France and its relations with its former colonies in Africa have gone through a month of tension, as its influence on the Black Continent faces its biggest challenge in decades, writes BTA, citing AP.
As Paris was developing a new military strategy aimed at reducing its permanent military presence in Africa, two of its closest allies dealt it a double blow.
The government of Chad, considered France's most stable and loyal partner in Africa, announced on the country's Independence Day that it was ending defense cooperation in order to put its sovereignty on a new footing.
And in an interview published hours later by the French newspaper Senegal's new president told Le Monde that it was "obvious" that there would soon be no French soldiers on Senegalese soil.
"The fact that the French have been here since slavery does not mean that it is impossible to act differently," said President Bassirou Dioumaye Faye.
The announcements come as France is trying to restore its waning influence on the continent. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot visited Chad and Ethiopia, and President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged for the first time that the French army had killed some 400 West African soldiers in 1944.
French authorities did not comment on the issue for almost 24 hours after Chad's announcement, finally saying they were in "close dialogue" with the country. on the future of the partnership.
"Chad's decision is the final nail in the coffin of France's post-colonial military dominance across the Sahel region," said Muqahid Durmaz, an analyst at global consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, referring to the arid region south of the Sahara.
The decisions by Senegal and Chad "are part of a broader structural transformation in the region's relations with France, in which Paris's political and military influence continues to decline," Durmaz added.
The decisions come after military governments in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso fell in recent years, where sentiment has soured after years of fighting in which French troops fought alongside local forces against a stubborn Islamist insurgency.
What is France's new strategy in Africa?
Jean-Marie Boekel, Macron’s personal envoy to Africa, presented the president with a report last month on the development of France’s military presence in Africa.
It is part of the “revitalization of our partnership with African countries” that Macron announced in a 2017 speech in Burkina Faso in the early days of his presidency.
Details of Boekel’s report have not been made public. But three senior French officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said France was aiming to sharply reduce the number of troops at all its bases in Africa except for the Horn of Africa country of Djibouti, where Macron is expected to travel in the coming days.
The officials said this did not mean that France would necessarily reduce military cooperation, but that it would respond to the needs expressed by countries. That could mean providing more specific training in air surveillance or drones and other aircraft. France could also temporarily deploy troops.
The officials declined to confirm how much the military would be reduced by, but said the reduction would be significant.
Earlier this year, the French military created an Africa command similar to the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). The newly appointed commander, Pascal Janny, is focusing more on influence and information warfare - a need highlighted by Russia's growing presence in Africa.
"You can continue your military cooperation, as many countries do. But the idea of permanent military bases that could then be used as combat assets and become a kind of disinformation war may not be the best way to go,” said Will Brown, senior policy fellow at the European Center for Foreign Affairs.
Meanwhile, France is trying to strengthen its economic presence in English-speaking African countries like Nigeria, analysts say. Its two largest trading partners on the continent are already Nigeria and South Africa.
Just as Chad was announcing its decision, Macron was hosting talks with Nigerian President Bola Tinubu.
Where in West Africa does France have troops and why?
Since the independence of French colonies in Africa, France has pursued a policy of gaining economic, political and military influence. The policy has included the permanent deployment of thousands of soldiers in the region.
France still has 600 troops in Côte d'Ivoire, 350 in Senegal and 350 in Gabon, 1,000 in Chad, and around 1,500 in Djibouti.
The French Ministry of the Armed Forces has said that the work of French troops in Africa is to train local soldiers and strengthen their capacity to combat extremism, mainly in the areas of peacekeeping, intelligence and logistics. But critics say it allows Paris to maintain its influence and protect political regimes that are convenient for France.
"The countries of Francophone Africa want a change in the nature of these relations," says Gilles Yabi, head of the think tank "West Africa Citizen".
Why are West African countries expelling French troops?
Growing anti-French sentiment has led to protests in several West and North African countries, and governments that came to power on promises to review relations with the West argue that ties with France have not benefited the population. They want to explore cooperation with Russia, China, Turkey and other powers.
Chad President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno "would not have made this decision if he did not have security guarantees from another country," Brown said. "We know that he has received significant support from the United Arab Emirates, which is closely following what is happening in neighboring Sudan and Darfur. We know that Turkey has also taken some steps," he said.
Chad borders four countries with a Russian military presence. In January, Deby was in Moscow to strengthen relations with the “partner country.”
The military leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, who expelled the French military, have moved closer to Russia, which has deployed mercenaries across the Sahel accused of atrocities against civilians.
The security situation in these countries, however, has deteriorated as the number of extremist attacks and civilian deaths by both armed groups and government forces has increased. In the first six months of this year, 3,064 civilians were killed, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a 25 percent increase compared to the previous six months.
It is not clear whether the withdrawal of French forces has led to an increase in violence. But it has created a "huge security vacuum", said Shantanu Shankar, an analyst at The Economist"s intelligence team. He added that he did not think Russia could fill that vacuum. The troops of the Russian private military company "Wagner" are funded by military governments with fewer resources, he said.