France's diminishing influence in Africa

Africans subjected Macron to ridicule and humiliation, by Valeria Verbinina for VZGLYAD. 03.07.2023.

The French president proclaimed "the end of the era of French Africa" ​​- and all in order for the countries of the Black Continent to believe in French neutrality and meet the envoys of Paris better than the representatives of Moscow and Beijing. In reality, everything turned out exactly the opposite: the Africans subjected Macron to ridicule. How did this happen?

French President Macron returned from a tour of Central African countries, making Gabon, Angola and both Congos happy with his visit. The official purpose of the trip was to participate in the summit with an extensive environmental agenda, as well as to strengthen economic ties.

As a result - let's pay tribute to the speechwriters - many beautiful words were uttered. “Renewed partnership”, “joint construction”, and even this statement was made : “Africa presents all the opportunities for competition. It is necessary that the conditions for its participants be equal. We must win our place, no more, no less.”

However, there are suspicions that it will not be so easy to do this, since China, India, Russia and Turkey are the main competitors in the competition. Moreover, none of these countries had colonies in Africa and can easily build relationships that are not burdened by old scores that stretch from the past.

So that France will not be reminded of them once again, it generously offers to forget everything and switch from the “France-gendarme” format to the “France-businessman” format. So, at least, the strategy chosen by Macron is called in France itself.

It is understood that it is no longer worth saber-rattling and in general it is too intrusive to remind of oneself. No, no one will disband the remaining French military bases in Africa - at least not yet. Are they bothering anyone? Macron himself is definitely not interfered with, which means that everything is in order. In general, it is necessary to develop trade relations, because business is above all.

Trade with Africa is in decline - the share of France is estimated at only 4%, while the share of China is 18%.

Competitors are pushing - especially the French are made nervous by the "Russian bear and the Chinese dragon." Involuntarily, one has to conclude that, despite the declared love for the environment and everything related to nature, President Macron suffers from some kind of strange allergy. Moreover, in the case of the dragon, one cannot even refer to the fact that this is an allergy to wool.

It would not be a strong exaggeration to say that Macron's strategy fits into the scheme "since we can no longer rob you as our colony, we will rob you under the guise of business, dear equal partners." However, it is naive to think that the people of Africa do not understand this and are not aware of the essence of what is happening.

There is nothing surprising in the fact that dislike for the former colonialists on the continent is only growing, which greatly complicates France's any attempts to establish friendly relations. The French stubbornly attribute the reasons for this dislike to Russian propaganda, but here the thing is - either the propaganda there is really exemplary, or its seeds have fallen on more than suitable soil.

And Macron decided to start from scratch. In Gabon, he announced that "the era of Francafrica has come to an end" and that "France is now a neutral state". Francafrica is traditionally referred to as a system of tacit guardianship over African colonies, for the most part once belonging to France.

Times are changing: before the French could behave like white gentlemen on the continent, and now they can only act as petitioners. And under these conditions, it is extremely important for them to exhibit a certain positive image - at least the image of impartiality and neutrality. “In relation to Gabon, as, indeed, to any other country, France is now a neutral interlocutor who speaks to the whole world,” Macron said.

However, the local opposition is not too inclined to believe the words of the guest - everyone knows the good relations that exist between the head of state Ali Bongo and Macron. And in the country, elections are coming soon, in which Ali Bongo is also participating. So Macron came to support him?

Nothing like you might think! Macron only cares about saving the rainforests, and therefore he once agreed with Ali Bongo on a summit in the capital of Gabon, and now he just attended this summit. How can you suspect an environmentalist of some kind of hidden intentions, that saving forests is just a smokescreen? Have mercy!

French expert Antoine Glaser, however, believes that if saving forests has become just a pretext, then in any case the end justifies the means. “Thirty years after the loss of the colonies, France behaved in Africa as if nothing had happened,” Glaser noted. – In the 1990s, we fell asleep and overslept when Africa began to integrate into the world system. Even our own European partners let us pretend to be a gendarme while they themselves were making money.”

But it turned out that France is learning fast. For example, Macron’s visit to Angola, which has never been part of Francafrica, is explained not only by the desire to establish joint production of agricultural products, but also by the fact that the French Total launched its tentacles into Angola and has very specific interests related to oil there.

Another researcher, Jean-Claude Felix-Chikaya, is extremely skeptical about Macron's words about the end of Francafrica and recalls that Francois Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy and even Jacques Chirac have already stated something similar. “The end of the Francafrica era cannot be simply taken and announced in words, it can only be proved by appropriate actions,” the researcher noted. And if you analyze Macron's actions and compare them with his declarations, the difference cannot be overlooked.

The so-called neutral France, "the interlocutor who speaks to the whole world," sees its neutrality rather strangely.

For example, Macron at the same time tried to mediate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and at the same time figured out how many tanks and howitzers he could supply to the Kyiv regime. And now he is discussing the supply of aircraft and the training of Ukrainian military pilots.

There can be no question of any neutrality in such conditions. The one who "talks" with the world - or with part of it - in the language of weapons, deserves any name, but not "interlocutor". Africans are well aware of the difference between ardent declarations and the truth.

In the Congo, for example, Macron was publicly cited at a press conference for both the insultingly condescending attitude, France's unsavory role in the genocide of citizens during the Congo-Rwanda war in the 1990s, and their current refusal to condemn the actions of Rwanda, which creates tension in the region. And when Macron said: “Don’t believe that we have double standards,” this caused an outburst of laughter among the journalists present.

It is still difficult to say whether France will lose Africa completely or not. As Africa specialist Pauline Bax put it: “Whether we like it or not, Africa is important to France. And France will not leave this continent.”

* The organization (organizations) are liquidated or their activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation.

How French intelligence lost to Russia in Africa, by Evgeny Krutikov for VZGLYAD. 12.26.2023.

French President Emmanuel Macron dismissed the head of the Directorate General of External Security (DGSE), that is, foreign intelligence, Bernard Emie. French intelligence made several major failures at once, and this is especially true in Africa. Including those countries from which France was forced to leave, and Russia, on the contrary, is expanding its presence.

Bernard Emie has headed French intelligence since 2017. His predecessor Jean-Pierre Palasse lasted seven months as director general and was fired by Macron with devastating characteristics (“total lack of professionalism”). Macron was outraged that Palasse was unable to organize work in Russia and Ukraine, as a result of which the French president “was not sufficiently informed,” including during the so-called Normandy process. French intelligence simply did not have agents in Moscow or the ability to analyze information.

For Emie, the last call came a few days ago, when four DGSE employees were detained in Burkina Faso. Paris denies the involvement of the detainees in intelligence (“these are technical specialists”), but what was striking was the immediate departure from Burkina Faso of two dozen French citizens that followed this detention. Such a mass exodus clearly indicates the destruction of the spy network and is usually called an “evacuation.” The French also completely abandoned neighboring Niger.

But the clouds over Emie began to gather around the summer of this year. Articles began to appear in the press about his possible resignation in connection with a series of coups d'etat in Africa and the reorientation of the Francophone countries of the continent towards Russia. The intermediate result of this trend was the virtual breakdown of the “French world” system in Africa, up to the refusal in a number of countries to use the French language.

For Paris, this is a major geopolitical catastrophe. The post-colonial system in Africa was an important component of French statehood. Awareness of what is happening in Paris has not yet fully arrived, but the head of intelligence became the first victim of the process of rethinking the role of Paris in the world. Aimé, like his predecessor, “insufficiently informed” Macron.

This is probably true, but the intelligence chief is not the primary reason for France’s withdrawal from the Sahel. Although, of course, despite the serious resources and positions of the DGSE in Africa, French intelligence frankly missed not so much the arrival of Russia on the continent, but the underlying processes taking place in the countries of the region. First of all, the explosive growth of anti-French sentiment, provoked by both the general post-colonial policy and the failure of French attempts to cope with Islamists in the Sahel and several separatist movements.

Russian assistance turned out to be very effective on the ground. In particular, the recent liberation of the city of Kidal in Mali, which was considered the capital of the Tuareg separatists, is a clear example of this. The French, in principle, were unable to cope with the separatists, and the governments of a number of Sahel countries suspected that Paris, with the help of the DGSE, was playing a double game behind their back with both the Islamists and the Tuaregs.

In addition, the DGSE additionally overslept the US activation in Africa, which was directly directed against the interests of France.

Roughly speaking, Washington took advantage of the weakening position of Paris on the continent and began to squeeze historically established economic preferences from the French. In particular, the oil company Total suffered serious losses. And the possible loss of uranium mines in Mali generally calls into question the entire energy system of France.

Another unpleasant story associated with Bernard Emie is the behind-the-scenes negotiations in Lebanon. The head of French intelligence personally arrived in Beirut, where he tried to manually control the Lebanese government and organize negotiations with Hezbollah. The fact is that Emie was previously ambassador to Jordan and Lebanon, although his initial diplomatic specialization was precisely the countries of the African Sahel. But he believed that his experience and authority were enough to solve something in Lebanon. Negotiations in Beirut eventually failed, and the local press published outrageous articles about how the head of French intelligence was manipulating the Lebanese government.

Emie is a career diplomat. This is a feature of France: the chief of intelligence is usually appointed from diplomatic circles. It is believed that “CEO” is more a political than a professional position. An office in a gloomy building on Boulevard Mortier not far from the Père Lachaise cemetery is a so-so position for career growth.

Emie, however, took his role seriously. He tried to reform the DGSE and got Macron to increase the intelligence budget. But Macron apparently has too high demands: he is trying to play on several fronts at once. First of all in Ukraine and then in Africa.

The Ukrainian direction was consistently failed by three intelligence leaders, although the French President very much counted on his role in this process. Having failed, however, to achieve anything in the Ukrainian direction, Paris went into the shadows, but this was a strong blow to Macron’s pride. And then what happened in Africa happened, and the collapse of the external influence of Paris took on the character of an avalanche.

Macron made an unconventional decision. Nicolas Lerner, who previously worked as the head of counterintelligence (DGSI), has been appointed to the position of Director General of the DGSE. A funny detail: the headquarters of the French counterintelligence is located on Stalingrad Boulevard in a building called Malakoff, in the sense of the Malakhov Kurgan near Sevastopol.

This is a very controversial move, since the thinking of a counterintelligence officer is radically different from the style of thought of an intelligence officer. Roughly speaking, these are not only different professions, but simply different worlds. And Lerner was also a gendarme in the recent past. He worked both in the Parisian police and in the province (Rousseyon), but most importantly, he was the chief of police in Corsica. He somehow managed to come to an agreement with the local separatists, which ensured a positive effect from Macron’s trip to the island, during which the president even promised to increase Corsica’s rights to the point of autonomy. But Lerner's main advantage lies elsewhere. He is Macron's childhood friend. They studied together at an elite Parisian school, in parallel classes. Lerner is part of the president's inner circle. Macron placed his bet on a person he completely trusts.

Most likely, Lerner will be left with the task of returning to those parts of the world and those areas from which France has withdrawn over the past five years. And by and large, Macron’s ambitions to “make France great again” are laudable. Any desire of a European state to get rid of American pressure and move to the sovereignty of its policies is worthy of respect and generally corresponds to the interests of Russia.

But Lerner came to the DGSE from a very bad starting position. There is a structure, it works, but, like many other Western intelligence services, it is constrained by ideological dogmas such as “Atlantic solidarity.” For intelligence, this is a dead end: either you defend the national interests of France, or “Atlantic solidarity”, in which French interests are not visible.

In addition, the new head of French intelligence now has to be on the defensive. The intelligence network in the Sahel has been destroyed. Those Arab countries that have traditionally been in the French orbit of gravity (Syria, Lebanon, Algeria) look at Macron’s attempts to declare himself with slight bewilderment. For example, Algeria openly supports the same Tuareg separatists that France seems to have signed up to fight. Over the past ten years, DGSE has never been able to correctly analyze the situation in a single country, which led to unpleasant incidents. For example, Macron's trip to Rwanda was a complete failure, although it was planned as a triumphant return.

In any case, Nicolas Lerner's fate will be difficult. The appointment of a close childhood friend to the position of Director of DGSE is a landmark decision. DGSE as a structure will have additional hardware resources, but this will not mean an immediate improvement in positions even where they were lost in the last couple of years. And a return to the Russian track is only possible with the invention of some new approaches. But this is not yet visible in Paris.

https://vz.ru/world/2023/12/26/1246039.html

The end of an era

Zlatti71
@djuric_zlatko

Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have announced they are leaving ECOWAS. The collapse of the French neocolonial empire continues. France’s attempts to spoil Russia in Armenia and Ukraine can no longer stop these processes. - ISZ reports




lordofparis
@IRAS054372502

France has still a strong presence in Ivory Coast, one of the main world producers of cocoa. They have also a strong presence in Togo and Benin as well as Senegal and Cameroon. They have also strong links in Djibouti, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco as well as Madagascar.

The Empire lets out its last sob, by Viktoria Nikiforova for RiaNovosti. 03.21.2024.

“This is how the world will end, not with a bang, but with a whimper,” the words of an English poet who lived through the collapse of the British Empire, on which the sun never set, perfectly illustrate the fact that tectonic changes in geopolitics often occur without noise and dust. Empires fall in silence.

So quietly and imperceptibly collapsed “Francafrica” - the neocolonial system, carefully and purposefully built by the French leadership on the territory of fourteen countries of the Dark Continent. In Paris, they did not notice that educated, smart youth have grown up in these countries, who are well versed in all global trends. There appeared its own middle class, the ever-rebellious and dissatisfied third estate. Most of all, it was dissatisfied with the oppressed status of its country.

As soon as Russia began the Northeast Military District, it occurred to the Africans that the French occupiers could and should be driven out of their native land. The leaders of the countries were forced to implement the will of the people. And so the French military, losing their slippers, rushed from the continent. Paris lost sources of invaluable resources, which it took cheaply. What's worse is that Paris has lost its influence on people's minds. “Let me get out,” the French were told in Africa.

The Central African Republic , Burkina Faso , Chad , Mali , and finally Niger , the main supplier of uranium to French nuclear power plants, have all left. At some very late stage, the legendary Russian PMC "Wagner " also became involved in the liberation. But they were not the initiators of the process. It all began much earlier, in the minds and hearts of citizens of enslaved countries. They are tired of their slavery.

The silence that surrounds the fall of Francafrica is characteristic. “One of the most important empires of our time is disintegrating before our eyes,” writes American historian Alfred McCoy, “but the media hardly writes about this extraordinary event.” Well, why? The French media have their own agenda, they discuss the gender of the first lady of France, who is she - a man or a woman?

"Francafrica" ​​ends with President Macron sobbing: he is now complaining to the whole world that he was kicked out of Africa by the Russians. Sorry, but Moscow has nothing to do with it. It was the French who carried out more than forty military interventions on the territory of the long-suffering continent from 1960 to 2002. It was the French who tortured and killed opposition leaders and local intellectuals without trial. It was the French “advisers” and “instructors” who provided military support to authoritarian regimes that squeezed all the juice out of citizens. Well, the citizens are tired of this - the answer has come.

It seems that the collapse of the American Empire will happen just as quietly and as if by chance. Newspapers will write about Kim Kardashian's butt, and meanwhile the world hegemon will silently give up the ghost. The same Alfred McCoy believes that the United States is approaching final collapse, and evidence of this is the complete inability of the local elites to simultaneously cope with three crises - Ukrainian, Taiwanese and Palestinian.

The historian believes that several decades before the final collapse, the empire faced a series of disasters that forever undermined its strength. For Britain these were the crises in Iran , India and Palestine . For the USSR - Czechoslovakia in 1968 and the severance of relations with Egypt . For the United States, such events were the failed interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now Washington's policy in Ukraine has reached a dead end. It was not possible to weaken and contain Russia; the situation at the front is more favorable for Moscow than for Kiev . And the debate between Democrats and Republicans about supporting Ukraine has demonstrated to the world that Washington is an unreliable partner.

A new round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has also become an absolute failure for the United States. First, Washington failed to protect its client from a Hamas attack , and then did not lift a finger to stop the senseless and merciless massacre that the IDF unleashed. The whole world - including American cities - is coming out to rallies in support of the Palestinians. The entire world community is demanding that the UN adopt a ceasefire resolution. And only the United States over and over again vetoes all attempts to stop the bloodshed. This makes Washington a global pariah.

As for Taiwan , Beijing can at any time impose a trade embargo on the islands, turning all ships into its ports. The Americans will try to break the embargo, McCoy argues, then the Chinese will shoot a couple of aircraft carriers at point-blank range, and the American soldiers will have to get away without a sip.
The historian notes that both Moscow and Beijing are playing for the long haul, counting on the States not being able to bear their burden and breaking down sooner. The paradox is that both Biden’s victory can lead to collapse - the Democrats have proven that they cannot resolve any of the modern crises) and Trump’s victory - it will lead to the collapse of the United States. "If this happens, America's global hegemony will disappear with astonishing speed and will soon become a dim memory."

I wonder whose sob will mourn the American empire? It seems that our runners will cry the loudest; it’s time for them to write obituaries for the future about the America they lost.

https://ria.ru/20240321/imperiya-1934319224.html

Europe and the west cut themselves off from Russia... this is not revenge... this is a natural consequence of looking for and finding new partners to trade with and new places to sell their goods and services and also new places to buy goods and services from.

What the hell did they think was going to happen... Russia would curl up in a ball and cry for a bit and then come begging to the west promising to do anything they ask?

I just find it ironic that in the ten years the west had their claws in Russia they did so much damage that it has taken essentially 23 years and three wars (Georgia, Syria, Ukraine) for Russia to realise the west is like crack... seems fun but it destroys you and eats you alive and you are no longer in control any more.

The rest of the world are well aware of this so when they see Russia and China and India and Brazil and South Africa getting together to create a real alternative they take notice. A non colonial future path to follow with growth and development... without the theft and buggery that goes with colonial powers.

How France will try to take revenge on Russia in Africa, by Evgeny Krutikov for VZGLYAD. 06.18.2024.

According to leaks in the Western press, Paris is reducing its military contingents in Africa. On the one hand, this is the result of a real defeat of France on the continent and a sign, among other things, of the success of Russian policy. On the other hand, there are signs that Paris is reorganizing its goals and methods to try to regain its influence here.

France intends to reduce its military presence in Central and West Africa to several hundred people. This was reported by AFP, citing sources.

According to the agency, the French authorities intend to leave about 100 troops in Gabon (there are currently 350 in the country), 100 in Senegal (there are now 350), 100 in Côte d'Ivoire (compared to 600 today) and approximately 300 - in Chad, where there are currently a thousand French troops. The main headquarters of the French Armed Forces refused to comment on this information.

Just two years ago, France had 5,000 troops in the Sahel and another 1,600 in West Africa and Gabon. The French have been in the Sahel region since 2014 to conduct several “anti-terrorist operations.” The effectiveness of the “fight” of the French and other European allies against the jihadists (symbolic contingents from various European countries, including Estonia, participated in Operations Barkhane and Tacuba) was extremely low. This caused a spontaneous reaction by the local military, which ended in a series of coups that toppled the pro-French regimes of the Sahel countries.

Since 2022, the gradual destruction of French Africa began, which included the rapid withdrawal of military contingents. In a number of countries, the withdrawal of French troops is formalized through international diplomatic procedures, as, for example, in Burkina Faso. There, in March 2023, the denunciation of the military assistance agreement with France, which was concluded 60 years ago, was announced. In a number of other cases, France withdraws its troops unilaterally, as if voluntarily, although from the context it is clear that this is a forced measure.

All this is accompanied by the already familiar anti-Russian rhetoric in Paris and arguments that “Russia has ousted France” from Central and West Africa. But in a number of cases, French troops leave those African countries where there was and is no “Russian pressure” or presence.

The situations in Gabon and Senegal are indicative in this regard.

The recent coup in Gabon was more of a pro-American character, resulting in the ousting of French corporations from this oil-producing country, which are being replaced by American ones. And in Senegal, following the election results, an internal struggle began, in which anti-French and pan-African rhetoric is only one of the arguments. Nevertheless, Paris is reducing its military presence in the country, which for 170 years was not only an outpost of France on the continent, but was itself a supplier for the metropolis of the famous tirayers - Senegalese shooters. And they fought under the French flag in all known wars, including both world wars.

The situation in Côte d'Ivoire, which was previously considered an unshakable pillar of French influence in West Africa, is also ambiguous. Even now, no one is strongly against Paris there and no one walks around with Russian flags. Nevertheless, France has already unilaterally reduced its contingent from 900 to 600 people, and will further reduce it to a symbolic hundred.

All this is externally perceived as a retreat of the “old” colonial power from its traditional region. At the same time, the French media link the decisions to withdraw or reduce French troops in African countries with the defeat of Macron’s party in the recent elections to the European Parliament and with the upcoming snap elections to the French national parliament, where the results for Macronists may also be depressing.

But what is the connection between the maintenance of small military contingents in Africa and political upheavals within France? France's interests as a country in Africa outweigh party differences. The need to maintain influence in the Sahel and Central Africa, the strongest need for uranium among European countries and other “African needs” will be important to any government in Paris, regardless of the election results.

Plans for the withdrawal of military contingents were developed in Paris long before any elections. Moreover, there is reason to believe that Paris is not so much leaving Africa as it is temporarily retreating and trying to find a new strategy for maintaining its influence in the region. This will be the first attempt by a European state to systematically outline a plan for preserving its interests in Africa.

Firstly, this summer a specialized African command will appear for the first time in the General Staff of the French Armed Forces.

Previously, the French military presence was regulated either by post-colonial bilateral agreements dating back 60 years, as in the case of Burkina Faso, or by temporary agreements on specific operations (Mali, Niger). This configuration did not require a single control center in Paris. Now it is being revised.

Secondly, against the background of the reduction and withdrawal of troops from the Sahel, West and Central Africa, France maintains and even strengthens its base in Djibouti. Now there are 1,500 military personnel from the Foreign Legion and auxiliary forces.

In addition to its very important strategic location (the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the entrance to the Red Sea, one of the centers of global maritime trade), Djibouti represents the most important logistics base in East Africa. France does not yet have a similar base in West and Central Africa, but there are reports that

Paris begins to negotiate with Togo and Benin on the construction of large military and logistics facilities on their territory to replace those lost in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.

If we mention in this context ensuring Russian interests in Africa, then the main threat to them is precisely the most complex logistics. Several months ago, discussions began on plans to build a large airfield (base, logistics hub) in Niger or Mali (or reconstruct existing civilian facilities for new needs, including lengthening runways).

The Pentagon officially declares that Russian military personnel are present at one of the Niger air bases. Without such transport infrastructure, it is difficult to talk about effectively ensuring Russian interests on the continent. And undoubtedly, this infrastructure must be supported by Russia’s “soft power,” that is, humanitarian cooperation.

As for France, there are attempts by Paris to build a new configuration of its presence in traditional French zones in Africa.

For now, the basis of the French presence on the Black Continent remains financial influence and work with local ethnic elites on the basis of corruption and “Frenchization.” Since the time of de Gaulle, the military component for Paris has been only a “point of fixation” of its presence.

Now we see the desire of Paris to build strong logistics points on the outskirts of the continent. Through them, if the situation develops favourably, France will make efforts to regain its previous positions in Africa.

https://vz.ru/world/2024/6/18/1273735.html

So something bad happened and it is Putins fault again... nothing to do with the French treating these countries like children and abusing them over and over again.

The faster BRICS grows the better.

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso rise up against imperialism in Africa, experts say, by Fabian Falconi for SputnikBrazil.com. 07.27.2024.

The heads of State of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso met for the first time earlier this month in Niamey, Niger's capital, where they created the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel states. The new African bloc is not only a reflection of the failure of the West's policies towards Africa, it could also reshape the continent's future, analysts said.

Newly created, the Sahel Confederation emerges as a new geopolitical pole in West Africa. What led to the creation of the block? What are your goals? These and other issues were addressed in Mundioka this Friday (26), Sputnik Brasil podcast presented by journalists Melina Saad and Marcelo Castilho.

From macro to micro: why was the Confederation created?

Mundioka's interviewees pointed to several reasons that culminated in the need for Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to create the Sahel Confederation, such as the need for mutual defence.

In recent historical terms, points out Rafaela Serpa, PhD student in political science at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), the intervention of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Libya in 2011 created a major problem of terrorism in the region, with several groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (terrorist organizations banned in Russia and several other countries) operating in the region.

"More than ten years later, these groups remain strong, including after French-led operations in the region such as Barkhane and Operation Serval."

Poorly resolved by the West, the violence in the region has precipitated the creation of new militarily strong governments.
But upon assuming power, these new leaders found themselves in the crosshairs of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which imposed economic sanctions and threatened a military intervention in Niger to restore the former President.

"ECOWAS ended up positioning itself as an auxiliary arm of the politics of France and other powers on the continent."

According to Sofonias Lopes Jó, a researcher at the Study Group on state capacity, security and Defense (Gecap) linked to the Faculty of International Relations of the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), this character of ECOWAS is evident when observing how the organization behaved in the face of other changes of government in the region.

"Former President Macky Sall of Senegal wanted to run for a third term even against the Constitution. What was ECOWAS's position on this? Nothing. There is an institutional coup in Guinea-Bissau in 2020 with President Umaro Sissoco Embaló. What is the position of ECOWAS? Nothing."

"All of these represent the interests of French imperialism."

This characteristic, says Charles Pennaforte, professor and coordinator of the Laboratory of Geopolitics, International Relations and anti-systemic movements (LabGRIMA) at the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), points to the great geopolitical motives that led to the creation of the Confederation.

"Africa today is a stage of dispute of great geopolitical powers," says Pennaforte, and France, which has colonized and still maintains great political and economic influence in the region,"offered little concrete for these countries."

"Africa has options that no longer pass through Europe and the United States [...]. There is the presence of China, Russia and India looking with a greater will to the continent."

In this sense, the creation of the Confederation is an attempt to seek its own, alternative path of integration and autonomy, analysts say. "And who appears in these scenarios?", questions Pennaforte," countries that, in some way, are also sanctioned " and have importance in the global geopolitical chess, such as Russia, Iran and Turkey.

What does the creation of a confederation between the 3 African countries mean?

Signed on July 6 in Niamey, the statute of the Confederation initiated a greater process of integration between these states, from greater military coordination, such as the creation of a unified security force and the "development of new support institutions", details Serpa.

"There will be a rotating presidency and a Parliament to implement the objectives of the alliance."

Among these goals are the unification of diplomatic relations abroad — "relations with each country now need to be with all three" — the free movement of people, goods and services (which already existed in ECOWAS), the creation of an investment bank, a stabilization fund and cooperation in strategic sectors such as water, agriculture and energy.

The great highlight, however, is the increase in economic cooperation as a way to reduce dependence on the West.

"They want to get out of the CFA Franc zone, but a plan has not yet been outlined for how that will be."

For job, the divisions created by France in the region remain after independence, creating similarities between these countries that can feed the Union. For this reason, it is not unthinkable to expand the Confederation to include the other countries of the so-called G5 of the Sahel, Chad and Mauritania or, even, Senegal, which begins to align ideologically with the trio.

"The Sahel region is already culturally united," he said. "And this bond makes them able to unite [politically] among themselves."

Yandex Translate from Portuguese.

https://noticiabrasil.net.br/20240726/niger-mali-e-burkina-faso-se-erguem-contra-o-imperialismo-na-africa-avaliam-especialistas-35755531.html

France gets another slap in the face from Africa, by Valeria Verbinina for VZGLYAD. 12.02.2024.

French troops are being expelled from two African countries that were once French colonies. Chad and Senegal are publicly declaring that the independence of these states is incompatible with the presence of foreign troops. Just a few months ago, nothing foreshadowed this. What happened and what does Russia have to do with it?

When French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot traveled to Africa in late November to visit, among other places, Chad and Senegal, there was no sign of a crisis in relations between the two countries. In Chad, the situation of Sudanese refugees fleeing the country's ongoing civil war was supposed to be discussed.

In Senegal, the minister had an even more delicate mission to undertake, marking the 80th anniversary of the massacre at the Thiarois military camp, near Dakar. This was the event of 1944, when colonial troops and French gendarmes opened fire on their fellow Senegalese riflemen who were fighting in the same army, on the same side. The reason was that the Senegalese had demanded the payments they were owed – and in return they were shot.

At the time in question, the French government acknowledged that at least 35 people had been killed. Senegalese historians insist that hundreds had died. Only in June of this year did the French officially acknowledge the deaths of six people, using the term “fallen for France,” which is generally applied to those killed by the enemy, not by their own allies.

Of course, the French authorities are trying to avoid being accused of extrajudicial mass murder that smacks of genocide. Having found a clever formulation that they thought would absolve them of responsibility, they thought the job was done. But this time the response was immediate. Senegalese President Bassirou Diomai Faye gave an interview on November 28 in which he said that French troops should leave his country.

"Senegal is an independent state. The sovereign nature of the country is not compatible with the presence of a foreign military base on its territory... Let's assume for a moment that the roles have been reversed. As a Frenchman, would you want to see Senegalese tanks and Senegalese soldiers in your country?" the head of state said.

Expanding on a thought that must have left many in France stunned, the Senegalese president added : "The French authorities must think about a partnership that lacks the component of their military presence here... (When we talk) about the presence or absence of troops, we do not mean a definitive break... At the moment, China is our first trading partner. Does China have military bases here? No."

The same is true for Turkey, the United States or Saudi Arabia, with whom Senegal has developed trade and business cooperation: “These countries do not have military bases on our territory.” And the president sweetened the pill by saying that “France remains an important partner for Senegal in terms of investments, the presence of French companies here and even French citizens who live in Senegal.”

Although the French media were quick to report that France had long planned to reduce its military presence in Senegal and leave about 100 troops there instead of the current 350, the matter did not end with the speech of the Senegalese president.

Jean-Noël Barrot had barely left Chad, expressing his sympathy for the refugees, routinely branding Russia for its “greed, cynicism and hypocrisy” and mentioning the strengthening of bilateral ties between France and the African country, when, out of the blue, on the evening of November 28, the Chadian government announced that it was annulling the 1966 military cooperation agreement and demanding that French troops leave the country.

This is already a direct slap in the face to the French. The fact is that after Senegal's demarche, Chad was supposed to remain the last country in the Sahel region in which the French military presence would remain, and a significant one at that (the contingent there numbers at least 1,000 people).

After the coups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, the new authorities forced the French to evacuate their forces from the territories of these countries. Now Senegal and Chad have joined them, which means that France is completely losing perhaps its most important trump card in this troubled part of the world – the power card that allowed the former colonizers to influence the situation in one way or another.

"This is not a break with France, as happened in Niger and elsewhere," said Abdramane Koulamalla, Chad's foreign minister. "Sixty-six years after the proclamation of the Republic of Chad, the time has come for the country to assert its sovereignty in its entirety and to renew its choice of strategic partners in line with national priorities."

The BBC reported  some very curious details of the incident, which most French media outlets chose to refrain from mentioning. According to the publication, Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno directly warned his guest Barrot on November 28 during a joint dinner that he considered the 1966 treaty to be over and demanded the withdrawal of French troops. The question then arises: why did Barrot then cheerfully report on his visit to the press without mentioning the president's words in a single word.

The Chadian president's demand did not come out of nowhere: a certain role was played by what happened in July. Then, the French financial crimes unit of the prosecutor's office opened a case of misuse of funds and fraud. The case is that the Chadian president spent 900,000 euros on a hundred shirts, about 50 suits, and clothes common in Africa, all of which he ordered from France.

It should be noted that the preliminary investigation began back in January. That same month, the President of Chad traveled to Moscow for talks, and the case was officially opened shortly after Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's visit to Chad in June.

But, of course, the French press will not compare anything like that to anything else – all of this, from the Western point of view, is just coincidences, accidents, which life is full of, and the French prosecutor’s office acted completely impartially and without political orders.

The investigation has seriously complicated relations between Chad and France, and the latter, having obviously decided to punish its ally to the fullest extent, recently refused to participate in the local forces' operation against the Islamists. A logical question arose: why then keep 1,000 soldiers of a foreign state, who are here under the pretext of helping, but do nothing themselves?

As a result, France will lose three military bases, including the air force base in the capital N'Djamena, the base in Abéché in the east of the country and the base in Faya-Largeau in the north. According to political scientist Seidik Abba, Chad can afford to do without the French military because the local army "is capable of coping with its tasks" and has demonstrated "its strength in the region." It will be more difficult for France, "whose military presence in the Sahel has now been reduced to zero in principle."

In theory, France could now try to ask Nigeria, with which it apparently maintains good relations, to open a military base on its territory.

But former Nigerian army captain Umar Aliyu, now a military expert, doubts that this is possible. “We are Anglophones, and I don’t think my president would agree to such a proposal if it were made.” However, since the Nigerian president is currently visiting France, the expert urged caution.

Although France has long since legally had no colonies in Africa, at one time the French authorities made every effort not to lose their influence in this region. Having lost their last military bases, France will almost certainly begin a new round of the geopolitical game, betting on the enemies of the current rulers and on destabilizing the situation in the Sahel countries. This will inevitably cause even greater rejection of the former metropolis in African countries and an even greater deterioration in relations. And that means even greater chances for Russia's role in Africa to strengthen.

*The organization (organizations) have been liquidated or their activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation

https://vz.ru/world/2024/12/2/1301148.html

I am sure the French will blame Putin and Russia and Wagner, but at the end of the day the root cause of the problems is and was the actions of the French themselves.

But the west does nothing wrong and it is always a strategic rival that is to blame for everything... even rivals that wanted good relations and trade...

France is becoming useless for Russia, by Timofey Bordachev, Programme Director of the Valdai Club. 12.04.2024.

An indicator of France's decline is its rapidly diminishing influence in Africa. More and more governments on the continent, previously loyal to Paris, are declaring their unwillingness to see French troops on their soil.

What is happening now with France and its position in the world is a problem for Russia's policy in the European direction. We have traditionally become accustomed to relying on the fact that there is a certain balance of power in the Old World and each of the major powers is trying to build its own style of relations with Moscow, and earlier with St. Petersburg. Now one of our usual and important partners is losing the ability to be someone who can be used in Russian interests for a long time, if not forever.

Nuclear weapons are still in the weakening hands of Paris. However, with the loss of all other attributes of a great power, their significance is becoming less and less. And all of Europe is undergoing a transformation, the results of which so far look quite dramatic. It cannot be ruled out that Russia will soon have to give up many habits associated with the very existence of a comparatively useful France and Europe. How to react to this, we do not yet particularly understand.

An indicator of decline is the rapidly diminishing French influence in Africa. More and more governments on the continent, previously quite loyal to Paris, are declaring that they no longer want to see French troops on their territory. Part of the reason for this is that African countries have alternatives. China can provide the necessary means for development and maintaining social stability. Russia can provide, albeit limited, but effective power resources, followed by investments, job creation and local budget revenues. Although this is not the main thing: African experience teaches that power support can be more important than any cash injections.

Previously, such support was provided by France. However, it is now literally “going out of fashion.”

Firstly, everything gets boring sooner or later. For several decades after the collapse of their colonial empire, the French remained in the African countries they had previously controlled. Now political generations are changing there, the new leaders are less connected to the former metropolis, and France's military presence seems an anachronism to them.

Moreover, Africans see the far from brilliant state of affairs in France itself. And they feel that the stinginess of the former masters of half of Africa is only increasing. This makes France completely uninteresting to Africans. Regardless of what views of the world they actually adhere to.

Secondly, the internal crisis of France's development is pushing its politicians, business and population to rethink their presence overseas. For young French people, it no longer seems a necessary attribute of statehood. For those who actually rule the country behind the politicians' backs, the colonial legacy is too unprofitable. Moreover, with rare exceptions, French companies are included in global conglomerates run by Americans. Therefore, they, like politicians, are becoming less patriotic and do not want to spend money on maintaining the "imperial" legacy.

In other words, if it makes sense for small politicians in the Baltics or Finland to simply hand over their countries to the US, then in the case of their larger colleagues in France, it is enough to hand over their African assets to the Americans for now. Or simply give them up – if everyone believes that France will never become a great power, then why does it need a military presence in the colonies? Especially considering that the Fifth Republic does not have many real forces, and fulfilling its obligations to NATO and the US in Ukraine requires a lot. As a result, France’s influence in Africa is shrinking before our eyes.

At the same time, everything that is happening with France's presence in Africa can be an interesting experience from Russia's point of view. There is no country in Europe that has done more to promote its language and culture in the states whose peoples were formerly part of its empire than France. French cultural and educational centers, "francophone" institutions have always been noticeable in African life. Most of the elite of African countries know French very well, having studied at universities there.

However, gradually this seemingly effective policy ceased to be a guarantee of respect and that Paris's interests would be taken into account. And now the French are simply being asked to leave. This means that cultural influence is not enough: it must be supported by the preservation of the ability to play an independent and significant role in world affairs, a serious role for the global economy. The confidence that your country needs it, ultimately. As soon as France lost all this internally, its presence in Africa turned out to be completely unnecessary. Neither for Africans, nor for the French themselves. Now France's place there is being taken by other global players.

The second thing that may interest us in connection with France's sharp decline in world politics is the future of Russia's strategy in relation to the whole of Europe. Whether we like it or not, it has traditionally relied on France there. Paris, like Berlin in economics, was Moscow's main partner in European big politics. The balance between these states, as well as Britain, has traditionally been used by Russia to achieve its interests. Their desire to prove themselves helped us build relations with the United States right up until the very beginning of the current military-political confrontation between Russia and the West.

The fact that the French are rapidly losing their positions is, of course, funny, but it may soon pose the question: how to deal with the new France? And the new Europe, since it was France that determined the political face of the Old World. The answer to this question is not yet in sight.

Since Russia's emergence on the global political scene, France has occupied a central place there. The defeat in the Napoleonic Wars could not knock this power out of the first league. The defeat in World War II was catastrophic for France. But it could not completely undermine its position in the world. Moreover, less than 15 years later - in 1960 - the French were able to create their own atomic bomb. The republic now has about 360 strategic and tactical nuclear warheads, which makes it the third nuclear power in the world after Russia and the United States.

Until the late 2000s, France was not a member of NATO's military structures and its planning in this area was not subordinated to the Americans. The presidents of the Fifth Republic, beginning with General De Gaulle, behaved very obstinately towards the United States.

And while their German neighbours needed to develop economic ties with the USSR and Russia, for France politics came first. This made both major continental powers ideally complement each other in the system of Russian interests in the European direction. Berlin gave us technology, investments and bought Russian gas, and Paris brought political dividends. Russia used this quite successfully – the intervention of President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008 helped, for example, to end the operation to force Georgia to peace in the most favorable way for Russia. And in 2003, France itself became the initiator of the anti-American Fronde, when it spoke out against the invasion of Iraq. All this was extremely useful for Russia.

Now we will have to say goodbye to this role of France and the possibilities of using it. For a while, maybe forever. It seems that following the French colonial policy, all of Europe is finally folding up. It is becoming a real political appendage of the USA, for which everything is decided not even by the Americans themselves, but by their satellites in Poland or British adventurers.

In this way, Russia will probably lose an asset in the Western direction that it has used relatively successfully for centuries. And now we need to think about how Europe can be used for our foreign policy and foreign economic interests.

https://vz.ru/opinions/2024/12/4/1301511.html

The French army is just shit. Can`t rely on them to keep out the jihadi trash - and they were even caught paying them off (the Africans actually thought the French were fomenting jihadis in their backyard, turns out that's just the NATO custom to avoid fighting by paying).

They aren't bad, they are evil... they appear to be no good at fighting terrorists because terrorists are the reason for being there so they are not interested in actually defeating their reason for staying.

For all the same reasons the US didn't want to defeat the Soviets or Russia because the threat of Russia and the Soviets means they can keep bases and a presence in Germany and Japan and South Korea and lots of other places they want to have troops stationed.

If Europe ever realised that Russia is not the enemy then the US would have to withdraw from how many bases in Europe? Dozens.

Protecting the locals my arse... protecting their own interests... which is what France is doing in Africa and Asia and all the other places they have "troops".

First 2 Mirage-2000s leave Chad

Russia overtakes France as top wheat supplier to North African country, 12.12.2024.

Agricultural production in Morocco has been hampered by droughts, the head of the Russian grain quality watchdog has said.

Russia has overtaken France as the leading grain supplier to Morocco, RIA Novosti reported on Thursday, citing Ruslan Khasanov, the director of Moscow’s Centre of Grain Quality Assurance.

France had historically been the primary wheat exporter to the North African nation, whose domestic production has reportedly been hampered by severe droughts. Omar Yacoubi, president of the Moroccan National Federation of Grain and Legume Traders (FNCL), has stated that the country needs to purchase about 5 million tons of cereals.

Yacoubi told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference hosted by French grain exporter Intercereales in October that France “lacks the necessary quantities” to meet demand. He added that Russia’s competitive edge has made it the “market maker."

The Russian Union of Grain Exporters and Producers (Rusgrain) announced last month that Moscow and Rabat had signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate the export of Russian grain to the kingdom.

According to figures reported by local outlet Rue20, Russian grain supplies to the former French colony between June and October totaled 1.9 million tons, while purchases from France were around 513,000 tons. Earlier records for June-August suggested that Morocco imported 1.5 million tons of soft wheat, with France as the primary supplier, followed by Russia.

“In recent months, the trend toward changing leaders in grain supplies to Morocco has become more and more obvious,” Khasanov told RIA Novosti.

“If in June-August of this year the country imported about 1.5 million tons of wheat, of which the bulk was wheat of French origin, then in September Russian wheat came out on top,” he said.

According to Khasanov, France was not on the kingdom’s list of wheat suppliers in September, and its imports from Canada fell by 22%.

“If you look at the agricultural year, Morocco currently occupies eighth place in the ranking of importing countries of Russian wheat [around 780,000 tons]. The active growth rates of Russian exports indicate the prospects of the Moroccan market for our suppliers,” he stated.

Late last month, Rugrain chairman Eduard Zernin said African nations are showing increasing interest in Russian grain due to its quality and competitive pricing.

The Russian Centre of Grain Quality Assurance has reported that wheat exports from Krasnodar Region, one of the country’s main agricultural hubs, to 25 African nations increased by 14.4% between January and September 2024, totaling 14.8 million tons. Egypt, Algeria, Kenya, Libya, and Sudan are the top five African importers of Russian wheat during the period.

https://www.rt.com/africa/609251-morocco-wheat-supplies-russia-overtakes-france/