Guest
#africanews #russia #france It's not a secret that the West is not happy with the fact that African countries are shifting away from partnering with them and turning to non-Western partners, particularly Russia. However, in recent times, there has been one Western country that has been increasingly vocal even more than the others about the presence of Russia in Africa. This country is none other than France, the former colonial master of more than 14 African countries and there is only one word that can describe France’s attitude towards the presence of Russia in Africa and that word is jealousy. France, particularly its President Emmanuel Macron, is aggravated that while France has been kicked out of the Sahel region, Russia was welcomed with open hands. You see, when President Macron came into power, he saw himself as a man on a mission to restore France's greatness and lead the rest of Europe. And, as you know, the only way to achieve this has to be to maintain its hold on its former African colonies after all these colonies were the sole factor that pushed France to attain its global power status. This was why when President Macron first came to power in 2017, one of the first things he did was to give a speech saying that France no longer has an African policy, all in a ploy to make Francophone Africa believe that France had changed. From 2017, the President supposedly tried to change France's policy towards Africa but obviously, all his efforts failed because, by 2020, anti-french sentiments had begun to spread and the first coup occurred in Mali which eventually led to French forces being kicked out of the country. Then came 2022 when yet another coup occurred in Burkina Faso which brought Captain Traore to power and led to French forces leaving the country. It was at this point that President Macron began to understand that his so-called different policy in Africa had failed and so in February 2023, he went on a tour to four African countries where he outlined a new strategy for Africa. During the tour, he said that France's attitude towards Africa should be marked not by military presence, but by humility and so, in the coming months there will be a reduction of its military presence in Africa.
