why is France being kicked out of Africa

The year 1960, has been called the year of Independence for most African states, but was it truly an independence? Earlier this year 2023, French President Macron, speaking ahead of a four-country African tour promised a “new era” for France’s ties with the continent, based on a “partnership” of equals. He said that the French military base in Africa would henceforth be jointly run by local armed forces, with a “visible reduction” of French soldiers on the ground. It was to be a new phase in the Franco-African reset that Mr Macron first laid out in a speech in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, in 2017, vowing that he was “of a generation that doesn’t come to tell Africans what to do”.

Even prior to this time, French relationship with Africa seemed to have improved. President Macron increased aid to the continent, began the return of cultural artefacts stolen during the colonial wars, which has been a long source of resentment, to Benin and Senegal and reached out beyond the usual inter-government ties to engage younger generations and civil society. He kept that have killed so many local civilians, police and soldiers, supported the regional bloc Ecowas as it tries to defend electoral politics against military takeovers and promised to end the cfa franc, a France-backed regional currency. He even flew to Rwanda in 2022 to apologize and publicly acknowledge French failures during the 1994 genocide.

However, in the last few months, France’s relationship with Africa has greatly deteriorated. Anti-French feelings have ignited in most of France’s former colonies and the country has now become the target of African criticism.

In 2013, Paris militarily intervened in Mali to beat back jihadists who were advancing from the north and threatening to overrun the government in the capital Bamako. The operation was successful and the elected government was saved, but any credit has long since disappeared because despite a heavy French presence afterward, the insurgency continued to spread, with the violence spilling over into neighboring countries and now threatening communities all over the Sahel region beneath the Sahara desert.

In November 2021, a convoy of French troops heading north to support the fight against Islamist militants was repeatedly blockaded by protesters as it crossed Burkina Faso and Niger. Also, in the past few years, among progressive West African commentators and urban youth, there has been a call for the abolition of the CFA Franc, the regional currency used by many francophone countries and which is pegged to the euro under a French government guarantee.

One of the most defining moments however of the decline in France’s relationship in Africa was the European power’s retreat and announcement of the end of Operation Barkhane, launched in 2014 to eliminate armed groups in the Sahel region in Africa and curb their influence. This withdrawal is often seen as a shift in the relations between France and Africa, not just between France and Mali.

Operation Barkhane was France’s largest overseas operation, with a budget of nearly €600m per year. It engaged in everything from combat patrols alongside Malian forces and partner militias to intelligence gathering and training to local development activities. The force, with approximately 4,500 soldiers, was spread out between Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Chad. While its headquarters is in N’Djamena, Chad’s capital, it also has fighter aircraft and bases for intelligence collection and operations in Niger’s capital Niamey, Agadez, Arlit, Tillabéry, and several other sites, as well as around 1,500 troops in northern Mali scattered between the large base at Gao, others at Kidal, Timbuktu, and Tessalit, and more recently a base at Gossi closer to central Mali as well as the border with Burkina Faso.

Following the May 2021 coup and January 2022 coup in Mali, diplomatic relations between France and Mali began to deteriorate and in 2022, MALI’S government spokesman colonel Abdoulaye Maïga, announced in a televised address that the African country was tearing up defence agreements with France. In addition, a special document from the Malian government instructed French ambassador Joël Meyer to leave the territory of the African state within 72 hours. The story is also the same in Burkina Faso and most recently Niger. Following Mali’s path the President of Burkina Faso ordered the withdrawal of French troops from the country and ended the presence of the French military on Burkinabe soil. The reason for this was that the Burkinabe believes that Despite their presence on Burkinabe soil with huge equipment and their power at the intelligence level, they couldn’t help us defeat terrorism, so there was no need for them to be in the country.

In Niger the trend has also been the same. Following the coup this year where a trusted ally of France, was taken hostage, protesters massed at the French Embassy soon after, setting it on fire and shattering windows. Most of the protesters carried plaques with “Down with France” written on it. A colonel in uniform also appeared on state television, announcing that the military was ending its cooperation with France. If the coup in Niger is successful, all the French troops will be sure to leave the country and Chad would remain the only country in the Sahel region known to host a French base.

Yet another fresh scandal occurred in the CAR, where Paris was symbolically humiliated by taking away from the French ambassador the privilege of being the “dean of the diplomatic corps. This status, as noted in a press release, was “reserved for French ambassadors,” but they do not apply “reciprocity” in diplomatic matters properly.

So, why is France being kicked out of Africa? Why is France’s relationship with Africa deteriorating?

The answer according to President Macron is Russia. During the International Organization of Francophonie (IOF) summit, held in Tunis on November 19-20, 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron accused Russia of fomenting anti-French sentiment by condemning the actions of Wagner group cooperation in Mali and the CAR. He accused Russia of following personal interests and a “plundering project” in African countries, where France has recently suffered military setbacks and generally lost its former influence, from diplomacy and cooperation to declining interest in the French language on the continent.

In his own words “This perception, it is fed by others, it is a political project. I am not fooled, many influencers, including sometimes people on your sets, are paid by the Russians. We know them.” “Several powers, who want to build influence in Africa, develop this to damage France, damage its language, make people doubt, but above all go for interests.

But, can Russia truly be blamed for France’s declining relationship with Africa?

According to Swiss-Cameroonian activist Nathalie Yamb, France still treats Africans as subhuman. She stated that “France is only great when it climbs on the shoulders of Africa… It is against our commitment to the emancipation and respect of African men and women that Emmanuel Macron has decided to go to war and reaffirm that we, the people of Africa, are sub-humans, animals, incapable of thinking, deciding and speaking for themselves! She also criticized the “racism, the condescending racialism of Macron and the French and European political class towards Africans”. And as proof of the truth she spoke, Madame Yamb was subsequently officially banned from entering France by the Macron government, according to Monde Afrique.

The fact is that African populace are tired of the continuous meddling of France in their affairs despite supposed freedom. A meddling that has led to the continuous plunging of African resources. For decades, France has kept close albeit complicated ties with many former colonies, including a military presence, economic influence and direct access to heads of state, a web often referred to as “Françafrique” that came to embody France’s obsession with keeping a foothold there. It’s continuing military presence and financial power, as exercised through the CFA franc, across the region has left in concealed anger for France by the populace.

The growing anti-French sentiment demonstrates that the hegemonic attitude that is the norm for France on the continent even under the guise of “decolonization” slogans no longer suits Africans. They have tolerated for long enough the Jacques Foccard-inspired Françafrique, which includes interventions, financial domination, covert operations to eliminate and displace patriotic leaders. And teaching French language and culture in Europe to African elites only strengthened their loyalty to Paris. Also, the military elite was long formed by the French until a series of military coups on the continent.

And from an economic point of view, France was extremely comfortable with the system formed for decades, because one, it is cheap resources; Africa supplies France with uranium for nuclear reactors from the CAR and Niger. Two, currency control: the CFA franc still remains and French banks “keep” deposits in these currencies. Three, large benefits for French companies where they are awarded first right to every contract in Africa. And don’t forget that when a country resists, it is subject to sanctions and pressure like Mali, Guinea and others.

So can Paris easily give up what it has been working on for decades? Of course not. So to cover its own crimes, France blames anyone but itself. Well, regardless of what France believes, Africans are now in a position to decide for themselves with whom and on which issues they are more profitable and comfortable to interact. Given the crisis of confidence in Paris and the failure of the Françafrique confederation itself, it is not surprising that Africa is looking for interesting proposals from China, Türkiye, Russia and other states.

What are your thoughts? Can France truly leave Africa completely? Do leave your comments down below and don’t forget to subscribe, like and share this video.