.
Finally, he will end his trip on Saturday in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which was ruled by Belgium during the colonial era.
President Felix Tshisekedi has been at the helm of DRC since January 2019, but he is up for re-election later this year, and here too the opposition has voiced reservations about the French president's visit.
The DRC accuses its smaller neighbour Rwanda of backing the M23 rebel group in the east of the country, a charge denied by Kigali.
Dozens of young Congolese demonstrators holding Russian flags rallied outside the French embassy in the capital Kinshasa on Wednesday to denounce Macron's visit.
Anti-French rallies have erupted in recent months in the former colonies of Mali and Burkina Faso in the Sahel.
Paris has fallen out with the military authorities there and withdrawn its troops from both countries following years of helping them to battle jihadists.
France and its Western allies accuse Russian mercenary group Wagner, infamous for its activities in Ukraine, of being active in Mali and the Central African Republic, also once ruled by France.
Paris has also accused Russia of spreading anti-French propaganda.
Macron plans 'noticeable reduction' of French troops in Africa
Paris (AFP) Feb 27, 2023 - President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday a "noticeable reduction" of France's troop presence in Africa following a withdrawal from Mali and Burkina Faso after years fighting jihadists there.
"The change will happen in the coming months with a noticeable reduction of our numbers and a greater presence in these bases of our African partners," Macron said ahead of a four-nation African tour.
This "reorganisation... does not intend to be a withdrawal", he said.
"We will remain but with a reduced footprint... We will do more training, more equipping and better accompanying" of local troops according to their needs, he said.
Some bases would become training academies, while others would become "partner" bases, he added.
Macron said they would adapt with less French military personnel on the ground, and an "Africanisation" of their staff.
They would see a "rise in the presence of their African partners according to goals defined" by these partners, he added.
Anti-French sentiment is running high in former French colonies Mali and Burkina Faso after military coups there that led to fallouts with Paris and the pullout of French troops from both countries.
Macron heads off on a four-nation tour of central African countries from Wednesday as Paris seeks to counter growing Chinese and Russian influence on the continent.
He will visit Gabon for an environmental summit, followed by Angola, then the Republic of Congo, or Congo-Brazzaville, and finally the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Algeria and Russia aim to boost military ties
Algiers (AFP) Feb 27, 2023 -
The head of Algeria's army hosted Russia's top security official on Monday to discuss boosting their military ties, the defence ministry in Algiers said.
General Said Chengriha said the visit of National Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev reflected both countries' "firm desire to strengthen their historic and strategic partnership... in particular in the area of military cooperation".
Patrushev said Russia was working to "further strengthen" their relations.
He also met Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, according to images shown on state television.
Tebboune is set to visit Russia in May.
Moscow has for decades been a major supplier of arms to Algeria, which has one of Africa's most powerful armies.
Algeria, a major gas supplier to energy-hungry Europe, has maintained warm ties with both its European neighbours and Moscow, despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Bilateral trade between Russia and Algeria was worth $3 billion in 2021, despite the coronavirus pandemic.
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