CAMEROON - From a master-servant relationship to a paternalist relationship, France-Afrique was born. France-Afrique is a social, political, and economic project engineered by De Gaulle in the 1960s to maintain and protect French interests in Africa.
It simply represents all political and institutional systems as well as networks that allow France to maintain control over its former colonies in order to maintain its international prestige.
De Gaulle, who became president of the Fifth Republic, wanted a Franco-African Community that would grant autonomy and internal government to the African Colonies while France retained control over essential areas such as defense, foreign affairs, and economic and monetary policy.
Just like her Western counterparts, France has maintained a realist foreign policy towards Africa that is solely predicated on national interest. To increase France’s international prestige, assimilation as a policy was adopted towards her colonies, which was more repressive, destructive, and less tolerant of African cultures and traditions.
While the then-French government believed that the loss of formal control would not necessarily be accompanied by a loss of real power and influence on the continent, some African leaders who were pro-African nationalists had other plans, and by the year 1960, all African countries had become independent.
Although some African countries believed that their independence was earned through sweat and toil, De Gaulle’s government, however, saw it more as a result of French goodwill and generosity than of pressure from African nationalist movements. This gave birth to a paternalist relationship and enforced De Gaulle’s vision of a Franco-African community. These countries, on the eve of their independence, had to sign documents that gave them paper independence and preserved economic and political dependence. However, two countries were smart enough to identify the trap and free themselves: Algeria and Guinea.
From the Cold War era till date, the Franco-African relationship has been an inconvenient one, as the rise of the Soviet Union and ideologies like communism and socialism gave Francophone Africa hope of finally being free from French colonialism.
However, in order to protect her interests in a new political dispensation, the French government reshaped her foreign policy in order to protect and strengthen its economic and political interests in Francophone Africa through a new form of colonialism termed ‘’Neo-Colonialism’’. One of the many products of Neo-Colonialism was the creation of international organizations to reinforce French political, economic, and social relations between France and Africa, like the African and Malagasy Union, created in 1961 and subsequently dissolved in 1985, and also the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF). The OIF brings together all heads of state and governments of member countries and has played a major role in marketing French culture to African countries. Through Neo-Colonialism, France has often played a fatherly role in many of these Francophone African countries by intervening economically, militarily, and politically. However, these interventions have often been welcomed with mixed feelings by Africans.
France, through her monetary policy and economic prowess, has over the years exerted a certain degree of control over the economies of Francophone African economies while creating a market for French exports. This is usually a product of mutually beneficial economic agreements concluded behind closed doors and is common among African heads of state who have stayed in power for a long time. The CFA franc, the official currency used across much of Francophone Africa today to foster economic integration across the Franco-African Empire, officially created on December 26, 1945, by decree of General de Gaulle, is a colonial relic. Following the pseudo-independence of Francophone African countries, the CFA in the form of the XOF was designated and used across the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), made up of eight countries, which include Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, and the Central African Economic Union. Meanwhile, the Monetary Community (CAEMC), made up of six countries that include the Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Chad, and Congo, used the XAF. As part of an agreement between France and the two economic communities, the Central Bank of West African States and the Bank of Central African States are required to deposit 50% of their foreign exchange reserves in a special French treasury operating account. Foreign exchange cover of at least 20% should be maintained for ‘’sight liabilities, and each government is limited to a ceiling of 20% of that country’s revenue from the previous year.
This requirement has been widely criticized across the continent by many intellectuals based on the fact that it deprives these countries of economic sovereignty and also on the fact that France holds veto power on the boards of the two central banks within the CFA franc zone. Many African heads of state have criticized the CFA. For France, there are only benefits as she enjoys a trade surplus. French companies have preferred access to local markets; they exploit, extract, and freely export their profits back home. The use of the currency by Francophone African states became a nightmare when, in 1994, Paris decided to review the currency, and heads of state and heads of central banks signed the Dakar declaration, which saw the devaluation of the currency by 50% of its value at 1 French franc. In the year 2015, then-Chadian President Idriss Debby said that he considers the CFA to be pulling African economies down’’ and that ‘’time has come to cut the cordon that prevents Africa from developing.
Although Africans have expressed their concerns over the frustration attached to the continuous existence of this currency, it is seen as a source of economic control and exploitation. Efforts to change this currency have failed, including the Economic Community of West African States' decision to adopt a sub-regional currency called the Eco in 2020. To preserve the existence of France-Afrique, France has never hesitated to discard heads of state that have attempted to leave the system. They are either overthrown through military coups or assassinated, like in the case of Sylvanus Olympio, the then-president of Congo, who wanted to create an independent monetary project for his country.
France, through military coups and political interference, played Godfather in the region by deciding who gets what, when, and how. France, through her neo-colonialist practice and with the aid of some heads of state referred to as ‘’Friends of France, has impoverished some of these African states through corruption, supporting dictatorships, and military interventions that have undermined human rights and democracy. France-Afrique is an enemy of democracy and good governance in Africa because it supports regimes that will protect French interests irrespective of whether or not they are repressive and undemocratic. In the event that a country becomes too independent at the detriment of French interests, the French government will back a domestic coup and overthrow the government. This was the case in the Central African Republic when the French-backed David Dacko came to power. After obtaining power, Dacko expressed his interest and was quoted as saying, I thank this country, which has protected us since 1960’’. Also, Thomas Sankara and numerous other French African heads of state who have dared to threaten French interests by either following the path of Sylvanus Olympio or wanting political autonomy from France have been silenced.
France’s attitude in the 21st century towards her former colonial territories has not changed. Rather, through successive French governments, they have reshaped their foreign policies to adapt to the ever-evolving political dynamics in the region. Recently, there has been an increase in anti-French sentiments across the continent, which has seen the rise of military leaders to power in numerous Franco-African countries. Between 2020 and 2023, francophone Africa experienced military coups, with the most recent coups occurring in Niger and Gabon. This anti-French sentiment is one of the culprits for successful military coups in the region, and France is slowly losing her grip over these nations. President Emmanuel Macron, in his address to French Ambassadors at a meeting in Paris on Monday, said ‘’Anti-French sentiment is rife, fuelled by anti-colonialism or a perceived anti-colonialism, and a double standard is being employed’’.
This statement of his is not surprising, as France’s colonial presence in the Sahel and Central Africa is deeply rooted in such a way that it was bound to provoke an increase in anti-French sentiments amongst today’s conscious generation. Russia's and China’s influence is slowly growing, giving these francophone African countries the option of choosing between good and bad. Although we are experiencing an increase in anti-French sentiments, one needs to wonder if France will just sit down and let almost a century-old project (France Afrique) end without putting up a fight. Will francophone Africa become another ground for proxy warfare, or will France’s foreign policy metamorphose to preserve her interests with her foreign colonies based on an agreement of convenience? The future for Africa is bright, but not so bright for France.
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