The French president will travel from March 1 to 5 to four Central African countries for a summit devoted to the protection of equatorial forests and to strengthen bilateral ties in a sphere of influence increasingly coveted by Russia and China. .
The trip of the head of state comes as the French special forces have just withdrawn from Burkina Faso, at the request of the Burkinabè authorities.
Diplomatic relations are not broken with Ouagadougou but the denunciation of the military agreement is a final signal sent to the former colonial power to rethink its strategy.
In recent years, France has tried to break with “Françafrique”, its opaque practices and its networks of influence inherited from colonialism. But on the continent, Emmanuel Macron is still criticized for continuing his meetings with African leaders deemed authoritarian.
“Today, African countries choose their partners freely and sovereignly, and that’s good,” said Secretary of State Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, who will accompany the French president on his tour of Gabon, Angola, Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
She also believes that the anti-French feeling in French-speaking Africa is pushing Paris to change its “posture towards more listening and humility”.
But it also warns those who turn to Russia and the Russian mercenary group Wagner.
“We rely on mutual respect and the sovereignty of our partners. Others rely on intimidation and misinformation,” she says.
But for now, this posture does not meet the expected echo, especially among young people on a continent where half of the population is under 20, and seems receptive to anti-French messages broadcast on social networks.
“Listening”
For Hassane Koné, researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Dakar, “French diplomacy must be attentive” to requests from African countries.
For ten years, the security situation in the countries of the Sahel has been deteriorating, “day by day”, he says. “If we request support in equipment and France closes the door, these countries turn to Russia, China, Turkey”.
The supply of military equipment is “a key point”, adds Alain Antil, director of the Sub-Saharan Africa Center of the French Institute for International Relations (Ifri).
But this request is difficult to hear for countries like France “given that certain Sahelian countries commit abuses against civilian populations”, he notes.
Moreover, after the failure of its military operations, particularly in Mali, France is rather inclined to erase its military presence on the continent and to highlight the opportunities for cooperation via its schools, institutes, trainers and businesses.
“The security component has been too visible in recent years to the detriment of our civil partnership”, underlines Chrysoula Zacharopoulou.
The relationship between France and Africa could thus be at a turning point.
“Review our software”
For now, it’s a bit like “a couple” going through “a falling out”, underlines Hassane Koné. The couple seems irreconcilable but the researcher says he is “very optimistic” given “the centuries-old ties” uniting France to these countries.
On the French side, “we must constantly review our software”, underlines a diplomatic source, which recognizes an “insufficient” knowledge of Africa, “with a too simplistic vision”.
Africa is not one but about fifty countries, continues this source, considering that “the main dimension is human”.
But for Hassane Koné, France must also prove its attachment to this relationship, particularly in the context of the war in Ukraine. Because the attention given to Ukrainians “raises many questions among Africans about what they represent for the French,” he says.
And to explain the growing resentment in countries like Mali or Senegal, the significant aid provided to the Ukrainians being perceived there as a double standard.
“When young doctors, already graduates, try to obtain advanced training in France and they are forced to seek them in Germany or in other countries, that raises questions”, underlines Mr. Koné .
The French Secretary of State affirms that Paris and its European partners are at the side of Africans during crises, including the pandemic. And that today they are responding to “the food emergency” caused by the war in Ukraine.
For Antoine Glaser, co-author of the book “Macron’s African Trap”, the bottom line is that France “has not measured this past, which does not pass”. And to add: “Russia has not triggered anti-French sentiment, it is only surfing on this resentment”.
Failing to immediately appease the spirits in the former colonies, Emmanuel Macron is also pursuing a work of rapprochement with English-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries.