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<\/a><\/p>\nDesperate times call for desperate measures for French President Emmanuel Macron, who has no permanent presence in either West or Central Africa. He is headed to Kenya for the first Africa Forward summit with English-speaking African countries.<\/p>\n
The one-time colonial power with no permanent presence in either West or Central Africa is scheduled to attend the theme Africa Forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
France is participating in this year\u2019s Africa\u2013France Summit not as a powerful partner any longer, but as a country that is fast losing its foothold in Africa. Its control on the continent is diminishing \u2014 especially in the Sahel \u2014 and it has little legitimacy in today\u2019s Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrance\u2019s pretty prose of \u2018mutual cooperation\u2019 and \u2018shared development\u2019 no longer hides its ruthless ambition to partner with Africa solely for resource extraction and geopolitical presence. There is little respect for Africa\u2019s sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrance is desperately trying to reconfigure its engagements in Africa in order to relocate its military bases and continue its brutal pursuit of critical minerals – not out of love or respect for the wellbeing of Africa or Africans,\u201d according to author and political analyst Kim Heller.<\/p>\n
As this summit unfolds, African leaders must be vigilant, Heller said, adding that the “footprint of France on the continent remains one of coercion, economic plunder, and structural suppression of African self-determination. It continues to use the same playbook in the post-independence era.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrance\u2019s stature is waning in the continent and globally. It is imperative that African leaders stop being pawns in the imperialistic games of foreign nations and begin to determine the playing field, the rules, and the desired outcomes. If France cannot acquiesce to the principles of equitability and respect for African sovereignty, it should not be a partner of choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfrican leaders must take the lead,” she added.<\/p>\n
France has lost both economic and military influence over the years- Africa accounted for only 1.9% of France\u2019s foreign trade, 15% of its supply of strategic minerals, and 11.6% of its oil and gas supply.<\/p>\n
To make matters worse, France\u2019s top two trading partners in sub-Saharan Africa are Nigeria and South Africa \u2013 former British colonies which have never hosted a French military base.<\/p>\n
With Macron having withdrawn South African invitation for the G7 June meeting in France to favour Kenya, President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to skip the upcoming Nairobi Summit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the Summit, French Ambassador Alexis Lamek in Kenya admitted that the summit must address the issues around restitution and reparations that have been central to the African Union\u2019s agenda.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2024, French troops exited Senegal by end of 2025 ending the French army\u2019s 65-year presence in Senegal and came after similar withdrawals across the continent as former colonies increasingly turned their backs on the nation that once ruled them.<\/p>\n
France\u2019s withdrawal from Senegal also came as the Sahel region faced growing anti-French sentiments. The political changes across Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger made things worse for French neo-colonial domination in the Gulf of Guinea nations.<\/p>\n
After gaining independence in 1960, Senegal became one of France\u2019s staunchest African allies, playing host to French troops throughout its history.After storming to victory in elections in 2024 by promising dramatic change, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye demanded France withdraw its soldiers by 2025.<\/p>\n
But not only that, Faye demanded France to apologise for colonial atrocities, including the massacre on December 1, 1944, of dozens of African troops who had fought for France in World War II.<\/p>\n
The winds of change spread across Africa with progressive governments increasingly questioning France\u2019s military presence forcing Paris to close or reduce the numbers of its soldiers at bases across its former empire.<\/p>\n
In February last year, France handed back its sole remaining base in Ivory Coast, ending decades of French presence there.<\/p>\n
The month before, France turned over the Kossei base in Chad, its last military foothold in the Sahel region.<\/p>\n
Coups in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali from 2020 to 2023 have swept military strongmen to power. Their governments have collectively ejected 4,300 French soldiers. All three countries have cut ties with France and turned to Russia instead for help in fighting the Sahel\u2019s decade-long unrest.<\/p>\n
The Central African Republic, also a former French colony, has likewise demanded a French pullout.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the French army has turned its base in Gabon into a camp shared with its Central African host.<\/p>\n
Only the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti will be home to a permanent French army base after withdrawal. France intends to make that base with about 1,500 people its military headquarters for Africa.<\/p>\n
According to a research associate at the Institut Fran\u00e7ais des Relations Internationales and an expert on the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime Thierry Vircoulon it is important to distinguish between countries that have chosen to sever military cooperation agreements with Paris (such as Chad and Senegal) and those that have simply closed military bases but maintained the military cooperation (like Ivory Coast).<\/p>\n
“The announcement of base closures by African leaders, rather than by Paris, symbolises a rejection of French policy. This marks a significant loss of influence for France in the countries involved,” Vircoulon.<\/p>\n
Macron forced to adapt<\/p>\n
In a 2017 speech in Ouagadougou, Macron said French policy toward Africa had undergone a fundamental change, stating that \u201cthere no longer is a French policy for Africa.\u201d He claimed French “sought partnerships that were not based primarily on historical or linguistic ties and did not automatically prioritise French-speaking countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe reviewed, and rightly so, our military bases. removed the military component that was no longer understood by countries and by younger generations\u201d, while rebuilding \u201crelevant\u201d partnerships, notably in Benin.”<\/p>\n
Many in Africa said it is not true to say that it was France that decided to withdraw. France was forced to adapt to new realities.<\/p>\n
France is seeking to expand relations with English-speaking African countries, moving beyond its traditional francophone partners.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is driven both by political considerations but above all the desire to gain market share and bring added value to the French economy,\u201d according to a Nigerien academic specialising in the Sahel Seidik Abba, contesting the idea that France drove these changes.<\/p>\n
Security analyst Emmanuel Dupuy puts it more directly when he said \u201cFrance is very poorly equipped \u2013 perhaps even completely disarmed \u2013 to be credible in this region of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Macron\u2019s Africa policy has come under scrutiny for its uneven response to military coups.<\/p>\n
A recent opinion piece in Benin’s La Nouvelle Tribune accused Macron of double standards in taking a hard line against juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, while being more accommodating toward coup leaders in Gabon, Guinea, and Chad. The writer said France\u2019s selective approach undermines its democratic discourse and fuels anti-French sentiment.<\/p>\n
Dupuy acknowledges the double standard, but argues that not all coups should be treated the same.<\/p>\n
He suggests that the succession of Mahamat D\u00e9by in Chad in 2021 was a power transfer tacitly tolerated by France, rather than a putsch, and that military takeovers in Gabon and Guinea followed deeply contested electoral processes rather than explicit ruptures with Paris.<\/p>\n
Nairobi PR Africa Forward\u00a0<\/p>\n
While France is \u201cin a phase of decline\u201d on the African continent, Macron will certainly use the Nairobi Summit to fight what he called a \u201cbattle of narratives\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must not lose this battle,\u201d Macron said, adding that French interests were also defended through countering disinformation and responding to accusations that France represented a new colonial power. Such narratives, he said, often drew on \u201canti-colonial\u201d, \u201canti-European\u201d and \u201canti-French\u201d discourse and required a more robust response.<\/p>\n
Whatever Macron plans doing in Nairobi, the idea of a dominant French influence has sold itself by the past.\u00a0<\/p>\n
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Akani Chauke|Published 6 hours ago Desperate times call for desperate measures for French President Emmanuel Macron, who has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[32620,18482,32626,32647,32631,32624,32637,3386,32629,32617,32633,32640,32628,20236,20533,32621,242,21039,32623,21080,263,32635,32642,32644,32636,26444,28247,32638,32651,32634,32618,32622,32639,32646,32649,32630,32648,32650,32625,32627,9399,32652,3387,329,32619,32645,9396,6135,32632,397,32641,32643,26697,12351],"class_list":{"0":"post-53192","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-emmanuel-macron","8":"tag-africa-forward","9":"tag-african-union","10":"tag-alexis-lamek","11":"tag-anti-european","12":"tag-anti-french","13":"tag-bassirou-diomaye-faye","14":"tag-benin","15":"tag-british","16":"tag-burkina-faso","17":"tag-central-africa","18":"tag-central-african","19":"tag-central-african-republic","20":"tag-chad","21":"tag-cyril-ramaphosa","22":"tag-djibouti","23":"tag-emmanuel-dupuy","24":"tag-emmanuel-macron","25":"tag-english","26":"tag-france-summit","27":"tag-french","28":"tag-g7","29":"tag-gabon","30":"tag-global-initiative","31":"tag-guinea","32":"tag-gulf-of-guinea","33":"tag-horn-of-africa","34":"tag-independent-media","35":"tag-institut-francais-des-relations-internationales","36":"tag-iol","37":"tag-ivory-coast","38":"tag-kenya","39":"tag-kim-heller","40":"tag-kossei","41":"tag-la-nouvelle-tribune","42":"tag-mahamat-deby","43":"tag-mali","44":"tag-nairobi","45":"tag-nairobi-pr","46":"tag-nairobi-summit","47":"tag-niger","48":"tag-nigeria","49":"tag-ouagadougou","50":"tag-paris","51":"tag-russia","52":"tag-sahel","53":"tag-sahel-seidik-abba","54":"tag-senegal","55":"tag-south-africa","56":"tag-sub-saharan-africa","57":"tag-summit","58":"tag-thierry-vircoulon","59":"tag-transnational-organized-crime","60":"tag-west","61":"tag-world-war-ii"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}