Appointed in July 2023 as head of Afalulathe French agency co-piloting the development of the Al-Ula site, Jean-Yves Le Drian, 77, sometimes stumbles over the names of the villages that make up this vast Nabatean necropolis, located in northwestern Saudi Arabia. . But this political heavyweight, who spent ten years shaping France’s influence in the world, first as defense minister under François Hollande, then in foreign affairs alongside Emmanuel Macron, who named him, in June 2023, “special envoy” to Lebanon — a question he didn’t want to raise during our meeting — is aware of the problems developing in this postcard setting.
The former head of diplomacy was in the front row at the signing, in 2018, of the bilateral agreement between Saudi Arabia and France for the development of Al-Ula. This project is part of the Vision 2030 reform program supported by Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Salman aka “MBS”who, claiming the pre-Islamic history of the kingdom, so far erased from textbooks, wants to write another national novel. By turning the Al-Ula archaeological complex into a beacon of culture and tourism, with museums, festivals, artists’ residences, hotels, trams, etc., the Saudi crown hopes above all to rehabilitate its image, damaged by a disastrous human rights record and widespread repression, which culminated in 2018 in the horrific murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Six months before the signing of the treaty, the Wahhabi kingdom had already established the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) to manage the development project. When Afalula was created, a French agency funded 100% by Saudi money and then headed by former Engie boss Gérard Mestrallet, the two structures were ordered to work hand in hand. On paper, the marriage looks smooth. In February 2023, Afalula, whose luxurious Parisian headquarters are a few meters from the Saudi Arabian embassy in France, even saw its annual allowance double to €60 million.
Political and diplomatic change
Behind the scenes, however, relations have been strained with the multitude of Anglo-Saxon consultants infiltrating the RCU, as well as its former president, Amr Al-Madani, who was arrested in January on embezzlement charges. In France, as in Saudi Arabia, many question the utility and, worse, the credibility of an instrument that now fears for its survival. “Afalula has come to pour. It has become a travel agency for French actors looking for contracts, without weighing Franco-Arab relations”says someone familiar with the Saudi files.
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