France took centre stage Thursday at the inauguration of Mali's new president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, as the former French colony enters a new era of democracy after months of political chaos, reports FRANCE 24.
The event at the 55,000-seat March 26 Stadium in the capital Bamako included leaders from a host of African countries.
Idriss Deby of Chad, the Ivory Coast's Alassane Ouattara and Moroccan king Mohammed VI are prominent guests among the 26 heads of state invited to welcome Mali's new leader, elected by a landslide on August 11.
But the ceremony will hold most significance for French President Francois Hollande, who launched a military action in January, aided by African troops, which ousted Islamist groups linked to Al-Qaeda who had occupied northern Mali last year.
France's engagement in Mali, however, is more nuanced and less straightforward than a simple mission to free the former colony from the clutches of Islamism.
Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.