French Influence Wanes in Africa: Drivers and Outcomes
2024-06-28511 view
When France withdrew militarily and administratively from its African colonies in the middle of the 20th century, they celebrated their new-found independence. Yet the reality was that Paris was able, through unconventional means, to continue exerting political, military, economic and cultural dominance over its former colonies, giving it a seat at the top table in the international system. Yet in recent years, French influence across Africa has undergone a sharp decline, in favor of rival and sometimes hostile regional and international powers.
The reasons for this decline are many and varied. They include the policies of France itself, those of its rivals and competitors, the emergence of new generations of African elites, and the ineptitude of client governments under French patronage. Along with other factors, this has stoked a growing desire among new African elites to diversify their international partnerships and break away from the bonds of dependency and unilateral French hegemony.
This paper examines the rise and fall of French influence in Africa, in order to identify the key factors in its decline and understand the implications for the future.
Over the course of the 19th century, France colonized large parts of Africa, establishing a presence in all regions of the continent except the far south. With the rise of national liberation movements, managing these colonies became increasingly burdensome, and France relinquished military and administrative control of them. But it continued to exert its influence there through neo-colonial policies, by means of local agents and non-military mechanisms, while continuing to intervene militarily under cover of cooperation or humanitarian efforts.
These neo-colonial policies in its former colonies have served France’s interests at many levels: political, military, economic and cultural. Indeed, in some cases, these have include fundamental national interests. It is clear that without this influence, France will not continue to enjoyed the position of power it currently enjoys in the emerging international order.
French influence in Africa is based on several pillars: co-opting the ruling political elite, maintaining a military presence and staging military interventions, maintaining economic hegemony, and promoting French social and cultural penetration. These pillars have ensured ongoing French influence in Africa over the past six decades, which has in turn played a central role in advancing French prestige and power on the global stage.
Yet the past decade has seen a striking decline in French influence on the African continent, including in countries whose potential departure from the French orbit simply never occurred to decision-makers in Paris—such as the Central African Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Moreover, strong evidence suggests that the desire for more independence from France is growing in other countries, such as Chad, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau, and Gabon.
This trend is fueled by several factors, most notably France’s failure—or unwillingness—to offer solutions to worsening problems in African societies, such as terrorism, economic imbalances, the spread of poverty, and declining public services. These factors are compounded by the emergence of new rivals to France in the African arena, giving African governments a greater margin of maneuver and opportunities for more diverse partnerships, while adding to the momentum of anti-colonial movements in a domino-like dynamic.
Given all this, the French experience in Africa merits serious attention, in order to identify where France retains influence and the nature of its interests there, as well as to understand the decline of its clout on the continent, identify its main rivals there, and to anticipate the consequences of this shift.
Conclusion
As states compete for influence within the international system, multiple factors have united to inflict unprecedented losses on French influence in Africa. Some of these factors stem from France’s own errors, while others relate to deteriorating conditions within African societies and economies and the multiple rivals to French influence in the African arena. This decline has inflicted considerable losses on France: four African countries—the Central African Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger—have canceled all bilateral agreements and reduced their ties with France to the bare minimum.
The significance of this blow to France’s influence in Africa is hard to overstate. Its relations with these four countries were a basic pillar of its strategy in Africa. The decline of French standing with these states amounts to the loss of the majority of its influence in Africa. It is also likely to serve as a significant catalyst for similar setbacks throughout the continent.
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