Kerosi Blog

Last year, a diplomatic row erupted between Italy and France over the issue of immigration with the Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio accusing France of impoverishing African countries. He stated that “If today we still have people leaving Africa, it is due to several European countries, first of all France, that didn’t finish colonizing Africa”.

Is France a barrier to successful African development and sovereignty?

The Deputy Prime Minister stated that fourteen African countries were still using the CFA franc, a currency underwritten by the French Treasury and pegged to the Euro courtesy of France. He added that France could only make as the 15^th largest world economy if it were not for the manipulation of these economies.

The contribution of over a million solders to the defeat of Nazism and Fascism in World War II, is underestimated by France. It has always taken for granted the reuse of Africans in case of military threat. After independence, France held on to its colonies to both maintain a last citadel of imperial prestige and serve its interests.

Why can’t the African leaders stop this?

They are corrupt. And even if they wanted to be honest, they won’t be able.

After World War II, the colonial agreement maintained the French control over the foreign currency reserves of their former African colonies, control strategic raw materials, stationed troops in these countries with the right of free passage, mandated acquisition of all military equipment from France, took over training of both army and police, French monopoly enterprises in key areas (water, electricity, ports, transport and energy among others), set limits to the maximum import from non-franc zones and minimum imports from France.

With these treaties still operational, this policy of dependence has led to dependence on the French economy; the French military; and the open-door policy for French private enterprise with the sole control of the French president.

Today, fourteen countries from Africa namely Congo-Brazzaville, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon , Niger, Mali, Central African Republic, Senegal, Cameroon, Guinea Bissau, Togo, Chad and Equatorial Guinea are forced to pay a colonial debt by having their national reserves approximated at $500 billion annually held by Central Bank of France. Besides, these African countries do not have access to this money.

Do the French citizens know they are living off the toil of African people and have been doing so for the last half a century?

These former colonies are forced to put 65% of their foreign currency reserves into the French Treasury, plus another 20% for financial liabilities, thus leaving them access to only 15% of their own money. If they need more money they have to borrow their own money from France at market rates. Therefore, the African states listed above are indirectly French taxpayers but do not benefit from public services in France that their money pays for.

France has the right to deploy military to these African countries to defend its interests, first right to buy natural resources and her companies are given preference in public procurement.

France has had six presidents in the last six decades who have done nothing to change the status quo. The former colonizer still has too much negative influence in Francophone Africa. France has maintained her neocolonial policies in Africa.

To safeguard its interests, France has continued its grip on African soil by all means including military interventions, surveillance operations and countless semi-permanent military campaigns with the recent one being Operation Barkhane spanning over five countries involving over 5,000 personnel with their headquarters in Chad. Notably, airports and ports are of great importance to ensure their flow of personnel and weaponry.

France thwarted Muhammar Gaddafi’s attempt to create a gold-backed African currency to usurp Frances’ dominance in Francophone Africa. Armed with one hundred and forty-three tons of gold and a similar amount of silver, it was enough threat to the CFA franc.

It’s evident that policies portrayed as promoting stability and development can be factors of instability, dependency, domination and subordination. When Guinea demanded independence in 1958, France unleashed its fury destroying schools, nurseries, public administration buildings, cars, books, medicine, research institutes, instruments, tractors; animals were killed and food in warehouses was burnt or poisoned. This was meant to send a clear message to other colonies that the consequences for rejecting France would be high.

In March 2008, former French President Jacques Chirac was quoted saying that: “Without Africa, France will slide down into the rank of a third world power”. Chirac’s predecessor François Mitterrand prophesied in 1957 that: “Without Africa, France will have no history in the 21^st  Century”.

With a majority of Africans upholding that the French have been at the forefront in the enslavement, colonization and raping of the continent by stealing gold, diamonds and other natural resources, France has no option but strive to improve its image amidst a buildup of sentiments of its involvement in the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

The French ideals of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” dating back to the French revolution seem not to hold any water wherever its interests are at stake. This could have long been an assignment to The United Nations and the European Union but sadly has not and still France is portrayed as an exploiter imparting neocolonialism as a pretext for discrimination.