THE LOVE AFFAIR WITH FRANÇAFRIQUE (French Africa)

Exploring the strategic occupation of African countries colonised by France and why they still can’t let go, 60+ years on.

A THREAD

I’ve written this thread & article because I came across a term: ‘Françafrique’ & thought, it sounded quite bold to say the least. It’s said to have been coined by Charles de Gaulle, but when I stumbled upon it was in use by Felix Houphouët-Boigny, 1st President of Ivory Coast

Upon more digging, a picture started to reveal itself to me, of France having quite a unique relationship with its African colonies, than all others I have written about

I’ve written a detailed blog post with sources on this topic, which will be linked at the end of this thread.

I recently published an article about Britain’s colonial mind, and in that thread I mentioned how the French took a paternal role in their colonies. They wanted to make French people out of Africans, and essentially explains French sovereignty to the continent. Keep this in mind.

I don’t want to take Houphouët-Boigny‘s use of the term ‘Françafrique’ our of context, because he used it to describe Ivory Coast’s close relations to France. But it struck me as internalised oppression, like the ownership by France had become internalised (1/2)

(2/2) In this thread and article (linked at the end) I will outline some of France’s pre and post colonial activities. And we will explore how they still try to maintain hold over their ex-colonies in the name of “relations”...

Because they are the number 1 culprit.

(1) THE NOTION OF FRANÇAFRIQUE

So firstly I think we should take a look at where France got their grubby hands on throughout the continent.

Below is a list of French Colonial African countries

As the scramble of Africa commenced in the late 1880’s, had initially conquered Senegal and went on to conquer large surrounding areas, to add to the existing colony. These territories were controlled by officers and dubbed “Military Territories” (Benneyworth, 2011)

Charles de Gaulle, former French President & soldier believed that ‘‘that French world power and French power in Africa were inextricably linked and mutually confirming’’. Meaning he believed that the French needed to be powerful in Africa to maintain power worldwide (1/3)

De Gaulle aimed to maintain the French hold, through his Communauté Franco-Africaine (African Franco Community) policy. In desperate measures, one of the ways to keep the colonial ties were through threatening African countries with the same fate as Guinea. I’ll explain (2/3)

Brave Sékou Tourè, was a nationalist Guinean politician who spearheaded the removal of French rule.

Guinea were punished for this. French administration took to removing every thing of value which represented what they called the benefits from French colonisation.

The purpose of this outrageous act was to send a clear message to all colonies. The consequences for rejecting would be very high.

After the Guinea events, none found courage to follow Touré’s example, whose slogan was:

“We prefer freedom in poverty to opulence in slavery.”

BUT, What's important, is that De Gaulle wasn’t deluded in his assertions. Africans knew they were the force holding up the mighty France. An example, can be shown a painting by an artist from the Republic of Congo called Frederic Trigo Piula, & the piece was called ‘Ngollowa’

In the painting, De Gaulle is held up by two Africans. With no arms & no legs on the torso, he relies on the support of the Africans to hold him up... it’s symbolic.

1 of them is Felix Eboue of Chad, who helped put the weight of African colonies behind the Free France movement

The second figure holding up De Gaulle is what was known as a Senegalese 'Tirailleur ' - which was a branch of the French army composed of Africans. In my next blog post, we will get to explore more about the black army employed by France, so watch this space.

In Piula's painting, he reimagines a concept of a painter Eugène Delacroix's work titled 'Liberty Leading the People'. In Piula's version, the background displays native Congolese people charging through, holding up the flag of the Republic of CongoBelow are the two images

I watched a great video on this painting on YouTube, it is not too long but includes more detail about this painting of De Gaulle, the video can be watched here. It is linked at the bottom of the blog post along with all other sources, if you want to watch it.

I say all that to say, although France accepted decolonisation, the relationship with their former colonies was something that they did not want to dissolve. ‘‘decolonisation did not mark an end, but rather a restructuring of the imperial relationship’’ (Charbonneau 2008, p.281)

We see this in Françafrique today, through the political, security, economic and cultural relations that although may be withered, are still a fundamental line of connection between France and its previous 'objects'.

This is the end of the first section.

(2) THE COLONIAL CORNERSTONE OF THE FRENCH

Just like many other European countries who are audacious and whose foundations are built upon imperialist views, France took to colonising Africa to "civilise". I think I‘ve read that reasoning so many times it is exhausting (1/2)

The French called their colonial mission "Mission Civilisatrice". In efforts to "civilise" African societies, the French committed to the development of infrastructure, especially in railway transportation and healthcare provision.

But bare in mind, these improvements were carried out by natives who were coerced into forced labour. Beyond all this, the French truly believed that they had an edge over their European counterparts (cont)

... They swore they were improving the quality of life of African natives, through social engineering, politics and education, but often in the promotion of French interests - nothing new

The French were the most delusional colonisers IMO. They were audacious enough, to claim that their developing of infrastructure was an incentive to instil a "productive work ethic into the workshy natives"(Conklin 1998, p.438) who told the French that Africans didn’t work? Pls?

Throughout their colonising of Africa, the contradicted themselves by declaring a decree in 1912 which called for greater respect of the legal customs of West African groups. So long as it did not conflict with French standards of ‘civilisation’...what was the point then?

So, the allowed Africans to live by "their own law" so long as African people did not divulge from the ideal behaviour that was deemed acceptable by the French.They wanted Africans to idolise them & their values, so complete autonomy over legal customs was never on the cards.

Ultimately, the French deemed African chiefs as 'tyrannical and in need of liberation'. Similar to how the British did, the French still used methods of indirect rule, to hand pick chiefs. They needed *some* chiefs, to assist in tax collection & enforcement of French regulations.

What was hoping for was full assimilation into African societies, through cultural & linguistic agenda. Almost like creating another in Africa. That rubs me the wrong way!! It’s very rich, to eliminate a countries identity to make a home away from home for yourself.

Despite this disturbing need to convert Africans into an extension of the French. They failed miserably in their assimilation targets because they never provided Africans with adequate resources or educational programming anyway (1/2)

(2/2)... Up to 1950, the illiteracy rates in French colonial countries were between 95-99% (Cumming 2006).

Why did they not actually educate these African people up the same standard? I’ll leave you to come to your own conclusion as to why you think that is.

So, we’ve established that wanted to create a mini world that subscribed to French idealistic values. This protective mentality that France took, formed a strong connection with its colonies, ensuring French intent to maintain future influence on them.

(3) THE GHOST OF COLONIAL FRANCE

have been criticised for their interference in the events of their ex-colonies, particularly where politics & economics are involved; old habits die hard when French interests are concerned. Below are some examples of interference (cont)

- 2009 Gabon presidential election, France accused of allowing Ali Bongo to defraud the electorate, continuing oil-wealth plundering, anti-democratic ways of his father Omar

- Elf-Aquitaine, influenced Congo parliamentary elections by denying essential loans to the country..

- Another example of France's political & military interferences is the 1994 Rwandan genocide French forces facilitated the training and expansion of the Forces Armées Rwandaises from 1990-1993, and provided huge shipments of arms (McNulty 2000, pp. 109–110) (1/2)

(2/2) Though "stabilisation" was the primary motivation of their interference. France effectively if unwittingly helped militarise Rwanda, prior to a pre-planned massacre.

Given these examples, it is little wonder why the Franco-African environment is deemed ripe for "entrenching mutually beneficial relationships and influence". From the early ties between Houphouët-Boigny and , to President Sarkozy’s constant trips to former colonies..

These shady relations do not only frustrate Africans, but also diplomats, such as Jean-Christophe Rufin, stated that ‘‘the old, shadowy, compromising, cynical habits of trading political & business favours has just gotten more manipulative and opaque’’ - & I completely agree.

(4) THE RELUCTANT WITHDRAW

Just when you want to give France, some credit, they continue to display how reluctant they are, to let go of their colonial influence. After the cold war, France did show some recognition that some of their military deployments were redundant (1/2)

(2/2) With the exception of forces stationed in "politically volatile countries"...

What does deem as a “politically volatile country” if that’s all thats holding them back from deploying thousands of troops , then almost every African country is at risk of France knocking.

comprised a Rapid Action Force (La Force d’action rapide) - a 44,500 man force EST. in 1993 for military response.

In 2016, France kept a rapid reaction force in Central African Republic for "after it's mission ended in the troubled country" said Francois Hollande

Between 1997 & 2002, France launched 33 operations in Africa, even though 10 of those had mandates that fell under the command of the UN. Still France insisted that they intervene, suggesting that “broader humanitarian concerns have become increasingly important to France”.

France NEEDS to improve its image. So it has been accepting of certain withdrawals, in pursuit of MINDING THEIR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!

They removed 1200 troops & transferred base sovereignty to Senegal in 2010. Imagine, they gave a country control of its OWN region, Unbelievable.

Yet, a coloniser will always be a coloniser, and their shenanigans in CAR (2016) is similar to a previous stunt they pulled in Ivory Coast when forces, under Force Licorne, assisted in overthrowing Laurent Gbagbo, albeit with UN endorsement in 2010-11

When will they learn?

To conclude, France has successfully used its security presence since decolonisation to exert influence in African countries where it still has interests. They have desperately clung onto maintaining both regional hegemony and its own vision of order and stability (1/2)

(2/2) While the interest in Africa is still potent, initiatives by the African Union threaten to weaken France’s interventionist reflex. The 2004 creation of the Peace & Security Council & its African Standby Force to “allow Africans to intervene in their own affairs”

That the end of this thread! Thank you for reading as it was a lengthy one!

I have written a detailed blog post on this with alot more info and sources throughout. Apologies I couldn’t fit it all into the thread.

You can read it here: http://ssozinha.com/post/loveaffairwithfrancafrique

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