Chad and Senegal are the latest illustrations of the spectacular loss of French influence on the continent, where Russia and China are pushing their pawns.
The information was made official by a press release published during the night from Thursday to Friday, shortly before midnight: Chad has decided to end the defense cooperation agreement signed with France.
After 66 years of independence, Chad wishes to assert its full sovereignty, specifies the Chadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The end of the defense cooperation agreement with Paris will allow Chad to redefine its strategic partnerships, the press release specifies.
This decision should lead to the withdrawal of some 1,000 French soldiers currently deployed.
But “historical relationships” and “bonds of friendship” with France are no cases called into question, assures the Chadian government.
This announcement, made when Jean-Noël Barrot, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, had just completed his trip to the country, is yet a new snub for France, recognizing the failure of Emmanuel Macron's strategy on the continent, at the same time as he received the Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, on a state visit on Friday, to make him a privileged partner on the continent.
A snub for France
Nothing shows that Paris had been informed before this announcement. The French president had, moreover, personally supported Mahamat Idriss Déby, when he succeeded his father in troubled circumstances. But, above all, this setback takes place in a sensitive context.
While it had closely cooperated with Western armies, Chad has moved closer to Russia in recent years. For two years, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have done the same and also ceased their military cooperation with the former colonial power, present in these countries as part of the fight against jihadist groups in the Sahel.
The Senegalese President, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, for his part, estimated, Thursday, in Le Monde, that the maintenance of French soldiers in his country did not correspond to his “conception of sovereignty and independence” and that their withdrawal was “obvious”.
“We have cooperation with the United States, China and even Turkey without these countries having a base on our soil. Our relations nevertheless remain in good shape. It is not because the French have been there since the period of slavery that it is impossible to do otherwise”he asserted.
The shadow of Moscow
The Senegalese president has also not ruled out working with Russia. Moscow which blows on the embers of anti-French sentiment in Africa, where China is also extending its influence at the same time.
“Today, we want to work with all those who can invest and contribute to creating wealth in Senegal”specifies Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
“Within ten or fifteen years, there will no longer be a single French soldier in Africa, anticipates an Ivorian source in Le Monde. Because France can no longer do it financially and because African youth can no longer support it.”
A reduced presence in Gabon and Ivory Coast
Jean-Marie Bockel, Emmanuel Macron's emissary on the continent, submitted a report on Monday detailing proposals on how France could reduce its presence also in Gabon and Ivory Coast, where around a hundred soldiers should remain according to AFP, cited by Le Point.
But he obviously didn't have a complete picture of the situation.. “Our African partners do not want us to leave,” he said again on November 7, on RFI, citing the example of Chad.
