What is the Secret of the Synchronization of Demonstrations Against France in Three African Countries?

Repeated demonstrations against the French presence in some Sahel countries warn of a "real revolution" or a second wave against imperialism or Western colonialism.

This came after young men demonstrated in Mali on May 14, 2022, to assert their support for their country's army, whose leaders are adopting a strategy against French interests.

Hours later, Chad’s youth went out in hundreds of thousands for the same purpose, and Burkina Faso organized a third demonstration for the same reason.

Demonstrations against the French presence took place in Chad on May 15th, with hundreds participating, under the slogan "France steals the bounties of our country" and accused Paris of supporting its ruling military junta.

The demonstrators chanted slogans including "France go" and "No to colonialism," burning at least two flags and vandalizing several gas stations as a French symbol.

 

Causes of Anger

These mass demonstrations against France in Mali, Chad, and Burkina Faso signal the beginning of what might be called the "second wave" of western colonialism in Africa.

Africans are aware that this colonialism is not only military but economic, financial, and cultural, and seeks to uproot it, stop France's plundering of their wealth, bulldoze their culture and control their political will through politicians and coup d'état loyal to it.

Not only did African countries be linked to a military coup group serving France's interests, but it spilled the blood of Africans through the "French franc game."

After colonialism, France sought to link the economies of its colonies to its economy by a currency called the French franc or African franc, which enshrined dependence on colonialism.

The French Treasury has asked African banks to deposit half of their cash reserves and transfer capital from the franc zone to France, not the other way around, subject to the monetary policy of these African countries, so they remained colonized by economic force.

Ironically, while Paris supports Chad’s military council and supports it against the people angry at it, it is hostile to the popularly backed Malian Council and is fighting the people of Burkina Faso who are demanding it leaves their country.

Paris supported Chad's military junta, which inherited power under the leadership of Mohamed, the son of former President Idriss Deby, who was killed in fighting with rebels on April 19, 2021, and allowed them to organize elections whenever they saw fit.

In contrast, France, along with the European Union, imposed sanctions on Mali's military council because the ruler there is hostile to its hegemony and rejects the presence of its forces in his country and its control over the country's resources.

This paradox has led to growing anger against the French presence, protests, and confrontations in several African regions and countries, some of which are demanding the withdrawal of French troops and the end of colonialism, which is draining their wealth. Simultaneously, the people of Mali and Chad demonstrated against France.

Paris stood with the regime in Chad because it was loyal to it and suppressed the people's protests against France while taking an anti-Malian stance because they stood with popular demands against colonialism.

Demonstrations by the people of Chad and Mali against France on May 14, 2022, were in order to denounce French influence in the country and demand an end to the continuing "colonialism."

In Chad, they denounced France's support for the military junta led by Mohamed Deby (Kaka), who came to power after the assassination of his father, former President Idriss Deby, and in response to Paris's announcement of its intention to establish additional military bases for its forces in Chad.

They chanted: "Chad is free, France is abroad," burned the flags of France, and attacked the gas stations of Total, the symbol of the continued "French colonialism" of the country, as well as attacked a military base of French forces in the east of the country, and confronted them with the security of the pro-French military regime.

In Mali, they went out for the same purpose against France, in support of the military council, because those who carried out the coup d’état of Mali on May 21, 2021, raised the slogan against the French presence in their country and took steps to reduce France's influence in the country and expelled its ambassador and troops.

In conjunction with these popular demonstrations, Mali announced the failure of a coup attempt carried out by a "small group of the army" on the evening of May 11-12, 2022, accusing a "Western country," referring to France.

On May 2, 2022, Mali canceled defense agreements with France and its European partners, denouncing "flagrant violations" of national sovereignty by French forces in the country and its "numerous breaches" of financial airspace.

The similarities between the mass demonstrations in Chad and those preceded by the streets in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Central Africa clearly indicated the decline of the French presence in those countries.

The demonstrators not only chanted against France to leave their country but deliberately waved the flags of other countries such as Russia, as happened in Mali and Burkina Faso.

Following Mali’s May 2021 coup, which brought about an anti-French military council, thousands demonstrated with chants and slogans against France, demanding the withdrawal of its troops, Russian military intervention in their country, and raising Russian flags.

When Burkina Faso's uprising against the presence of Paris began five months later on November 22, 2021, demonstrators chanted "We want France out," "We say to the French army: Go home," and also waved Russian flags.

The demonstrations were followed by a slap in the face of a military coup on January 24, 2022, which further confused France and dealt it another blow, in addition to popular rejection in those countries.

 

Five Reasons

Burkina Faso's coup, after Mali, was the fourth in the five Sahel countries that represented a difficult problem for Paris, because it found itself faced with four coup d'état regimes, out of a military-led Group of Five that did not conform to its policies in the region.

Chad's demonstrations against it on May 16, 2022, were deeply disturbed by the military junta there because it was the only one of five military councils governing The Sahel (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger).

It feared that the financial scenario in Chad would be repeated, with the throats of the demonstrators rising by requesting their expulsion outside the latter country, and they were also waving Russian flags.

Many recent facts have shown that France faces a dilemma in its relationship with its former African colonies, not only Mali, Burkina Faso, and Chad, but also Niger and Senegal.

These tensions in the relationship have led to a clear increase in African anti-French sentiment, and because of them the increase in popular and social movements against the French presence.

Cairo University Professor of African Studies Hamdi Abdel Rahman monitors five reasons for African anger at France, or what he calls the "end of French time in Africa," according to a study published May 15th on The African Readings.

The first is a dilemma faced by the France Afrique Network, formed by former President Charles de Gaulle to maintain the French presence in the former colonies, and France’s African backyard.

Paris has maintained an outdated vision of its African policy of blackmailing the continent, plundering its bounties, and transferring it to France, and has forgotten that other international powers have emerged in Africa competing for control and influence and African leaders are turning to them.

Second, former President François Hollande's "decline in French economic diplomacy," Africa accounts for only 2.4 percent of French foreign trade according to 2018 figures, compared with 35 percent after independence.

African economic relations began to flourish with other countries such as Germany, and problems emerged between African countries and French companies, which led to the cancellation or seizure of the concessions of these companies, as happened in Gabon.

France's influence in maintaining its financial presence in the "franc zone" countries has also been influenced, even after growing popular calls for a way out of the system and the introduction of the single currency in West Africa in 2027.

The third reason for the African mood coup against France is the "geopolitical restructuring of the continent."

Recent waves of coups in the Sahel and West Africa, linked to the economic crisis and the escalating "terrorist tide" of transformation of other international partners, have prompted a shift, Abdel Rahman said.

This clearly reflected the emergence of new populist rhetoric in the region against France and in favor of the Russian presence, as reflected in the experience of the Malian State, and the portrayal of military leaders as defenders of the independence and sovereignty of their country in the face of French rhetoric.

The "Ukrainian war and the transformations of the international system" were the fourth reason for this shift in the African popular mood against France after the terms and content of the international agenda were radically changed.

Africa decided, by a large majority, not to choose to align itself with any Western or Eastern party or camp, as demonstrated by the voting trends of its States at the United Nations, and to seek its interests.

Another fifth reason for this fall that France is in Africa for its influence is the "militarization of French politics," because Paris has continued to behave with the continent with the same logic as the colonizer and military power.

Paris has continued to support repressive military regimes loyal to it and is dealing with the African continent through military bases and cooperation agreements with its armies that are not accountable or transparent.

This militarization was created in the collective African unconscious region in rejection of France and its modus operandi. This explains the anger, demonstrations, and clashes with French forces in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Chad.