France is not being driven out of Africa – minister
French Foreign Trade Minister Olivier Becht has dismissed reports of his country’s declining influence in Africa as a scheme by opponents to undermine France’s presence on the continent. Becht made the comments in an interview published by Nigeria’s Business Day newspaper on Thursday.
The diplomat, who is in Nigeria for a two-day visit, insisted that, despite anti-French sentiment in several former colonies, France is not being pushed out of Africa.
“It is true that in some African former colonies, a few people on social media have developed an anti-French narrative, supported by putschists in countries where coups d’etat happened. That being said, it is also true that France and its former colonies have to heal historical wounds,” Becht said.
Protest movements against France have swept the West African region in recent years, particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, and Niger, as relations deteriorated. Attacks on the former colonial power’s embassies in Ouagadougou and, more recently, Niamey, as well as the ransacking of French-owned businesses in Senegal, are all recognised as protests against France’s presence.
Military governments in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have also severed security ties with the former colonial power, forcing French troops to leave the respective countries.
French President Emmanuel Macron has previously admitted that French influence in the Sahel region has diminished, but blamed Russia for the setbacks. Moscow rejected his claims, arguing that they simply reflect Western countries’ neocolonial approach to cooperation with African states.
Minister Becht, who is the third French official to visit Nigeria this year, urged French companies to increase their investment on the continent.
“Nowadays, a country’s economic presence is a lever of soft power and influence,” he added, according to the Business Day newspaper.
Becht claimed that France had made strengthening its partnership with Nigeria a top priority, and pointed to a raft of contracts expected to be signed during his trip, which he undertook with a dozen French business owners.
Nigeria is currently France’s largest trading partner in Sub-Saharan Africa, registering more than €5.4 billion ($5.8 billion) in trade in 2022.
“We look forward to further diversifying our economic presence in Nigeria and attracting more French companies. We focus on promising sectors, such as agri-food, technology and the digital economy, cultural and creative industries,” Becht said.
