France is increasingly losing its influence in Africa, as shown by the coup in Niger that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, one of Paris’s last allies in the war against terrorism in the Sahel.
Before Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso had also experienced coups that brought to power leaders considered anti-French.
The current events in Niamey are a replica of those in Bamako and Ouagadougou.
The crowd that came out to support the putschists did not fail to express its rejection of the French presence in Niger.
On Sunday, July 30, pro-junta demonstrators tore down the sign of the French Embassy in Niamey and waved Nigerien and Russian flags.
Faced with this anti-French escalation, Emmanuel Macron reacted firmly, promising an intractable response in the event of an attack against French interests or nationals in Niger.
Indeed, in addition to the presence of its troops displaced from Mali, France has major strategic interests in Niger where the Areva group operates a large deposit of uranium, which supplies part of the French nuclear power plants.
In French political circles, it is President Emmanuel Macron’s African policy that is singled out.
Three coups in the Sahel, all anti-French, is a lot for Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
” Each time, the French presence is denounced “, deplores the leader of the Insoumis for whom ” it is urgent to rethink a strategy which goes from failure to failure “.
Mélenchon notably criticizes Emmanuel Macron for having decided in 2022 ” without debate ” to concentrate in Niger the bulk of the French military presence in the Sahel.
“Rejection in Africa is not aimed at France but at hurtful statements”
The lack of debate is also reacting to the Socialists, whose parliamentary group chairman Boris Vallaud has demanded from the government a report on foreign policy followed by a debate in Parliament at the start of the school year.
“ What desolation! “, deplores Ségolène Royal for her part. For the former presidential candidate of 2007, this rejection in Africa does not target the French or France but “ the policies conducted, the hurtful statements, the lack of culture ”.
She recalls Nicolas Sarkozy’s “ insult ” on Africa which “ has not yet gone down in history ”, the bombardment of Libya, and the “lack of vision ” of politicians.
” Another egalitarian and respectful partnership is possible,” said Ségolène Royal, however. ” Macron’s foreign policy is a disaster,” wrote journalist Philippe Duval on Twitter.
He recalls, for example, that in 2017, Emmanuel Macron made fun of the President of Burkina Faso, in Ouagadougou itself.
France-Africa: the reasons for the disenchantment
However, a few months ago, President Macron expressed his desire to rebuild relations between France and African countries and to turn the page on “Francafrique”, this policy with neocolonial connotations combining parallel diplomacy of support for corrupt and corrupting regimes, often authoritarian and guardians of France’s interests in the region.
The decline of French influence and the rise of anti-French sentiment among African populations can be explained, according to observers, such as Pascal Boniface, director of IRIS (Institute of International and Strategic Relations) by several factors.
First, the effects produced on local populations by certain attitudes of French politicians vis-à-vis the questions that agitate French domestic politics.
This is how the repeated attacks on immigration, the racism suffered by some African nationals in France, the criticisms against Muslims or even the twists and turns on visa policies are very badly experienced in Africa.
In the digital era and the globalization of the means of communication, the “ slippages ” of certain French politicians, in particular those of the extreme right, instantly provoke reactions, experienced as attacks on dignity among whole sections of the population.
In this respect, it is useful to recall the fate reserved for the France 24 channel in Burkina Faso.
Next, unlike other countries, such as China, Turkey, or even Russia, which have decided to invest in the continent without interfering in internal politics, France sometimes indulges in comments that are not very brought on some diets.
Added to this is the support, often on the sly, given to regimes rejected by the local youth.
Finally, in a context of economic and security crises affecting many African countries, it is not excluded that France bears the brunt of a smear campaign against certain regimes which accuse it of “conspiracy”, often without proof. palpable, and at the root of the situation in these countries.
A campaign that some observers also attribute to the Russian Wagner militia, which succeeded in convincing regimes to be able to provide them with “ life insurance ” and to restore security in the face of threats from terrorist groups that scour many regions of the continent, such as c is the case in Mali.
It is often easier for these dictatorial and corrupt regimes to accuse France, a former colonial power, of being the cause of the evils that are ravaging their countries, instead of recognizing their failures and accepting a democratization of political life.
What implications for regional security?
Beyond this rise in anti-French sentiment which is forcing France to review the paradigms of its African policy, the situation in Niger, the development of which no one can predict for the time being, raises the question of its implications for the stability of the Sahel region, but also the North African region.
Algeria is among the countries that risk being severely tested by long-term instability in Niger and the countries of the Sahel. Faced with permanent tension with Morocco, exposed to the terrorist threat along the 980 km it shares with Libya, which has been plagued by chaos for more than a decade, always on the alert with Mali, which is struggling to regain its stability, Algeria must now worry about the 1000 km it shares with Niger.
A veritable ” ring of fire ” which calls for vigilance at all times and the mobilization of enormous military resources. This concern has just been officially expressed.
Algeria has indeed condemned the coup and underlined “ the imperative for all to work for the preservation of political stability ”. She also warned against possible foreign intervention.
The West, which had not listened to Algeria in its time during the Libyan intervention, no doubt now measures the consequences of the war on the situation throughout the Sahel.
And this scenario, if it were to happen in Niger, where the economic stakes are immense, especially for France, will inevitably impact Algeria, which already has a lot to do with this country on the issue of illegal migration.
