Macron's Africa Tour Sign of Emergency as France Loses Influence in Continent, Expert Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – French President Emmanuel Macron's tour of sub-Saharan countries is a symptom of emergency as Paris is losing its influence in Africa due to its leadership's lack of vision for the continent, Francois Asselineau, a former French top civil servant and political observer, tells Sputnik.

On Wednesday, Macron began a five-day tour that will take him on a working visit to Congo, Gabon, Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to the Elysee Palace, the visit aims to enhance bilateral cooperation with countries in the region.

"This [the visit] is an emergency, one might say. France is rapidly losing all influence in Africa, despite the fact that the French language has for 150 years been the only vehicle for the very many ethnic groups [in central Africa] to speak to each other. It is still often the language of the administration there, but that is changing rapidly," Asselineau, who also ran against Macron in the 2017 presidential election, argues.

He cites the case of Mali, which, according to reports, will relegate the French language's status from official to working in its new constitution.

Another factor driving Africa's antipathy for France, which is seen as part of the collective West, is the "perception that Europe is now devoting its billions in aid to Ukraine," the expert says.

"Animosity for Paris is growing all over the continent," Asselineau points out, adding that "Young Africans want to get out of the French zone of influence and Macron with his speeches perceived as sermons, is not accepted at all."

The French leader "totally lacks vision" for Africa and is probably more interested in the continent's natural resources than in political ties with African countries, Asselineau argues. He said that French diplomacy should have long focused on these ties of cooperation with Africa, but the officials in charge, including Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and Secretary of State for Francophonie Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, have shown little enthusiasm for strengthening the partnership with the continent.

France's influence in Africa is being rapidly overshadowed by Russia and China, and one of the reasons is that, unlike France, their officials are "practical and not ideological or condescending," and therefore welcomed anytime and everywhere across the continent, Asselineau says.

"Russia and China have one thing in common: they have never given lessons of 'democracy' and have always respected the local leaders [...] China and Russia behave with a presidential ethos, the one that African heads of state have themselves, and don't pretend to be pals, like president Macron does with great arrogance, while using the word 'humility' at the same time," Asselineau explains.

All this unwraps against the backdrop of accelerating trade between African countries and Russia and China, while France is gradually loosing its status as the dominant foreign trade partner on the continent, the expert says.

Paris is also failing in the Sahel countries in its efforts to help fight radical Islamists due to a lack of financial means, which makes African states look for support from others, including Russia, he says.

"France is now unwelcome in several former colonies, probably permanently. And France does not have the financial means for its ambitions of military presence in Africa; this is also perceived by African leaders who are looking elsewhere for help, in particular to Russia. Behind France's meddling in the Sahel, President Macron's policy in Africa is perceived as infantilizing, if not non-existent," Asselineau concludes.

Last year, French troops withdrew from Mali, and in January, Burkina Faso officially ended all France-led operations on its territory, where French forces were present under a 2018 agreement to help combat Islamist militant groups.