Understanding French Africa and the Alliance of Sahel States
A story of colonization, terrorism, Russia, China and progress in Africa.
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Starting in 2021, a series of coups deposed pro-West Presidents in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, and installed three military men as heads of their respective transition governments. Shortly after, the three formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which is shaking not only the entire continent of Africa, but even making waves in France.
Where did these coups come from, and what do they intend to accomplish?
The history of French Africa
The world changed in major ways after World War 2. Notably, European countries found themselves bankrupt from the conflict and their reconstruction was bankrolled by the considerably untouched United States. This bankrolling however, known as the Marshall Plan, left no space for colonial reconstruction — whose people were conscripted into the war by their oppressors — and helped fuel the independence movement.
This was no oversight. While we should not downplay the very large and very important movements for independence on the African continent and everywhere else there were colonies, the United States did play a part in pushing for the end of colonization. Not only did the Marshall Plan not leave anything for the colonies (which exacerbated relations with the colonial overlords while creating poverty and other social issues for the indigenous population), they even urged European powers to abandon their colonies. This was not altruistic; rather, the United States was positioning itself as the global hegemonic power after the war and this wave of independence, which they knew would create temporary instability, would allow them to exploit ex-colonies for themselves without other powers meddling. To give just one example, in 1961, the CIA murdered Patrice Lumumba, the democratically-elected President of Congo, and initiator of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In the African continent, independence came starting in 1949. This was not a calm process. For the most part, the African people had to fight for their liberation, snatching it from the hands of the colonial overlords.
Portugal for example ‘granted’ independence to its colonies in 1974 after the Carnation Revolution (which positioned the Portuguese socialists in a very strong position to push for the independence of colonies), but the indigenous population of these colonies had been engaged in civil wars for over a decade before the negotiations even started under the new Portuguese republic.
In 1960, as can be inferred from the two maps above, the entirety of French Africa became sovereign. This became known as the Year of Africa and happened through negotiations, independence wars, or sometimes simply declaring themselves to be free and electing their own government.
However, we couldn’t quite say that they became sovereign. In French Africa especially, deals were quickly struck by France to retain vast control over their colonial dominion. This, Kwame Nkrumah called neocolonialism — or colonialism without the colonies. And certainly, neocolonialism is not unique to French Africa or even Africa, but this is the scope that interests us for this piece.
Neocolonialism and françafrique
Neocolonialism became policy and indeed, colonialism never left. Colonialism is a process, one that started centuries ago, and accordingly it’s not so easy to stop a process once it’s in full swing. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were set up for the purposes of imperialism and, in ex-colonies, serve to indebt them to the old overlords. The Organisation of United Nations is also such a tool. Although its scope has changed considerably from its inception, it is still able to enact global sanctions on any country it wants (usually as punishment for not agreeing to an uneven deal). In the past, such as in the invasion of Korea, the U.N. even outright deployed troops to fight for the US puppet called South Korea.
In other words, as African countries elected their own governments and proclaimed independence, the old colonial masters still did whatever they could to ensure that if elections had to happen, they would get their candidates in power.
Everything was on the table to keep the vast amounts of wealth in Africa flowing out. In French Africa, this took the form of the françafrique deal, spearheaded by De Gaulle himself.
Françafrique was comparatively more complex than the colonialism of old. It was more sophisticated, allowing a veneer of independence while still being just as brutish.
Accords were struck with countries (seen above) which became known as Françafrique: whether in the course of their independence, or in the course of coups, France was able to find African statesmen willing to collaborate with Paris while selling out their own people.
These accords are very well-known in Africa, but not so much outside of the continent. Translated from French, they dictate the following eleven terms:
The newly independent states must pay back the entire cost of infrastructure built by France during colonial rule [this is known as the colonial debt].
National financial reserves are automatically confiscated, held by the Bank of France. Since 1961, France “holds” the financial reserves of 14 countries. When those states wish to use their money, they must first ask permission from France to release the funds. Only 15% of this 500 billion dollars reserve is available to each country every year. If they want to “borrow” more, they have to contract a commercial loan.
When natural resources are newly discovered in the françafrique territory, they must first be offered to France for exploitation — taking priority over even national companies. Only when France says that they refuse to exploit these natural resources can the contract be offered to someone else.
When a public contract is offered (i.e. when the state is looking to contract a private company to fulfill a need), it must first be offered to French companies.
Françafrique countries must also use the Franc CFA (African Financial Community Franc). This is the only legal tender, and its value is relative to the euro (and the franc before the euro was adopted in 2001). In fact, France specifically decides that the CFA is worth every year, allowing them to make it weaker as needed which reduces the cost of imports to France and allows for more extraction of wealth from the continent.
Moreover, twice a year françafrique countries must send a report on their finances to the French ministry. Failure to do so means they will not be allocated all 15% of the funds they are “allowed”.
France has an exclusive right to furnish weapons and train African officers. This allows France to train thousands of military officers in France, and co-opt them for their own colonial needs.
France also has a right to deploy troops and intervene militarily anywhere in the country/ies. They are also allowed to station French troops indefinitely and without prerequisite permission anywhere in françafrique territory.
African countries are not allowed to form any military alliance with any other state without France’s approval, whether that state is African or not.
In case of war or global crisis, they must also ally with France.
Finally, french must be the official language of the country and must be taught in schools. France has actually created a vast international network to enforce its language across the world: this is known as the “Francophonie”, an official organization which promotes the french language, but they also open private schools globally and there are indeed very few countries in the world which do not have at least one French school (which teaches classes in french and follows the French curriculum).
There is certainly a lot to say about this deal and the damage it has caused (and continues to cause) across the continent, but because it’s so vast and complex, we’ll leave it at that for now and move on to the crux of the matter: the three Sahel states that are attempting to leave this neocolonial system.
Coups and terrorism in the Sahel
With such an iron grip on the affairs of the African continent (which is notably nowhere near France), it becomes increasingly clear that colonial relations still exist and are still doing well in Africa, and especially French Africa. The concerns of “France is actually helping Africa learn to rule itself”, like you might hear in the media or from racists, are malicious and serve only to distract from the matter that France is in Africa because it makes a lot of money from this involvement.
In Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) for example, French businesses own and control all of the major public services such as water, energy, telecommunication, public transport, ports and even the large banks.
There is nothing altruistic about forcibly controlling the monetary reserves of a country, even investing and lending them on the global market, with the owner of this money not even receiving the proceeds. There is nothing benevolent about forcing them to trade with you and you alone before they are allowed to even consider other partners.
Understandably, any oppressive movement creates oppressed people and thus an opposite liberation movement.
Liberation from neocolonial rule has been attempted several times. To take just the example of Burkina Faso, there have been coups at the state level in 1966, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987, 2014, 2015 and finally two coups in 2022, the latest of which put Captain Ibrahim Traoré in power as the president of a transition government.
Not all of these coups were progressive (i.e. part of the decolonial struggle). Many were ordered and planned by France to retain control over the country. Such was the case, to name just one instance, of the coup that killed Thomas Sankara and installed his assassin Blaise Compaoré in his place.
Thomas Sankara presided over Burkina Faso (and indeed changed the name of the country from the colonial Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, which means Land of the upright people in the Burkinabé language) for 5 short years. And yet under his term, Burkina Faso achieved the following milestones:
Vaccinated 2.5 million children against local widespread diseases.
Increased the literacy rate from 13% to 73%.
Redistributed land from feudal landlords to local peasants. This increased wheat production from 1700kg per hectare to 3800kg per hectare and made the country self-sufficient in terms of food.
Planted over 10 million trees to prevent desertification.
Outlawed female genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy, and appointed women to key governmental positions.
Built an extensive rail and road network to connect all parts of the country
Established brick factories to build housing and eradicate slums.
Implemented salary cuts and strict accountability in government to eliminate corruption.
Achieved a 50% reduction in child mortality rates.
Increased primary school enrollment by 60%.
Integrated intellectual and civic education with military training as, so said he, “a soldier without political education is only a criminal in waiting”.
While not achievements per se, Sankara also opposed foreign aid that keeps countries under the thumb of their overlords, preferring instead to receive machines, seeds and fertilizer instead of bags of rice. At the Organization of African Unity, he encouraged all African countries to repudiate their foreign debt and refuse to pay it back (which included the colonial debt). You can read more about his many achievements here.
And for all these achievements, France killed him. Because if it had been allowed to succeed, Burkina Faso might have inspired more African countries to break free from the chains of neocolonialism.
In 1987, close friend Blaise Compaoré orchestrated a coup. When Sankara came out of the building he was in, he was shot seven times and died.
Compoaré was a military man like Sankara. And, as we’ve seen in the 11 terms of Françafrique, he was indeed trained in France: Infantry School of Montpellier, commando seminars in Mont-Louis, Collioure, Briançon and Montgenèvre… all of these are French cities. Notably, France consistently backed his presidency and even provided him with military assistance.
Compaoré ruled Burkina Faso up until 2014, at which time he was himself forced to resign. He fled to neighboring Côte d’Ivoire where he still lives, escaping justice for his many crimes. President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré was elected in 2015, and ruled until 2022.
Kaboré was instrumental in the historical devaluation of the CFA Franc in 1994, which halved the value of the currency by half. While previously 1 French Franc was worth 50 CFA Francs, after the devaluation 1 French Franc was worth a whopping 100 CFA Francs. This led to increased import costs for CFA zone countries, a spike in inflation, and cheaper exports that did improve sales on the global market, but at the cost of the locals. That should give you an idea of who Kaboré is.
Kaboré also had to reckon with a very big problem that had been gripping the Sahel for almost a decade: ISIS-related terrorist groups. And by reckon, we mean of course that he didn’t care about it as it didn’t affect him directly.
This is relatively unknown in the West, but the Sahel countries have been fighting against Al Qaeda (and later ISIS) related groups since the early 2000s, with operations kicking up from 2011. These groups found fertile grounds in the Sahara to recruit and stage incursions from, owing to the largely rural territory to base themselves in (Notably, more than half of Mali’s territory is located in the Sahara desert).
ISIS groups themselves are largely funded by the US indirectly through shell companies and fake operations (such as letting equipment transit through areas where they know the truck and its contents will be stolen by these groups). In 2017, an ISIS group who meant to attack Syria formally apologized to “Israel” for mistakenly attacking them instead.
ISIS itself is the successor to Al-Qaeda, itself a group funded by the US to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan. ISIS is but a continuation of this highly productive group that destabilizes entire regions, allowing states like France to swoop in with their troops and start restructuring entire governments in their interest: if you want help with your terrorist problem, the deal is, then you will have to do the reforms we want.
However, al Qaeda is still active in the region, and they don’t see eye-to-eye with ISIS and have fought before (especially against ISGS as both are active in Mali). It’s a complicated situation compounded by the fact that there is a reason they are able to survive and keep recruiting — it’s because up until then, the governments of these three countries did not answer the needs of their rural population, but al Qaeda, at the present, does answer their grievances and issues related to governance. They know how to govern, having had decades of experience, and they know how to build a support base. The challenge for the Sahel states will be to take the same lessons and build their own support base, and not assume that they are owed this support because they represent the official government.
It might not shock you to learn that the three countries that are most attacked by terrorists are Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, who just recently announced forming the Alliance of Sahel States — but we’ll get to that.
There are various terrorist groups operating in the Sahel. The main ones are:
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)
Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) [also Al Qaeda-related]
Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS)
Islamic State in the West African Province (ISWAP)
Boko Haram [also an ISIS affiliated group]
More minor Tuareg independence groups also operate in the Sahara region, overlapping with several official borders.
These terrorist groups have been terrorizing civilians since 2011, including with large-scale massacres on villages and schools, targeting either ‘infidels’ or entire groups for ethnic cleansing, and mass kidnappings either for ransom, killing or recruitment. In some areas, they have set up parallel governance, enforcing their law, taxes and governance. In Burkina Faso alone, over 2 million people have been displaced by these terrorists and in the entire region, tens of thousands of people have been killed by terrorists since 2011.
In other words, this is not a threat that can be ignored. With their military capabilities hindered by France however, the countries of the Sahel have found it difficult to effectively eradicate this threat. It’s estimated that around half of the territory in Burkina Faso is outside of government control in some way (though it should be noted much of that area is in the Sahara desert). Thus, they relied on France — their only allowed ally — to help. France, however, has been woefully ineffective against the insurgency. They lack the experience and knowledge to do so. Since 2011, these terrorist groups have been steadily growing and capturing territory. Over time, populations in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso started seeing French troops with resentment.
This crisis was used as justification for the coup against Kaboré, which placed Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba in power for all of eight months. By September of the same year, Captain Ibrahim Traoré overthrew Damiba citing his failure to address security issues effectively.
But Traoré was not looking solely at the terrorist insurgency.
His goal, one that is becoming clearer by the day, is to overthrow the neocolonial apparatus in Burkina Faso and become truly sovereign. Originally elected to represent the transition government until elections are held, he has quickly become a popular figure in Burkina Faso. His achievements over his as-of-now 2 year mandate include:
Combating terrorism along with the Alliance of Sahel States.
Reducing government salaries (a move that echoes Sankara’s own), and refusing the presidential salary.
Leading anti-corruption efforts, making high-profile arrests (read: French collaborators.)
Expelling French forces and seeking closer ties to Russia.
Procuring tractors and making them freely available to farmers to rebuild self-sufficiency.
Improving healthcare with the opening of mobile clinics and vehicles.
Reviving local industries.
Traoré’s administration has also expressed a desire to enhance military cooperation with Russia, especially against the insurgency. The first Russian troops landed in Burkina Faso in January 2024.
Similar stories played out in Mali and Niger. A military coup led by Colonel Goita ousted President Keita in Mali in August 2020. In May 2021, Goita led a second coup to prevent the transitional civilian leadership, at which point he became interim president, promising to address security issues and corruption. His achievements include:
Conducting security operations to retake territory from ISIS groups, including liberating the cities of Ber (22,000 inhabitants) and Kidal (55,000 inhabitants) among others.
Keeping inflation below the regional standard of 3%.
Agricultural initiatives to harness the potential of the Niger and Senegal rivers.
Construction of numerous solar power plants to address energy poverty (with help from Russian and Chinese companies; which is technically not allowed under the françafrique treaty).
Opening of the Sikasso University, with more universities being built.
Military restructuring to better equip and organize Malian forces (which was proclaimed to help with the insurgency, but will also help Mali become sovereign).
And in Niger, General Tchiani detained President Mohamed Bazoum in a 2023 coup, after which Tchiani declared himself the leader of a new military junta. Likewise, the coup was announced as a response to rising insecurity and poor governance.
While General Tchiani has only been on power for little over a year, some of Niger’s acts since then include seeking closer cooperation with Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea and reopening borders with neighboring countries. He has also sought closer economic and military ties to China and Russia.
The Alliance of Sahel States
The facts are thus:
Three countries had coups happen only a year apart from each other,
They then kicked out French presence from their countries,
Sought closer ties to China and Russia,
And, finally, formed an entirely new cooperative alliance.
The Alliance of Sahel States (or AES from the original French) was established in September 2023. While its long-term goals and achievements remain to be fully realized, its formation marks a potentially historic turning point in the region, possibly reaching up to the entirety of françafrique. This would understandably make any French statesman very, very scared.
Through the Alliance, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are firstly working together against the insurgents. This means, inevitably, that they are sharing intel and likely taking part in joint operations. This strengthens ties between the three states and effectively starts forming an overarching army combining the three’s forces. French troops may have been kicked out but, as Sankara shows, France will not let this happen if it can prevent it. Though so far, Macron has only been able to bear his teeth and malign them in the press — his troops were still kicked out of the country (though some are still being arrested to this day).
The ties with Russia likewise go the same way. Say what you will about Russia, but they don’t impose the conditions France does on other countries. They happily lend out their army and mercenaries to help with a mandate, and keep to it: indeed, Russian troops are or were also present in Venezuela, Syria, Sudan and Libya to help redress civil conflicts for the benefit of the elected governments. They don’t claim to know the situation better than the locals, and they don’t participate for their own imperialist benefits. While the US is attacking Syria to force a civil war against Bashar al-Assad (because he doesn’t want to sell out his country for their benefit), Russia doesn’t care, and this is immensely powerful. Russia and China will work with anyone, which creates trust and makes state actors see them as partners, not overlords or backstabbers. In time, this creates more stable conditions in the world and reliable trade partners. It means that when you overthrow your French-backed murderous president, you will not be isolated from the international community. It becomes viable.
Russia’s and China’s involvement abroad is very different in nature from the US or European involvement. They don’t make demands of the countries they are invited to. Rather, they solve problems for them and then leave. This builds goodwill and thus alliances, and every such act weakens Western hold over these countries just a little bit more. It’s no surprise then that the media tries its hardest to paint Russia and China as aggressors, both in Ukraine and in Africa — calling China’s involvement “debt-trap diplomacy” (when debt traps are exactly what the IMF and World Bank exist for).
The second thing we see emerge from the AES is withdrawal from ECOWAS. the Economic Community of West African States is another neocolonial tool of control created by France. Under the guise of giving increased economic control to West African countries, it, much like the Organization of American States, is able to isolate and punish countries that don’t follow the program; a program decided by African officials who were hand-picked to represent French interests.
Indeed, all three AES countries were immediately sanctioned by ECOWAS after their respective coups. ECOWAS is also able to deploy troops to member countries, and can impose policies to the entire community.
In effect, the Alliance of Sahel States is slowly creating a parallel organization to ECOWAS, with the very clear plan of completely replacing it. If they play their cards right, other West African states will be able to join the Alliance, and eventually leave ECOWAS if they find better conditions in the AES.
Already we see other Sahel (and ex-French colonies) states moving away from France. Chad has just recently announced they would end all military cooperation with France. Bassirou Diomaye Faye was elected in Senegal this year on a platform of repossessing natural resources in Senegal, moving away from the CFA Franc, and joining the AES. He has already ordered the closing of all French military bases.
If the AES succeeds, we might see the end of neocolonial rule in West Africa, which could have reverberating effects throughout the entire continent and indeed the world. The AES is still in its infancy, however, and these grand plans have yet to be accomplished. For that reason, it deserves our full vocal support at every turn: We must fully and completely support the AES, and whatever it needs to do to achieve decolonization of Africa!
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Wow, didn't know a tenth of this. Thank you for providing the historical context and continuing current news. I did read about the 3 states forming that AES alliance in late 2023, and was surprised at the lack of reaction in the Western media.
So, seems that all these "terrorist groups" are, like Al Qaeda and ISIS, creations of the West to destabilize these countries. I am aware of Boko Haram (for one) kidnapping and killing Catholic priests and nuns and civilians willy-nilly, and we hardly hear about them in the Western media.
Just that first line in the francafrique accord took me aback - that the colonies have to pay back the costs of the colonizers' efforts and expenses in the colonies - when nobody asked them to come in and do that, and that the colonialists have benefited so much from the colonies, to the detriment of the natives? How's that for adding injury to insult to injury! I was not aware of how dreadful French colonialism in Africa was, although I did know that the French were pretty cruel to their colonial subjects. Did they do the same to Morocco and Algeria - or no?
Of course, the global banksters are the tools of the neocolonialists nowadays, ever since formal colonization was ended. All the "third world" countries are held hostage by these banksters. And it's so easy for them to bribe corrupt leaders to get their way in these ex-colonies.
The Philippines (my old homeland) continues to suffer, unable to really progress, under the grip of these international banksters and the Central Bank deployed by the US, which never let go of their hold on the country's resources and for its strategic location after that pseudo- "independence" in 1946. Oh, and there's the National Endowment for Democracy- and See Eye Ay-controlled mainstream media there that keep repeating that it's China who's the bad guy - and far too many Filipinos ignorantly and reflexively believe whatever the media say (lack of critical thinking skills for far too many still. But - just like they did the "COVID" tyrannical nonsense and lies.)
Thanks very much, once again, for this edifying post!
I love they are kicking out the colonialists. I remember Macron having a meltdown 🤣 and the siege on the French embassy in Niger. Thank you for sharing this. This is one of my favorite topics but with all the other chaos I have not really dove into it on Substack.