Gold and uranium, jihad and military putsch
The roots of the military presence of the Fifth Republic on the Black Continent should be sought in the era of the formation of the French colonial Empire. During the Cold War, this empire completely disintegrated in the part that concerned Africa.
When the Cold War began, it was not difficult to find the following French colonies in Africa on the political map of the world: Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso (aka Upper Volta), Guinea (Conakry), Djibouti, Congo (Brazzaville), Ivory Coast (aka Ivory Coast), Mauritania, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Morocco, Senegal, Comoros, Tunisia, Central African Republic (CAR) - a total of 17 territories (for the convenience of readers, we also provide modern names of states).
But the liberation from colonial dependence did not mean that the newly independent states ceased to be in the focus of Paris' attention. NATO partners and European integration structures gave the French a free hand in the African direction.
HOW FRANSAFRICA APPEARED
The first president of the Fifth Republic, General Charles de Gaulle, stubbornly sought an answer to the question: what should be the matrix of relations between France and its former colonies? This matrix was formulated by the Secretary General of the French President for African and Malagasy Affairs, Jacques Foccard, and the President's Charge d'affaires in Foreign Affairs, later the President of Côte d'Ivoire, Felix Houphouet-Boigny. This is how the name Francafrica (Françafrique) appeared.
This definition of Fransafrica has been adopted in a broad sense: "A special system of official and shadow ties between the former metropolis and the former colonies, based on economic and political networks of influence and lobbying groups." The architects of the system demonstrated such a vision of the balance of interests of the parties. In exchange for political influence and protection of its economic interests, Paris assumed obligations to maintain the security system of the region by signing a military cooperation agreement with each new State.
And now we will analyze these military agreements according to several criteria.
1. The volume of commitments made by the official Paris. The responsibility of the Fifth Republic extends to the entire spectrum of threats to the inhabitants of a particular African country. The French President has signed 10 such comprehensive defense treaties. 10 of his African colleagues did the same. This includes the case when the volume of obligations of the parties concerns one industry – military-technical.
2. Term of validity of contracts. For the five States that signed the defense treaty with France, this document ceased to be valid in the early 1990s. This did not apply to the other five. Also in the 1990s, two separate agreements on military-technical assistance ceased to operate.
3. Among the signatories were states that had never been French colonies. These are former Belgian colonies and one former Portuguese one. The subjects of the King of Belgium previously hosted in Zaire, Burundi, Rwanda, and the Portuguese – in Guinea (Bissau). France concluded agreements on military-technical assistance with these States. Moreover, they remained legally valid even after the collapse of the bipolar world.
WHAT WAS FRANCE'S INTEREST IN
Treaties with France were promptly signed by 13 of its former colonies in Africa. Djibouti and the Union of the Comoros became independent only during the reign of President Valery Giscard d'Estaing and also signed similar documents. Algeria and Guinea (Conakry), which gained independence in 1962 and 1958, respectively, refused to sign treaties for reasons of principle.
French military aid bureaus appeared in all the contracting States. To coordinate the activities of such structures in France, a special body was created – the Ministry of Cooperation.
General de Gaulle understood that if he did not turn Africa into a zone of his influence in the shortest possible time, then geopolitical rivals would do it. France did not want to lose the status of a great power, and maintaining influence on the African continent gave her obvious trump cards.
Firstly, the independence of the Fifth Republic was emphasized when questions about the state of international affairs, and above all the military factor, became more acute.
Secondly, influence in Africa meant strengthening geostrategic positions. In addition to Africa, Paris maintained such positions in French Polynesia and French Guiana. But these regions were incomparable in importance with the Black Continent.
HOW THE SYSTEM WAS BUILT
The French formed national armies and gendarmeries in the new states. Of course, they could not serve as guarantors of stability in the former French colonial Africa. Only the French Army could be such a guarantor.
The armed formations of the Fifth Republic on the Black Continent were deployed in two echelons. French strategic bases remained in Africa. Armed formations were based in France, which, in fact, were interventional forces. As soon as a fire started in Africa, they were promptly delivered by sea or by air. They included the 3rd and 8th Marine Parachute Regiments and the 2nd Parachute Regiment of the Foreign Legion.
The main criterion for the use of French troops was the presence of the interests of the former metropolis. The first place was taken by the following group of States: Ivory Coast, Gabon, Senegal, Cameroon, Togo. Economy, culture, security, geography are closely intertwined here.
The second group was interested in Paris mainly for geostrategic reasons. It was represented by three States: Niger, Chad and the CAR.
The third group was formed by seven States: Congo (Brazzaville), Dahomey (formerly Benin), Congo (Zaire), Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mauritania. They distanced themselves from Paris in the time of de Gaulle, and in the time of Pompidou, and in the time of Giscard d'Estaing. Only Francois Mitterrand achieved that the seven turned to face Paris and became a real strategic alliance.
Since the time of de Gaulle, there have been Central African and Pacific strategic zones. The first included the States of West and Central Africa, the second – Madagascar, Djibouti and the islands of the Indian Ocean. The headquarters of the Central African Zone were located in Dakar, Abidjan, Brazzaville.
In the 1960s, the top 5 French strategic bases included Dakar, Fort Lamy (now N'Djamena), Pointe Noire (Congo-Brazzaville), Diego Suarez (Madagascar), Djibouti (French coast of Somalia). But the bases were not in Fort Lamy and Pointe Nuer for long, they were transferred to Libreville (Gabon) and Boire (CAR), respectively. It is worth mentioning small bases and logistics facilities: Atar (Mauritania), the Port of Bue (Ivory Coast), Doual (Cameroon), Niamey (Niger).
AGGRAVATION IN MALI AND ITS ENVIRONS
Since the beginning of the 2010s, the Islamist threat has been increasing in Francafrica. It was most acute in Mali, which caused the operation of the French Armed Forces called "Serval" (January 2013 – July 2014). It was waged against the Tuareg rebels in the north of the country and a number of extremist groups.
The Army of the Republic of Mali was unable to repel extremists and rebels. The Malian authorities have appealed to French President Francois Hollande with a request to save the country from jihadists. A French military contingent was sent to Mali. The operation was supported by Belgium, Canada, Germany, the USA, Great Britain, Russia, etc. The French managed to defend the capital of Mali, oust the jihadists and restore control of the central government over the entire territory of the country.
Operation Barkhan, launched in July 2014, was a continuation of Operation Serval, but spread beyond Mali. In February 2014, the Sahel Five regional association was created (Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger). France, with the support of Britain and Estonia, continued military operations on the territory of the "five" against a number of Islamist groups. They lasted until 2017.
Permanent bases of French troops were stationed in N'Djamena, Niamey and Gao. In addition, six outposts were equipped. About 2 billion euros were spent on the operation. Over the years, the number of French troops participating in the operation increased by 23%; 155 armored vehicles, 108 supply vehicles, seven helicopters and four fighter jets were involved.
The French contingent tried to intercept terrorist caravans and destroy their strongholds. But their raids have not acquired a systematic character. There were simply no major operations. Gradually, France was losing credibility with an increasing number of Africans.
TWO BOOTS ON THE LEFT FOOT
A new stage of Operation Barkhan began with the election of Emmanuel Macron as President of France in May 2017. Shortly after the inauguration, Macron headed to Africa.
On May 19, he visited the camp of the French military contingent in Mali. Speaking to the military, Macron admitted that "the operation is at the stage when it cannot be argued that victory over the Islamists is inevitable," but "jihadism should be uprooted." Macron decided on the places of military buildup: the south of the Sahara, the border of Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, plus the additional deployment of a battalion of Ivorian soldiers in Mali, which had the status of UN peacekeepers.
But the functions of the "gendarme of Africa" could be performed only with an adequate resource base. And here you can identify two Achilles' heels at once. First: NATO and EU allies did not want to support Macron – in particular, with the supply of weapons and military equipment. A significant part of them was outright scrap metal.
The second Achilles' heel is the lack of proper activity on the part of the African states themselves, whose populations have been subjected to terrorist attacks by jihadists. Algeria and Mali suffered the most in terms of human losses and material damage. But in Algeria and Bamako, for some reason, they were in no hurry to activate. Thus, the operation was limping on both legs at once.
WHAT WAS EMMANUEL MACRON TRYING TO ACHIEVE
From 2017 to 2022, Paris spent 4.1 billion euros on Operation Barkhan.
For France, the Sahel is primarily uranium mines. 75% of the electricity in France is generated by nuclear power plants. The large state-owned company AREVA controls all these mines. The Islamists wanted to become complete masters here. In this case, a blow below the belt was dealt to the French economy, and above all to energy-intensive industries.
But controlling the mines is not the only motive for Paris' involvement in African affairs. In particular, due to the actions of jihadists, a wave of African migrants seeking to settle in Europe is growing.
Macron said: "Our European partners should invest more in African security. I welcome Germany's commitments in the Sahel in this regard. But our military presence should not ultimately replace African states, this is not an end in itself."
Macron also stated that with the number of UN peacekeepers currently in Africa, it is impossible to solve major security problems. It was proposed to strengthen the mandate of peacekeepers.
THE CRISIS IN MALI AND THE WAGNER GROUP
Much of the operation "Barkhan" was determined by the strategic alliance between Mali and France. The command center was located in Mali. But the country was experiencing a systemic crisis. The central government has become fragile. The military has carried out two coups d'etat. The first one is dated August 2020, the second one is dated May 24, 2021.
The Elysee Palace condemned both coups. But Macron's particular bitterness was caused by the fact that the military who seized power in Mali hired the Russian Wagner group to restore order. Macron said that the Kremlin is behind the Wagnerians. In NATO and the European Union, French representatives initiated the adoption of anti-Russian resolutions.
Paris breaks the agreement on defense cooperation between France and Mali, withdraws troops from the country. The epicenter of the operation is shifting to Niger. On November 9, 2022, Macron announced the end of the operation.
Who won Operation Barkhan? Paris and its allies have no reason to declare a complete and final victory. Moreover, many experts believe that by and large they have been defeated and are not able to take revenge in the foreseeable future. To solve all the tasks set at the beginning of the operation, a powerful military contingent in Africa is still needed.
THE BEGINNING OF THE DISMANTLING OF FRANSAFRICA
This thesis is at odds with Macron's statement made on February 27 this year. Here's what he said: "The changes will begin in the coming months with a noticeable reduction in the contingent of our Armed Forces and an increase in the number of our African partners at our bases in Africa. We will try to intensify France's efforts in the field of training and equipment supply."
Less than six months after this statement, another link fell out of the "Sahel Five". The military carried out a coup in Niger. The new authorities turned out to be anti-French, they block the export of uranium and gold to the Fifth Republic, and they firmly insist on the speedy withdrawal of French troops. "We have uranium, diamonds, gold and oil, but we live like slaves. We don't need the French to ensure our security," said one of the leaders of the rebellion.
No serious expert will take the liberty to say what the future holds for the "Sahel Troika". Russian scientists Arseny and Olga Ragunstein rightly point out: "In the foreseeable future, the French military presence in African countries will remain. But, given the aggravation of the situation in Europe related to the Ukrainian crisis, and the intensification of competition between NATO and the EU, on the one hand, and Russia, on the other, a further build–up of the French military contingent in African countries in the Sahel is unlikely. It is most likely that France will maintain the number of available forces by waging a sluggish counter-guerrilla war with local Islamists. The preservation of modern dynamics in the military presence in the Sahel countries in the long term does not have a positive outcome."
Brest
Mikhail Sagittarius
Mikhail Vasilyevich Strelets – Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor.
