By Ayo Yusuf
As the coups in French Speaking West and Central African nations call into question France’s role in Africa, French President Emmanuel Macron has boasted that without his nation’s interventions some African countries would not even exist.
Mr Macron told a French publication, Le Point, during an interview that without France’s military operations in the Sahel, “there would probably no longer be a Mali … Burkina Faso, and I’m not sure there would still be Niger.”
Mr. Macron who was speaking of his nation’s interventions in West Africa during the mid-2000s, in what was dubbed ‘Operations Serval’ and ‘Operation Barkhane’, said he remains proud of what they were able to achieve.
French troops were moved from Mali to Niger after the military junta in Mali cut ties with its former colonial master.
Defending the role of France in those places, Mr Macron said the interventions were done “at the request of African states” and were “successful”.
Recently, France policy in Africa has come under intense scrutiny as the nation lose its foremost allies in the continent and face negative sentiment from Africans.
Mr. Macron went on to explain that while these operations reflect France’s “honour” and “responsibility”, France could no longer intervene “when there is a coup d’état, and the priority of the new regimes is not to fight terrorism” even though this is “tragic for the states concerned”.
In the interview, Macron defended his administration’s policy in the Sahel as one of partnership rather than focusing on security.
France refuses to acknowledge Niger coup leader General Abdurahman Tchiani’s announcement that all military deals between Niger and France are terminated, and more than a thousand French troops remain stationed at a military base there.
There has been growing criticism of the economic agreements between France and its former colonies in Africa as analysts note how unfairly these policies seem to favour France to the detriment of it’s African allies.
