Recently in world media covering Africa a lot of information has surfaced about French President Emmanuel Macron’s intentions to reformat Paris’ Africa policy to offset the negative consequences of its numerous failures. This was caused by an unprecedented increase in anti-French sentiment in the francophone countries of the continent and a continuous series of coups that swept the «backyard» of the former metropolis.
Paris’ promises are ‘sinking into the sand’ of the African Sahara
In this case, we are talking about a significant reduction in French military personnel at military bases. This is not the first time France has announced plans to improve relations with African partners on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. However, each time these promises ‘sink into the sand’ of the African Sahara.
It should be noted that Paris has traditionally given priority attention to the development of relations with African countries. Even after they gained independence, France never let them out of its sight, doing its best to counteract their development of active ties with external players. At the time, President Francois Mitterrand noted that «without Africa, France will not have its own history in the 21st century», and even today, Africa, as a source of strategically important mineral resources, plays an important role in the development of the French economy.
To understand the motives of Macron’s new initiative, it is necessary to understand more clearly the reasons that led to the fiasco of France’s Africa policy in recent years. According to many experts, cracks in Paris’ relations with the African continent started to appear following the military intervention of NATO countries in Libya in 2011, the main instigator and organiser of which was French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who tried to boost his low political rating on the eve of the next elections by engaging in a ‘little victorious war’, but was defeated. Next Francois Hollande came to power.
But this event, from which Libya (and not only) cannot recover to this day, led to parts of North and West Africa turning into a zone of unprecedented and rampant jihadism as a result of the defeat of the Libyan Jamahiriya, which shielded the continent from this threat.
Assessing the role of France in overthrowing the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, French news site Le HuffPost in 2015 noted: «Although the 2011 war was conducted correctly from a tactical point of view, it will remain in history as the most serious mistake in the foreign policy of the fifth Republic. Gaddafi was not a very pleasant and rational ruler, but he was not our enemy either…He rejected terrorism and refused to create nuclear weapons. He fought the Islamists decisively. He blocked the channels for transporting refugees from Central Africa to the Mediterranean».
An explosive wave of anti-French sentiment
It was this fatal mistake, made by an irresponsible politician, that marked the beginning of the erosion of French political influence on the continent. Over the years, the accumulated dissatisfaction with the French military presence and the paternalistic nature of Paris’ foreign policy in recent years has resulted in an explosive wave of anti-French sentiments not only in the socio-political circles of African countries, but also among the military, which led to a series of coups d’état.
Today, as Foreign Policy notes, this ‘venture of Nicolas Sarkozy’ is returning like a boomerang and dealing heavy blows to French imperial ambitions. French troops, unable to stop the growth of terrorist activity, are ignominiously being expelled from the countries of the region, sometimes together with the French ambassador, as was the case in Niger.
It all started with Mali. Convinced of the inability of Paris to make a fundamental change in the course of military operations in the fight against terrorists, the military authorities of Mali, from whose territory French troops have been waging an unsuccessful war with them since 2013, in December 2021 signed a contract for security assistance with the Russian private military company Wagner, which immediately evoked a sharp negative reaction from Paris, which had announced a withdraw of its troops from the country within 6 months. In response, Bamako advised its arrogant partners to do so immediately and, in addition, denounced their defence treaty with France.
Then, in May 2022, Mali withdrew from the Sahel Joint Force of the Group of 5 (which was made up of Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Chad), since one extra-regional state – France – was using the organisation to further its own interests incompatible with the goals of participating countries.
According to France 24, during its existence from 2017 to 2023, it did not achieve the results hoped for when it was created in the fight against terrorism, including for the reason that Paris, as usual, hoped to shift the hardships, both military and financial, onto the shoulders of its European and African partners.
In this regard, an article in the US Responsible Statecraft draws attention; it states that as a result of the military failures of French troops, the Sahel zone is sinking deeper into the «abyss of chaos» and recommends not taking the place of Europeans in resolving this crisis in any case.
An important reason that led to the loss of France’s former influence in Africa was also a subjective factor: the current leaders of Paris’ African politics do not possess the nationally oriented strategic thinking that distinguished their predecessors (Charles de Gaulle, Francois Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac). Today, France’s foreign policy is more determined by situational emotions vis-à-vis the processes taking place in the world than by a well-thought-out strategy for (at least) the near future.
The completely ill-conceived, baseless and, sometimes, reckless statements made by French representatives about the possible use of armed force in the event of a threat to French interests are perceived extremely negatively in African socio-political circles.
Thus, on information about the military coup in Niger in July 2023, the British The Guardian notes that Paris menacingly stated that E. Macron “will not tolerate any attacks on France and threats to its interests, and if someone gets hurt, then retaliation will follow immediately and uncompromisingly”. At the same time, he called the coup leaders «illegitimate figures» and categorically demanded that they restore President Bazoum, whom they overthrew, to power.
France continues to make threats
The author of the article qualified this reaction of the French president as «a stern warning from the almighty emperor, who lost control of the unruly natives, for whom the idea of France as the «gendarme of Africa», established in many African countries, ceased to have any meaning.
For this reason, the US publication Truthout points out that the signing of an agreement by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in September 2023, on the creation of the Alliance of Sahel States to coordinate their efforts and strengthen the «architecture» of joint defence was a direct result of threats from E. Macron and his allies in the Economic Community of West African States to organise an armed invasion of Niger to overthrow the military authorities.
In this regard, British The Guardian emphasises that the expulsion of France from Niger, which was considered one of the most stable states and a stronghold of French and US influence in the Sahel zone, is a consequence of the shameless interference and arrogant attitude of Paris towards its African partners.
Referring to the unsightly role of the French president in resolving the conflict, the Nigerian newspaper Vanguard notes that in this situation, as a statesman, he has descended to the level of a petty cheat who distorts the essence of events taking place. So, ordering his ambassador to Niamey, who was declared persona non grata and had to leave the country within 48 hours, not to leave his residence, E. Macron nevertheless accused the military of making the ambassador and his embassy staff hostages of the military regime after a two-month standoff.
His uncontrolled reaction, writes the Indian newspaper Indian Punchline, boomeranged when the coup leaders overnight cancelled all military agreements with France, showing that he is not welcome in Niamey. He has not yet realised that in a multipolar world, Africa has already adapted to negotiating on equal terms with its former colonial patrons.
The military coup in Niger – the traditional sphere of French influence – which was considered the most important ally of the West in the fight against the growing jihadist movement in the Sahel, was, according to The New York Times, the strongest blow to interests of the West, whose policy of imposing «liberal democracy» in Africa has suffered a crushing defeat.
At the same time, the former French metropolis suffered particularly severe political damage. According to former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, the military takeover of power in Niger after similar events in Mali and Burkina Faso marks the end of the so-called «FranceAfrique» policy. Now, instead of France, she added, African countries are choosing China, Russia, India and Turkey as their partners.
Just like Nicolas Sarkozy, who provoked NATO countries to intervene militarily in Libya in 2011 to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi, E. Macron tried to solve the problem of Niger by proxy with the help of the armed forces of ECOWAS countries. But his African partners figured out his next scam, and he was left with nothing.
Canadian Geopolitical Monitor notes that the coup in Niger has seriously tarnished the image of E. Macron, as well as the French military and intelligence services, who did not foresee any of the coups in Mali, Burkina Faso or Niger. This has raised serious doubts as to the effectiveness of the French strategy in Africa and has prompted African countries to seek ties with China and Russia.
As Cameroonian journalist Amaury Coutansais, author of the book ‘Macron’s African Trap’, notes that «Africa is globalising and today the representatives of many countries are gathering into the lobbies of African leaders like never before: Turks, Russians, Israelis and even such French allies as Germans and Americans».
The weakening of France’s position in the region is also explained by the fact that by the end of the 20th century, African leaders began to understand that the balance of power in the world began to change and stopped feeling like representatives of former colonial countries and, feeling their «relevance», began to play their own game in relations with Paris.