French Institutes and Alliances in the world:
La France à l’heure de la « diplomatie culturelle et d’influence » :

France has 97 French institutes, more than 800 alliances françaises and other specific cooperation services and cultural action services around the world. These diplomatic and cultural networks work towards spreading French culture in foreign countries. It’s the French way of influencing in international problematic issues and participating in world multicultural debates. French institutes and under the authority of both the French ministry of foreign affairs and French ministry of culture. This French diplomatic vision is particularly important in the political context of today as we face insecurity and rise of communautarism in the whole part the planet. It’s from this perspective that 40 French institutes in collaboration with the ministry of culture have organized in the two hemispheres the second edition of “Night of Ideas”. The event took place in 50 differentsplaces around the world and gathered more than 180 000 people. The main topic was “Un monde commun”. It was an opportunity for the audience to share views and ideas with prominent actors in different fields (medicals, philosophy, historian, etc.) and discuss on how to promote a new style of French diplomacy oriented on seeking multicultural dialogue.

According to the executive president of French institutes, Bruno Faucher, the influential and cultural diplomacy of France is an absolute priority today in French spoken countries particularly in the African continent. More concretely, the mission of French institutes and other alliances françaises is firstly, of course, teaching and promoting the French language but also to be the French cultural operator in a foreign country. In that perspective, they working to enhance artists or free thinkers and promoting their arts.

In Nigeria, the cultural action of France is represented by the French Institute of Nigeria located in Abuja. Founded in 1999, the institute is the operator of the French diplomatic and cultural action in Nigeria. It is in charge of promoting French culture and language. It is also an examination center for official French language certifications (DELF, DALF and TCF), and the center by excellence where to learn French in Abuja. The French Institute coordinate the works of the ten French alliances and also the French Institute for Research in Africa located in Ibadan. The oldest Alliance française in Nigeria opened his doors in Lagos in 1959. The nine other Alliances of the country are located in Nigeria’s big cities: Ibadan, Kaduna, Kano, Abuja, Lagos, Owerri, Enugu, Jos, Ilorin and Port Harcourt.

Open the following link to disvover our story map of the Institut Français and Alliances Françaises Network 

 https://uploads.knightlab.com/storymapjs/bad151b940f48b319e280fd665bd1984/reseaux-des-alliances-francaises-au-nigeria/draft.html