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During a meeting with French ambassadors on Monday January 6, Emmanuel Macron made remarks considered contemptuous of Africa and its leaders. An attitude which has earned him virulent criticism from some of his African counterparts, in a context of massive departure of French troops from the continent.
This is a new outcry against Emmanuel Macron. Several African countries have denounced the attitude of the French head of state after comments deemed contemptuous.
During the annual meeting of ambassadors, Monday January 6 in Paris, the President of the Republic declared that France had been “right” to intervene militarily in the Sahel “against terrorism since 2013″, but that African leaders had ” forgot to say thank you”, believing that “none of them” would manage a sovereign country without this intervention. “It doesn’t matter, it will come with time,” quipped Emmanuel Macron.
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“Learn to respect the African people”
In response, the Chadian government expressed its “deep concern” about the French president's comments “which reflect a contemptuous attitude towards Africa and Africans”, in a statement from Chadian Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah read on state television Monday evening. At the end of November, Chad broke the military agreements which linked it to the former colonial power. “French leaders must learn to respect the African people,” added the minister.
Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, for his part, disputed that the announced withdrawal of French soldiers from his country would have given rise to negotiations between Paris and Dakar and virulently denied Emmanuel Macron's comments on French military engagement in Africa. . He described as “totally erroneous” the assertion according to which the announced departure of hundreds of French soldiers would follow a proposal from France which would have given the countries concerned the first opportunity to announce such withdrawals.
“No discussion or negotiation has taken place to date and the decision taken by Senegal stems from its sole will, as a free, independent and sovereign country,” wrote Ousmane Sonko in a post on X. “La France has neither the capacity nor the legitimacy to ensure Africa's security and sovereignty, says Ousmane Sonko. On the contrary, it has often contributed to destabilizing certain African countries like Africa. [Libye] with disastrous consequences noted for the stability and security of the Sahel.”
President Emanuel Macron affirmed today that the announced departure of the French bases would have been negotiated between the African countries which decreed it and France.
He continues by estimating that it is out of simple convenience and politeness that France granted the first… pic.twitter.com/kNrBtkEGE0
— Ousmane Sonko (@SonkoOfficiel) https://twitter.com/SonkoOfficiel/status/1876388352217186339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“France would still be German today”
Finally, he reminds Emmanuel Macron of the commitment of the populations of the former colonies in the two great world wars, judging “that if African soldiers, sometimes forcibly mobilized, mistreated and finally betrayed, had not deployed during the Second War world to defend France, it would, perhaps even today, be German.”
In his press release, Abderaman Koulamallah, Chadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, also underlines the “determining role” of Africa and Chad in the liberation of France during these two great wars that “France has never truly recognized” .
“In 60 years of presence […] the French contribution has often been limited to its own strategic interests, without any real lasting impact for the development of the Chadian people, he criticized. The Chadian people aspire to full sovereignty, true independence, and the construction of a strong and autonomous state,” added Abderaman Koulamallah.
Chad had announced by surprise on November 28 that it was ending the military agreement between Paris and N'Djamena, marking the end of 60 years of military cooperation since the end of French colonization. Chad was France's last foothold in the Sahel, with around a thousand soldiers stationed, mainly at Camp Kossei in the Chadian capital. The former colonial power had up to more than 5,000 soldiers in the Sahel as part of Operation Barkhane, stopped at the end of November 2022.
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Between 2022 and 2023, four former French colonies, Niger, Mali, the Central African Republic and Burkina Faso, have ordered Paris to withdraw its army from their territories. Last month, within a few hours of each other, Senegal and Chad in turn announced the departure of French soldiers from their soil. In January, Ivory Coast also announced that the French military base at Port-Bouet near Abidjan would be handed over to the country.
