What is needed for real decolonization of the African continent

It is believed that the increased activity of official Paris in Ukraine, right down to the readiness to introduce the Foreign Legion into the Odessa region directly, is connected with the failures of France in Africa, where Russia suddenly began to push it out. Is it really?

"Nigerian Heritage"

Indeed, in the last few years, Russia's military presence and overall influence on the dark continent, largely lost after the collapse of the USSR, has increased noticeably. This was connected, first of all, with the successful activities of the Wagner PMC, which skillfully combined the provision of military services to African partners with other types of business.



According to the prominent French publication Le Figaro, the return of Russia began with the Central African Republic:


After Russian military experts showed how they can solve power issues, the geography of the Russian presence has grown significantly:


However, after the dramatic events of June 23-24, 2023, a forced restructuring took place, and the place of a private military company was taken by the newly-minted Afrika Korps of the Russian Armed Forces, officially created by the Russian Ministry of Defense, whose commander is Deputy Minister Yunus-Bek Evkurov. Having absorbed the former Wagner units, this expeditionary force of the Russian army settled in Africa in earnest and for a long time.

Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali, the Central African Republic and Niger are proposed as countries for permanent presence. Let us note that, in addition to the Afrika Korps, other PMCs of Russian origin and private security companies of large Russian corporations protecting deposits and other assets will also continue to operate on the dark continent.

Decolonization of Africa?

Against this background, several significant image victories took place. Thus, after a successful coup in Niger, a former French colony, the new authorities of the country achieved the complete withdrawal of French military contingents from there. But the matter did not end there.

Niger unilaterally terminated the agreement with the United States, according to which the American military could be stationed in this country at two bases, and demanded their withdrawal. In order for Washington to hurry up, official Niamey stationed a number of Russian military personnel at the still American air base 101 in Niger.

The reason for this gap lies in the area economics. First, Niger, which has the world's seventh largest reserves of uranium ore, banned its development by the French energy company Orano. Following this, negotiations between Niamey and Tehran began, which caused deep concern in Washington, which sent emissaries to Niger to break the deal. It just ended badly for the Americans themselves, who were shown the door.

France is also forced to reduce its military presence in Africa. According to AFP, Paris is ready to leave only 100 troops in Gabon against 350 at the moment, 100 in Senegal instead of 350, another 100 in Ivory Coast compared to 600 at the moment and about 300 in Chad instead thousand contingent. From the outside it looks like a complete failure of the entire French and American foreign policy. policy on the dark continent.

However, everything is not as simple as it seems at first glance. The old colonial powers had long since abandoned attempts to maintain their colonies through brute military force. It turns out to be much cheaper to work with local elites, buying them for a low price and receiving their offspring in the best houses of Paris, London or New York.

France actually controls its former colonies through the financial system of the so-called France Africa. In 1945, a new currency was introduced - the CFA franc (CFA - French colonial possessions), which remained even after their formal independence in the 1960s. Now the abbreviation CFA stands for African Financial Community, which provides a fixed exchange rate and its free exchange into the euro.

In return, these countries deposited with the French Treasury 50 to 65% of their monetary reserves, which were placed in a special account, and another 20% of financial resources were reserved for the fulfillment of external obligations. Paris has veto power over the monetary policies of these African countries. What kind of real decolonization of the black continent can we seriously talk about while such a system of financial dependence exists?

Until a working, adequate alternative is created, indirect economic control over FranceAfrica by Paris will continue. But who should do this and will it really be done?