FRANCAFRIQUE - FROM IMPERIALISM TO CULTURAL DIPLOMACY, A STUDY OF FRENCH INTERVENTION IN AFRICA.

Perhaps the most telling insight into the French political establishments’ view of its former African colonies was given by former president Jacques Chirac when he said: “Without Africa, France would become a third-rate power”. While this statement certainly overstates the impact Africa has on France’s international standing, it is telling into the French mindset. France’s relationship with its former colonies followed a markedly different path than it’s fellow European imperial powers. After the Second World War, it had become clear that Europe could no longer keep Africa under its colonial grip. With their economies destroyed and local demands for independence gaining traction, the situation had become unsustainable for the main European colonial powers. There were notable exceptions to this. France sought to maintain it’s holding on Algeria, which, unlike its other African colonies, was considered an integral part of metropolitan France. The Iberian dictatorships of Spain and Portugal both fought violent wars of national liberation. However, in general, most countries

accepted that colonialism must come to an end.

The different ways these colonial powers went about decolonisation shaped their relationship with Africa to this day. Great Britain mostly opted for a hard break with their formal dependencies. They tended to either leave entirely or try to hold on to their colonial holding through force. This was the case in Kenya, where the British spent years trying to suppress the Mau Mau uprising. While Britain can boast of the Commonwealth of Nations, the ties to its former colonies are primarily symbolic. France, on the other hand, opted for a third way besides completely breaking off ties or trying to maintain total control through force. In 1960, the French offered their colonies a choice: a clean break or independence while maintaining close ties through a new French Community. In the end, only Guinea would opt for a complete break with its former colonial masters.

In all the rest of France’s colonies, direct control would be replaced by a more subtle form of “Francafrique”. This was a strategy devised by Charles de Gaulle to ensure France maintained substantial influence in Africa. The most blatant form of France continuing to call the shots in its supposedly independent colonies was through the CFA Franc. The CFA Franc is a currency used only in West Africa, yet it controlled by the French treasury. While it does provide monetary stability to developing countries, it has been criticised since it means that these African countries have no say in deciding their monetary policy. It also leads to the humiliating situation of African countries having to ask their former colonial master for permission to borrow what is supposed to be their currency. There are also strong business and economic links, frequently associated with corruption, that maintains strong ties between France and its former African colonies.

A less visible but still important form of French influence is cultural and linguistic promotes its language as a vehicle of soft power. In typical French fashion, this is done diplomacy. France is unique among former European colonial powers in that it actively

through a centralised government institution: The International Organisation of La and education. Elected in 2017, President Emmanuel Macron has taken this policy to Francophonie. Its primary purpose is to promote the French language through media

new heights. He plans to spend hundreds of millions of euros to boost the French investments in Africa. Most notable is the ongoing French military intervention in the language to overtake English in Africa. This effort corresponds to other recent French

Sahel that began in 2014. The mission was originally launched to push back recent gains

made by Islamist insurgents. To this day, the mission continues.

France’s efforts to use soft power to maintain its influence need to be modernised if they are to succeed. Otherwise, the significant military and security investments they have made in recent years will likely be in vain. Younger generations of Africans are increasingly resistant to France’s historical domination of their countries. President Macron has made some efforts to rebalance the relationship. His recent initiative to return some of the stolen African art and artefacts in French museums is a good start. But these kinds of cultural measures will only go so far. To maintain real influence in Africa, France will have to remake a relationship that has traditionally depended on corruption and cronyism.