During his speech to ambassadors, the Head of State on Monday castigated the “ingratitude” of African leaders regarding France's anti-terrorist fight in the Sahel, triggering the anger of those concerned.
If Emmanuel Macron's speech at the conference of ambassadors, Monday January 6, was intended to be diplomatic, it was a failure. After accusing Elon Musk of supporting “a new reactionary international »the French president has alienated several African countries. “I think we forgot to say thank you”he said, pointing “ingratefulness” of certain leaders of the continent regarding France's intervention against terrorism in the Sahel. This Tuesday, January 7, the Chadian president affirmed that Macron “is in the wrong era”. “I would like to express my indignation at the comments recently made by President Macron which border on contempt towards Africa and Africans,” castigated Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno in a speech delivered at the presidential palace during a series of greetings and published on the presidency's Facebook page. “French leaders must learn to respect the African people”his Chadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abderaman Koulamallah, quickly reacted on Monday in a press release read on national television. Recalling the role of Africa and Chad alongside France in the two world wars, he strongly criticized the “contemptuous attitude towards Africa and Africans.
After being forced to withdraw its troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in 2022 and 2023, present there since the start of Serval operations in 2013, France evacuated a first contingent of soldiers from Chad in December after the suspension surprise at the cooperation between the two countries. “In sixty years of presence, […] the French contribution has often been limited to its own strategic interests, without any real lasting impact on the development of the Chadian people.criticized Abderaman Koulamallah, telling Macron to focus instead on “the resolution of the problems which concern the French people”.
“Free, independent and sovereign country”
In the wake of Chad's reaction, Senegal, France's historic partner since the end of colonization in 1958, did not mince its words either. In a publication in Le X, Ousmane Sonko rejected Emmanuel Macron's assertion that France had chosen to leave the Sahel. “No discussions or negotiations have taken place to date and the decision taken by Senegal stems from its sole will, as a free, independent and sovereign country”affirmed the Senegalese Prime Minister, estimating that “France has neither the capacity nor the legitimacy to ensure Africa’s security and sovereignty”. “It has often contributed to destabilizing certain African countries such as Libya with disastrous consequences noted on the stability and security of the Sahel”he tackled in passing, before recalling the major role of the Senegalese riflemen, “sometimes forcibly mobilized, mistreated and ultimately betrayed” by France during the Second World War. On November 28, Emmanuel Macron himself recognized, in a letter to the Senegalese president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the «massacre» of African soldiers in Thiaroye, near Dakar, in December 1944.
But these comments did not only provoke a reaction from African leaders. In France, several political voices took offense at this speech, notably at La France insoumise. In a press release, the New Popular Front party estimated that “these comments reflect blindness and neocolonial paternalism that are simply intolerable,” opposing the “military interference” of France.
Same tone for party representatives. “Claudeness and uncontrolled words worsen our country’s international relations”reacted the rebellious leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon on “moralizing and colonial tone” taken by the head of state. “Personally, I feel particularly humiliated and hurt by the words of the President of the Republic”was moved by the LFI deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis, Aly Diouara, on “the African man [n’était] not enough in history” and had contributed to the degradation of France's image in Africa. For the moment, the rest of the political class has not reacted.
Updated at 2:24 p.m. with the reaction of the Chadian president.
