The recent coup in Niger is the fourth in the past two years in a coup-belt region covering Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea. And these coups underscore one important point — that France has overstayed its colonies in sub-Sahara.
It all began with La Françafrique. The French success in World War II (and other post-WWII battles such as in Algeria), partly due to the assimilation policy, persuaded it to grant partial autonomy to its sub-Saharan colonies, while keeping a tight grip on them.
As time flew by, the relationship soon changed from mentorship to master. La Françafrique soon became the symbol of confiscation and subjugation of sovereignty.
An extension of the assimilation also meant the centralisation of different aspects of the economies of these supposedly sovereign states.
From a common currency backed by reserves stored in France, first-line medical care to quality higher education.
Élysée Palace also gets to decide who becomes the President. As a consequence of this vice-like grip, the French colonies in Central and West Africa represent the worst of Africa in terms of development.
Despite Emmanuel Macron’s declaration of the end of La Françafrique, the coups continue to expose a deep and strong resentment for France and has invited strong public support from the general population.
At the heart of it is natural resources.
Niger, for instance, is the world’s seventh-biggest producer of uranium, possesses Africa’s highest-grade uranium ores, and is one of the main exporters of uranium to Europe.
France is a major importer of Nigerien uranium, which is used to power the French civil nuclear industry. Yet Niger remains impoverished and is classified as one of the poorest countries.
This French stranglehold of Niger’s uranium goes deep. Some years back during Nicholas Sarkozy’s presidency, Nigerien leaders toyed with selling a majority of uranium mining rights to China due to better prices that the Chinese offered.
It is said that Sarkozy took a flight to Niamey and by the time his plane took off from the tarmac, a coup d’état was already unfolding.
That was then. Now the pendulum seems to be swinging fast against France and its Western allies. An emerging crop of soldiers backed by a disillusioned population are turning the tide against France.
They are against the externalisation of their natural resources on the basis of legacy colonial arrangements. They are also against French military presence on their soil, something viewed as a tool for repression.
Niger now joins a universe of French colonies in sub-Sahara that are slowly slipping off the French and the West’s orbit. Specifically, the French are now faced with bigger problems.
First, you have an alliance of military juntas that wants to dismantle the French influence and exploitation and are increasingly looking towards Russia for execution (which explains why Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso have declared support for the Niger Junta).
A much bigger problem is, the expulsion of the French opens a backdoor channel for Russia to create a new sphere of influence through the Wagner group, a Russian state-funded private paramilitary organisation.
Second, a swirl of resentment could spread to central Africa’s colonies, most notably Gabon, Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville. These are countries that continued to bear the brunt of La Françafrique.
Already, the Central African Republic has slipped off French hands. Finally, both the French and the West will lose strategic launchpads in the fight against jihadists operating in the Sahel region.
After being expelled by Mali and Burkina Faso juntas, both the French and the US relocated their anti-jihadist assets to Niger. That relocation now appears in jeopardy.
The writer is a thought leader
