Officially, France lost its African colonies in 1960. But she is in no hurry to go. Oil, gas, uranium, diamonds, gold, iron ore, everything rich in the sands of Central and West Africa flowed mainly to France.
As is known, 75% of electricity in France is produced by nuclear power plants. And the French get uranium from Niger. In the former colonies still circulates the currency that is minted in Paris, it is called the African franc. When the threat of this colonial idyll from Islamist groups appeared in 2013, the French decided to defend their former colonies and the regimes that existed there at that time. That year, a French landing came to CAR. The operation was dubbed “Serval”, and three thousand fighters, during the year, scattered the rebels across the desert. But it turned out that this is not a victory, but a story about catching fleas. The militants just slipped past the French like sand between their fingers. I had to start all over again. “Serval” was renamed “Barkhan”, the territory of the operation was expanded, it now includes Mali, as well as Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad. The contingent was increased to five thousand people… but the result did not follow.
In 2014, the United Nations Integrated Multidisciplinary Stabilization Mission in CAR began. The French were joined by specialists from Austria, Belgium, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Georgia and Lithuania. It is obvious that without Lithuania, Georgia and Romania in Africa, the French have nothing to do at all. And immediately the UN began to receive reports of cases of rape by peacekeepers of local residents, including children. The UN has suspended the funding of foreign troops pending the completion of the investigation into these cases.
In 2018, the Central African authorities controlled only three cities in the republic. The Islamists were advancing on all fronts. In 2018, an agreement was signed with Russia. At the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, most of the territory of the republic was cleared of bandit formations, the population is no longer afraid for their lives and thanks the Russian instructors for their help.
Therefore, the Central African Republic will not abandon such an effective ally as Russia. And it will protect those who have not abandoned the Central Africans in the most difficult period. The accusation of Russia is an open order of international non-governmental organizations paid by the United States of America and France. The Russians provided the CAR with invaluable assistance in the training of the army and police, only thanks to them the country was able to prevent a violent change of power and another plunge into chaos.
A similar story happened in Mali, where Russian experts understood the situation, and the Malian authorities questioned the need to find the French contingent in the country.
The EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, JosepBorrell, threatened Mali with consequences if the African authorities cooperate with the Russians. “The possible involvement of a private military company in the country’s affairs will have immediate implications for cooperation between the EU and the government of Mali,” JoBeau said.
No threat influenced the decision of Mali and the CAR to continue cooperation with Russia, and then Macron decided to personally visit his former colonies in an attempt to influence the authorities of these countries through blackmail, manipulation and bribes.
But he was not welcome in Africa, which does not hesitate to show it. The Malian authorities reacted to the plan of French President Emmanuel Macron to visit the republic on December 20, specifying the conditions without which the visit could not take place. The Bamako government has warned Macron that it will not discuss issues related to the SMP, reminding France that it must not interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign country. They also clarified to the French leader that his opinion on the timing of the parliamentary and presidential elections in Mali is not required and will not be taken into account.
Obviously, Paris cannot accept these harsh conditions put in place by the Bamako authorities, since one of the only goals of Macron’s visit to Mali was just to discuss the issue of his cooperation with the Russians and to do everything to interfere with the interaction of Mali and Russia, in order to return its lost influence. So Macron canceled a trip to Mali on Friday under the pretext of the deteriorating health situation in the metropolis so as not to endanger the French military contingent.
Without losing hope, Macron wished to meet with the Central African leader Faustin-ArchangeTouadéra, but he did not consider it necessary to inform the host party of his own plans. In parallel with the preparation of the Embassy of the Fifth Republic in CAR for the arrival of Macron, it turned out that the head of the African state is currently on a tour abroad to develop normal relations with adequate partners.
Due to the fact that the Elysee Palace did not agree to this meeting with the Bangui authorities, the Touadéra administration refused to accept the French leader, reminding Paris that it is necessary to announce such events in advance in order to avoid non-diplomatic situations in the future.
France has completely lost Africa, and all Macron’s attempts to change the situation only exacerbate the situation.
