France STILL Has its Greasy Mitts All Over African Sovereignty

Guess how many African countries speak French? 29, encompassing over 320 million people and over 3.5 million square miles. For reference, the contiguous United States only has around 3.1 million square miles and has around the same amount of people.

The French government has profited tremendously from its former colonies in West and Central Africa. Many of France's former African colonies in sub-Saharan Africa peacefully gained independence, but at a cost. For starters, these countries' new currencies, the Central and Western African CFA francs, are inexplicably tied to France’s economy. France’s de facto control over West Africa has stunted development and kept millions impoverished.

“Map of Colonial Africa in 1947.svg” via Wikimedia Commons. CC By -SA 4.0

How Did We Get Here?

Pre-World War 2, France was one of the top dogs, with colonies in Southeast Asia, Africa, South America, and Polynesia. They had great success when the fat Euro monarchs carved up a whole continent and gave it to themselves at the Berlin Conference in 1885.

Everything was going quite well for the French in the 20th century, claiming victory over the central powers in the “War to End All Wars”, and they were riding high as a world power with influence. That is until a sadistic maniac with a stupid mustache blitzkrieg’d his way into Paris.

After this, it was clear that France was not the big swinger it once was, and many African colonies and French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) began independence movements. The French were not a big fan of this and wanted to pretend that they were still a world power and had something to do with winning World War 2. Naturally, French troops in southeast Asia (they were there to watch the Americans fight the Japanese some 18 months earlier) were ordered to quell the rebellion in 1946. After seven years and lots of cash from Uncle Sam, they admitted defeat (seems familiar, Ho Chi Minh 2 wins, 0 losses).

Charles de Gaulle (you probably know him as the airport), bitter from not being invited to hang out with the big boys (Yalta Conference) resigned as the head of state after WW2 to go write his fancy war memoirs, and the French government struggled to maintain stability for about 12 years. In 1958, the French basically begged the famous Eurosceptic hero to return, right as the Algerian War of Independence was heating up swiftly.

Charles de Gaulle

“Second World War Personalities-Charles De Gaulle D1966” via Imperial War Musuems. CC By PDM 1.0

De Gaulle helped establish the Fifth French Republic, which began by getting its ass handed to them by the Algerian National Liberation Front. It got so bad, that the French public and the US actually switched sides and began supporting the Algerians (The 20th-century edition of the US were top dogs, once you lost its support it was over). A very similar situation occurred in Tunisia, and it became apparent the French could no longer control its colonies- I mean the “French Union”.

La Françafrique

De Gaulle had a brilliant idea- instead of sending Frenchmen to get brutally massacred via guerilla fighters in (entirely just) revolutions against oppression, just use soft power. Duh. So, the British-hating Frenchman offered African leaders a choice- become independent and join the new “French Community” or be left completely alone. In 1960, many newly formed countries went with the former: Cameroon, Togo, Senegal, Mauritania, Niger, Mali, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Gabon, and the Central African Republic.

Now you may ask yourself, why didn’t they just choose completely free? Well, It’s rather simple. African leaders were educated in elite French schools, were buddy-buddy with French diplomats, and actually had very little in common with their largely impoverished multi-ethnic and linguistically diverse nations- they saw an easy way to increase their power and have a seemingly stable economy.

To be fair, these newly formed nations had no police force, formal military, or means of extracting resources- they depended on their colonizers for stability. Just take Guinea for example, they elected to become completely independent, and its economy nearly collapsed when the French withdrew its support (they were bailed out by Ghana).

De Gaulle and his African ass-kissing counterparts ushered in an era dubbed “la Françafrique”. The newly formed West African CFA franc and Central African CFA franc became tied to the one lining Parisian pockets, entwining the economies of 12 new nations. Furthermore, the member states were required to keep 70 percent of their foreign currency reserves (mostly gold) in the land of croissants and stinky cheese.

The French saw themselves as the stabilizers of the region, which Uncle Sam enjoyed as they would do their part to snuff out any morsel of communism. The French underwent consistent military interventions and had de facto control over resources, the policy agenda, and the value of the West and Central CFA francs. This was largely carried out by the tight relationships between the French and African leaders through corruption, favors, and racketeering.

Where Are We Today?

The meddling of French bureaucrats in the well-being of African states and citizenry is hidden, an evil that has been in the shadow, contributing to poverty and mitigating the economic development of young nations. Thankfully, la Françafrique has diminished somewhat since the 1990s as many prominent supporters of this agenda croaked. France has also become more constrained due to its integration into the European Union and the adoption of a common foreign policy agenda. African leaders have been outspoken in recent years, attempting to gain economic sovereignty.

Despite this, the CFA franc continues to generate massive capital outflows to France due to fixed exchange rates, and the monetary zones established discourage trade and stifle economic and industrial development; Countries using this currency are among the least developed and poorest in the world and have virtually no control over their currencies worth.

Because of this dynamic, the Central African Monetary Union has very limited access to credit, blocking any loans or inflows of capital to develop infrastructure. The French still have veto power over the Central Bank of West African States as well as the Bank of Central African States; the European Central Bank dictates monetary and exchange rates, leading to anti-inflation policies that stunt any way of creating growth in the economy.

Countries Using the West and Central African CFA Francs

“CFA Franc Map.png” via Wikimedia Commons. CC By -SA 4.0

There is no room for lending and millions of Francophone Africans don’t have control over their own capital- there is no way to invest in their civil society.

Emmanuel Macron (current president of France) has attempted to make some concessions in recent years and has worked with the African leaders to alter the CFA Franc’s reserve requirement, but it lacked teeth. The French still have their colonizer hands meddling in the well-being of the African people, just not with as many guns. This covert power dynamic will continue to affect the hundreds of millions of people in Francophone Africa for the foreseeable future. Any proposed policies will, unfortunately, be nothing but a diplomatic exercise, as there is no way in hell the French will ever give up their sweet, sweet soft power and siphoned reserves.