Emmanuel Macron and Françafrique

This week, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron made a trip to Africa. He gave a speech denouncing neocolonialist practices. In Gabon, he even specified: “The age of Françafrique is over.”

“La Françafrique”: the expression refers to a system set up by one of General de Gaulle’s close advisers, Jacques Foccart. It was he who was responsible for monitoring this area after the return to power of the Gaullists in 1958. With businessmen, heads of state, and the support of the secret services, Foccart was running an entire economy with the development aid from France, corruption of local elites and kickbacks to French parties. This system was perpetuated with more or less force until the 2000s. The presidency of François Hollande began a turning point and that of François Mitterrand had partly modified the flows.

With Emmanuel Macron, everything would be different. The president refuses any nostalgia for this era and for that of colonization. But he also refuses to present a solemn apology which could mark the end of this painful story.

In fact, the president would like to reduce the French military presence in Africa to break with the look of the police that it symbolizes. And, instead, encourage companies to invest more in the continent. But since 2017, this strategy has hardly worked and France continues to lose market share, in particular to the benefit of China and Russia, which imagine themselves creating a “Chinafrica” ​​and a “Russafrique”.