Between Africa and France, is the divorce consummated? Thursday, February 17, Emmanuel Macron announced that France and its partners involved in the fight against jihadist groups in the Sahel have decided to withdraw their military forces from Mali, now judging it impossible to cooperate with the Malian junta, after nine years of anti-jihadist struggle led by Paris. Mali, Burkina, Senegal, Niger… the reputation of France in recent years has continued to deteriorate in French-speaking Africa.
>> End of Operation Barkhane: in Burkina Faso, the withdrawal of French troops worries as much as it pleases
At the start of his mandate, Emmanuel Macron had however promised, in a speech at the University of Ouagadougou, a new partnership between France and Africa. Five years later, the account is not there, according to the Burkinabés.
The proof at the entrance of the university Joseph Ki-Zerbo, in Ouagadougou. On the wall in front of us, this graffiti : “Down with Macron !” “France nowadays in Africa does not please us at all, assures a passerby. ‘Down with Macron’, because we were very disappointed by the presence of France, even in Africa ! We are not against the French people. No, it is French policy that is bad. They just have to review their copy !“
The anger against the presence of France crystallized on the Barkhane force. 4 600 French soldiers are still mobilized in this operation today. 2 000 are in Mali, half of them in Gao, in the center of the country. The dismantling of the military base on site is expected to take between eight months and a year. The Barkhane system must be transformed with a reduction in staff, and their redeployment in other African countries which are facing a rise in jihadism, such as Benin. It should also mobilize less funds, while the Barkhane operation has so far cost around one billion euros per year.
Since the start of Operation Barkhane in 2013, 58 French soldiers have died in Mali, including 53 in combat actions, and several hundred have been injured.
“When we say that France came, they help, they help… On the ground, what is the result? We don’t see the real results !” assures Roland Bayala, member of the Coalition of African Patriots of Burkina Faso (Copa-BF). On social networks, we wonder. We can thus read messages such as:How is one of the most powerful armies in the world unable to overcome columns of jihadists on motorcycles?“Some even suspect Barkhane of arming terrorists to stir up violence.
“The little Frenchman, who is at home and manages to have light 24 hours a day, he has light thanks to the exploitation of uranium. Africa has enormous resources. If France does not fight the jihadists, it is because it is there for something“, suspect Roland Bayala.
Defence, cooperation, CFA franc… Exasperated to hear their leaders reporting on the partnerships forged after Independence all the ills of society, young Africans are calling for a reset. “It’s not ‘France only’, it’s not unique. No state imposes anything on another, we’re fed up now“, insists Anaïs Drabo, one of the figures who shakes Burkinabe civil society.
“We want real independence, we’re fed up now.”
Anais Draboat franceinfo
And while Barkhane is being pushed to leave Mali, no one refuses on principle to resort to Russia and its militiamen. “Provided that it is not the French army!” we hear under the mango trees, along the water reservoir that irrigates Ouagadougou. Abdallah, machine driver, gets annoyed: “The States go to the Russians just for the pleasure of challenging France, the almighty France, the unshakable France… Just for the pleasure of causing France insomnia.“
For Adama Taoré, one of the university students, the observation is simple: “The pot is old, the pot that cooks between France and African countries is old. What’s inside is charred. You have to scrub that, it’s dirty!” Cleaning up policies, starting afresh, restoring the confidence of a population 95% born after Independence.