"We want to be free" Learn the main reasons for the decline of France's influence in West Africa

Over the past years, West Africa witnessed a wave of angry popular protests, which brought the issue of French influence in that region back to the heart of the protests, as condemnation of Paris' colonial policies in the region turned into a common denominator.

Over the past years, West Africa witnessed a wave of angry popular protests, which brought the issue of French influence in that region back to the heart of the real protests and in the virtual space, where condemnation of Paris' colonial policies in the region turned into a greater common denominator between these protests in different countries.

This socio-political movement and its repercussions threaten to reduce Paris' areas of control in a region that it has always considered an exclusive domain for France's vital interests, using strategic tools to sustain this reality that established its ability to dominate behind the veil of local elites.

Historical domination

To understand the roots of African anger, it is worth going back to the 1960s, when the relationship between France and its former colonies in the brown continent, including West Africa, was founded on the so-called “France Afrique”, in which Paris supports the regimes resulting from negotiating decolonization in exchange for "Loyalty" to Paris, which means that it has the advantage in economic, political and security partnerships.

This afforded Paris a profound influence summed up by French Foreign Minister Louis de Gringaud when he asserted in 1978 that his country "can still, with 500 soldiers, change the course of history" in Africa.

This French strategy included agreements that allow it direct military and security intervention, openly and secretly, to protect the regimes loyal to it when they are threatened, whether from the inside or the outside, and although the Elysee abandoned this policy later to one degree or another, it has entrenched in the conscience of the Africans the organic link between Paris and the corrupt tyrannical functional systems that ruled them.

In addition to this, France imposed its economic hegemony on the region, and Paris still plays a major role in the monetary aspect. The CFA franc, which Paris prints, is considered a currency adopted in a group of West and Central African countries. He deposited in the French Central Bank a cover for this franc, and also gave it a preference in obtaining raw materials at competitive prices, and most dangerously, the countries using it lost control of their monetary policies.

France's tightening of its grip on politics and the economy emptied the independence of its former African colonies of all its meanings, as it turned into the beginning of an era of indirect control through the dominant political, military and economic elites sponsored by the security services in Paris and ensuring the continuity of their rule, in return for the latter obtaining the largest piece of the economy cake until France once had a 30% share of the African market.

West Africa has enormous underground wealth with a more promising environment as a result of the deficiencies of the geological surveys conducted so far, as large reserves of gold, uranium, copper, phosphates, diamonds, bauxite, iron ore, nickel and others were discovered.

Thus, some figures point to amazing paradoxes, as French companies seize uranium from Niger, the fourth producer of this substance in the world , to meet about 75% of France's electric energy needs, while 80% of the Niger population depends on firewood for cooking and lighting, and their country is in horrific poverty. .

The result of these French policies is clearly revealed by the international classifications concerned with development, as the United Nations list of least developed countries for the year 2017 included nine countries of the CFA franc, while the World Bank confirms that almost all countries of the franc zone fall within the group of heavily indebted poor countries.

African spring revolution against france

He always links the repercussions of the French military failure in Operation Barkhane and the outbreak of popular protests against the influence of Paris and its allies, starting with Mali and moving to other West African countries. The transformations in the region on more than one level helped to clarify the picture more.

In this context, the demographic aspect emerges, as young people represented the largest segment of the protesters who roamed the streets of West African capitals and cities, reflecting the high percentage of this age group within the societies of their countries. The French-made “national” aims to provide job opportunities, enable social justice, build the foundations of good governance and create conditions for sustainable development.

While the boats of illegal immigration are the most eloquent expression of the desperation of African youth from the blockage of horizons in their countries, these demonstrations represent an attempt to create a new horizon in which the aspirations of the founding fathers of the African liberation movement from the white colonialists, led by France, are embodied.

In addition to the above, it is worth considering that just as the events of the Arab Spring highlighted the pivotal role of social networks in mobilizing and mobilizing the masses, we find its effects on the communications revolution in the background of African protests, where the battle seems to be raging over the possession and direction of public opinion.

The development of the media and social networking sector, taking advantage of the astonishing growth of mobile penetration near 100% in West Africa according to the 2019 GSMA Intelligence report, has created new dynamics for the dissemination of information, and different spaces used by local influencers to attack France relying on their ability to move Anti-Paris nationalist sentiment.

In the context of the international geopolitical conflict over the region, the Russian role appears to be very effective in the war on social networks, as Wagner groups are active in penetrating African societies, targeting strategic enemies in the region such as France, and promoting the successes of Moscow and its allies, especially in the aspect related to combating terrorism, and reinforcing counter-populist trends. for the West.

Facebook and Twitter have previously announced the discovery of Russian networks that perform this type of activity in Africa through networks run by local contractors or Russian experts, and given Washington's complaint about Moscow's influence on the results of the 2016 presidential elections, we can estimate the situation in countries that do not have sufficient infrastructure to resist This kind of technical breakthrough as West African countries.

Mali and the transformation into a paradigm

Mali represents an important station in the context of the transformations taking place in France in West Africa, where the policies pursued by the leaders of the second coup in Bamako (May 2021) towards Paris were characterized by clarity, sharpness and escalation. hardcore.

Mali witnessed in the summer of 2020, massive protests against President Ibrahim Abu Bakr Keita, an ally of France, that ended with his removal from power in a military coup. Mali, despite launching successive military operations such as Serval and Barkhane, which ended in a paradox that the militants who were isolated in northern Mali at the start of the French intervention expanded inside the country and spread to neighboring countries as well at its end!

This discontent found its translation in unprecedented measures, against the former colonizer, taken by the young coup leaders (again) that were welcomed by wide popular levels in West Africa as an expression of an advanced step for liberation from French colonialism, and a consolidation of the ability of Africans to protect their interests by exploiting geopolitical conflicts The international community and the alliance with new international powers represented by Moscow in this case.

Therefore, it is important to consider Mali, as it has gradually transformed in the conscience of many people in the region into an inspiring model summed up by the protesters in Niamey, the capital of Niger, chanting, “We want to be free like Mali,” while other cities in Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso witnessed the burning of the French flag and attacking Codes and facilities belonging to the French government or companies.

Thus, if the Malian leadership succeeds in its war against the armed movements and in bringing about serious changes in the country, this will put Paris in front of the reality of the possibility of popular rejection of it, in other regions in West Africa, to state policies that undermine what remains of its influence in what was once its back garden.