Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Emmanuel Macron was the recipient of a letter on Monday from nearly 100 senators from across France\u2019s political spectrum. The signatories lamented the \u2018failures and setbacks\u2019 of the Republic\u2019s policy in Africa in recent years and called on the president to rethink French strategy on the continent. Listing some of these failures \u2013 the rejection of France by Mali, the Central African Republic, Burkina Faso and, most recently, Niger \u2013 the cross-party group warned that there could be more trouble in store in the Ivory Coast and Senegal, where anti-French sentiment is growing.<\/p>\nThen there is North Africa, where relations with Morocco and Tunisia aren\u2019t what they were and, in the case of Algeria, they are positively hostile.<\/p>\n
Some of this of deterioration can be attributed to Russian interference \u2013 on a recent visit to Moscow, Algerian president Abdelmadjid Tebboune called Vladimir Putin a \u2018friend of humanity\u2019. But France also bears some of the responsibility for its waning influence.<\/p>\n
The 94 senators emphasised that they weren\u2019t pining for the days of \u2018Franc\u0327afrique\u2019 but they did seek enlightenment on what, if any, strategy Macron had in Africa. Militarily, culturally and linguistically, France seems to be withdrawing from the continent and consequently, stated the letter, \u2018yesterday\u2019s Franc\u0327afrique has been replaced by military Russafrique, economic Chinafrique or diplomatic Ame\u0301ricafrique.\u2019<\/p>\n
Se\u0301bastien Lecornu, France\u2019s Minister for the Armed Forces, responded to the letter on behalf of the military, rejecting the notion that Operation Barkhane \u2013 which the senators criticised \u2013 had been a defeat. The anti-jihadist operation, launched in the Sahel region of Africa by president Francois Hollande in August 2014 \u2013 and which also involved a small British military presence \u2013 officially ended last November, having cost the lives of 58 soldiers. \u2018Barkhane was not a failure, it\u2019s wrong to say that\u2019, Lecornu told Le Figaro. \u2018Was there a military failure? The answer is no, the French army was not defeated. Was there a political failure? It is to France\u2019s credit that it fought terrorism. I never forget that we lost 58 soldiers.\u2019<\/p>\n
That didn\u2019t answer the question of whether Operation Barkhane was a political failure.<\/p>\n
Even Macron\u2019s staunchest supporters \u2013 of which there are increasingly few in France \u2013 would be hard-pressed to say he has been successful in Africa. And yet he has channelled much of his energy into re-establishing French influence on the continent. He made his first visit to Africa in May 2017, barely a fortnight after his election as president, and there have been 17 more sorties south to press the flesh with various heads of state.<\/p>\n
In March this year Macron \u2013 on the eve of another trip to Africa \u2013 spoke from the Elyse\u0301e Palace of a new \u2018vision of a partnership with African countries.\u2019 This entailed reducing France\u2019s military presence, but the president stressed the move should not be seen as \u2018a withdrawal or disengagement\u2019. It was simply a change in approach, \u2018to cooperate differently\u2019.<\/p>\n
This approach has been instigated by Macron, and Macron alone, which may explain its abject failure. Last year he replaced his veteran Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian with Catherine Colonna, the former ambassador to the UK, thereby losing a vastly experienced diplomat who was well versed in African politics.<\/p>\n
On top of that decision, Macron also announced a controversial reform of the diplomatic corps (the third largest in the world behind the USA and China) phasing out plenipotentiary ambassadors and foreign affairs advisers and replacing them with a new state corps. The changes, which will take effect later this year, will mean that senior civil servants no longer spend their career in a specific post but will be transferred at regular intervals.<\/p>\n
The reform prompted a rare strike by diplomats, who believe it will undermine knowledge and expertise in countries that has been cultivated over many years. Le Drian was said to have expressed his \u2018reservations\u2019 about the shake-up.<\/p>\n
In assessing the reform, America\u2019s Foreign Policy Research Institute, concluded that Macron has taken \u2018little consideration of the opinions of those involved and even less of his opponents… creating a sense of disenchantment and confusion.\u2019<\/p>\n
In his speech from the Elyse\u0301e earlier this year, Macron declared it his ambition to usher in a new dawn of cooperation between France and Africa, one built on \u2018respectful, balanced and responsible relations, to fight together for common causes, defend our interests and help African countries to succeed.\u2019<\/p>\n
But it seems increasingly that Africa doesn\u2019t want France\u2019s help any longer. As the 94 senators pointed out in their letter, the age of Franc\u0327afrique is over and it is China, Russia and America now scrambling for Africa.<\/p>\n
For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gavin Mortimer Africa-Press – Rwanda. Emmanuel Macron was the recipient of a letter on Monday from nearly 100 senators from across France\u2019s political spectrum. The signatories lamented the \u2018failures and setbacks\u2019 of the Republic\u2019s policy in Africa in recent years and called on the president to rethink French strategy on the continent. Listing some of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":49620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-49621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\n
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