French President Macron announces €3 billion plan to ‘rebuild’ cyclone-hit Mayotte

Photo: © Mayotte Civil Security / EFE/EPA – Editorial use only, no sales.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced a three-billion-euro package over six years to finance a plan to “rebuild” Mayotte, France’s poorest department, which was devastated by a cyclone in December.

The most destructive cyclone to hit the Indian Ocean archipelago in 90 years caused colossal damage in mid-December, killing 40 people and causing 3.5 billion euros ($4 billion) in damage.

Four months after the disaster, Macron visited Mayotte to “take stock of what is being done well, what is not being done well enough”, he said as he got off the plane.

He was accompanied by his wife Brigitte, and the ministers of overseas territories, agriculture and health.