The developments regarding France’s presence in Niger after the recent coup are rapid. Emmanuel Macron announced Sunday night that his country will withdraw its ambassador from the African country, as well as its troops.
“What happened is a recognition of France’s weakness.” These are the words the Parisian press is using to describe Emmanuel Macron’s admission that Paris should withdraw French troops and even the French ambassador from Niger. “Ahead of us is a harbinger of the final withdrawal of France from Africa, and the French themselves believe that China and Russia will come to replace it,” they say.
The detachment in Niger numbered about 1,500 people and, according to the official version, helped the local army fight the jihadists. However, many Nigeriens believe that, in fact, the French military presence was needed to keep them from leaving the area, in which, in particular, a significant part of the uranium went to the French nuclear power plants.
Coups in Africa are, one would say, commonplace and the French should have been used to them long ago, but for this coup in Niger they publicly adopted an attitude of militant denial.
At the same time, the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (ECOWAS), began to threaten intervention and imposed sanctions on Niger, which is already barely getting by. The rhetoric of ECOWAS was so consistent with the French that there is no doubt that the actions of the regional bloc were, at the very least, coordinated with France.
France withdraws, leaving one of its last former colonies. “Africa for France is over,” Macron summed up. He also made it clear that any cooperation with Niger in the military sector would cease.
France has no future in the Sahel region. In fact, what happened is an acknowledgment of the country’s weakness. The coup plotters have pushed France out the door and the president can do nothing but withdraw his troops. If he hadn’t agreed, their presence could amount to military occupation.
It should be noted that the French military presence, however, remains in other African countries. In particular, in Senegal (400 people), Ivory Coast (900 people) and Chad (the most important group – 3 thousand people).
In general, the withdrawal from Niger caused less response than it could have, because in his interview Macron touched on many issues that are more important to the average person.
The latter was more interested in possible subsidies for the purchase of much more expensive fuel than in the news of the loss of territory in yet another African country.
China is building Africa’s largest oil refinery there. Russia along with China will take over the uranium and the French state company Orano will have to leave, losing a €4.3 billion a year market. And “the icing on the cake” is that both superpowers are planning to build nuclear power plants in Niger that will fully cover the region’s electricity needs, while France has done nothing about it for 60 years.
Of course, at the moment there are French bases in Chad, Senegal and some other places but nobody can guarantee that tomorrow there won’t be another coup there, after which the French will be asked to leave.
