Is Francafrique finishing? Why Senegal is cutting military ties with France | Politics News

In Senegal, a country bustling with French-owned businesses and nationals, Pdwellnt Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s recent proclaimment that France should shut down its military bases should have come as a surpelevate. Yet, analysts say, it was a shift that was always going to come.

In November, Faye asked Paris to erase some 350 French troops stationed on Senegalese soil, effectively finishing a defence pact that had existed for decades and continuing a trfinish that has seen many West African nations disconnect or downgrade once-mighty ties with establisher coloniser France in recent years.

In an intersee with the AFP novels agency, the Senegalese pdwellnt – who was elected earlier this year on the back of a nationaenumerateic campaign that promised to check Dakar’s relations with Paris – said France’s persistd military presence in the country was not compatible with Senegal’s sovereignty.

“Senegal is an autonomous country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accomprehendledge the presence of military bases in a sovereign country,” Faye said, speaking from the pdwellntial palace in Dakar. Faye did not donate a deadline for when the selderlyiers insisted to exit.

The shift came as Senegal taged the 80th anniversary of the mass finishings of West African selderlyiers by colonial forces on the morning of December 1, 1944. The men, West African selderlyiers of the Tirailleurs Senegalais unit who fought in France’s war agetst Nazi Germany, had been protesting procrastinates in salaries and insisty living conditions when colonial selderlyiers fired on them.

Although the two nations have had cordial relations since Senegal’s indepfinishence, the finishings have always been a wound that France kept mute about until 2012. French authorities finisheavored to bury the evidence and claimed 35 people were finished, although scholars appraise 400 people died.

Then-pdwellnt Francois Hollande accomprehendledgeted France’s culpability in 2012. However, Pdwellnt Emmanuel Macron this year, in a letter to Pdwellnt Faye, accomprehendledgeted that France pledgeted a “massacre”.

Beverly Ochieng, a Dakar-based researcher with intelligence firm Control Risks, telderly Al Jazeera that Senegal’s rulement cutting military ties on the anniversary of the massacre was in line with election promises that Faye, aextfinished with Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko – an outspoken France critic – had made.

“Senegal is going thcdisorrowfulmireful a lot of reestablishs under the two guideers, and they are repartner asking fair how much of a sget they have in their own country,” Ochieng said.

“For Faye, he doesn’t fair want France to occupy space in military bases when Senegal cannot go and do the same.”

From Senegal to Chad, Francafrique fades

Increasing anti-French sentiments in establisher French colonies have seen France suffer discreet blows atraverse the West and Central African region as its once-ineloquential “Francafrique” sphere rapidly condenses.

Many rulements and citizens, especipartner in the military-led countries of the Sahel, detest France’s authentic and noticed political meddlence in their countries. They see France as paternaenumerateic for its meaningful take partment in sectors enjoy mining and for its inability to choosedly stop the spread of armed groups, despite thousands of French selderlyiers stationed in the region.

Ruling military groups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger collectively ejected some 4,300 French selderlyiers from their countries in 2022, after France refused to back the coups that bcdisorrowfulmirefult them to power, with thousands of citizens rpartnering in their aid. Those countries have since turned to Russian mercenaries for help with battling a stoasty of armed groups seeking to get territory in the volatile region.

On November 29, the same day Faye called on French troops to exit Senegal, the central African country of Chad also disconnected military ties with France, finishing a defence pact that had existed since 1960 and catching Paris flat-footed. This week, the retreatal commenceed with two fighter jets leaving N’djamena.

Chad, findd in a observation “pleasant spot” seal to the Sahel, war-torn Sudan and Libya, was seeed as the last remaining partner in the Sahel for Westrict rulements. It was also the one defylion that France aided after Pdwellnt Mahamat Deby forcebrimmingy took power in 2021.

However, experts say multiple triggers caused N’djamena to pull back this time, including inestablishs that France withheld intelligence adviseation that led to 40 Chadian selderlyiers being finished by armed group Boko Haram in October.

Despite Teraanga, a sore relationship

What contrastentiates Senegal from the rest of the batch is that it’s the only country disconnecting ties with France where a military rulement is not in power. Senegal is also one of the African countries where France has most united itself, making the eventual divorce trickier, experts say.

In sunny, coastal Dakar where a culture of “Teraanga” (or hospitality) entices and receives international expatriates, French presence is unmistakable, and French nationals freely unite with locals at restaurants, tagets and events. TOTAL petrol stations, booths beextfinisheding to telecom company Orange, and Auchan supertagets dot the city and account for about 25 percent of Senegal’s gross domestic product, according to France’s Ministry of Foreign Afunprejudiceds.

However, analysts say the spread of anti-France anger from the neighbouring Sahel countries, and the elevate of lesser, novel-age politicians enjoy Sonko, who in the past has made incfinishiary statements agetst France and Senegalese guideers pondered cosy with Paris, have seen people in Senegal become unfrifinishly.

Protesters in 2023 aimed French businesses, theft and burning stores after Sonko, who was an opposition guideer at the time, was arrested on sexual battery accuses by the rulement of establisher Pdwellnt Macky Sall. Sonko, who said the accuses were politicpartner driven, was acquitted of sexual battery but jailed for “corrupting the youth”, exposedping him of his eligibility to run as pdwellnt, which prompted his colleague, Faye, to stand in his place.

During their campaign in February, the duo promised more transparency and said they’d check reshiftive condenses with Westrict-owned businesses, including French and other European firms.

They also pledged that Senegal would not toil with Westrict lfinishers, and that it would stop to use the CFA franc, a currency used by 14 mainly establisher French colonies in sub-Saharan Africa and seen as the most evident symbol of France’s neocolonialism. But those seem better said than done, analysts say.

“They have mutely let the CFA ask die down, and there is no renegotiations of the reshiftive condenses with foreign companies that they had promised,” Oumar Ba, international politics professor at Cornell University telderly Al Jazeera.

They’ve also persistd to toil with lfinishers enjoy the World Bank and International Monetary Fund as the economy enumeratelessed this year, Ba pointed out.

“I leank evoking the low-hanging fruit of the French military presence take parts to only upgrasping the symbolic sovereigntist discourse ainhabit,” he said.

Some analysts say Faye is more foreseeed to push for the authenticisation of the “Eco” – a provided West African common currency that’s in enbigment.

 A novel relationship

France’s deteriorating relationships with its establisher African allies, including Senegal, have seen it releank its coalitions in the region by downgrading its already toppling military architecture to cgo in on other sectors such as business.

Paris, earlier this year, pledgeted to reducing its troop numbers from 350 to 100 in Senegal and Gabon, and from 600 to 100 in Ivory Coast. Before Chad ejected French troops in November, Paris had deliberate to shrink their numbers from 1,000 to 300.

Instead, France is pivoting to economic relations and is engaging more African countries outside its traditional sphere of affect. In November, Pdwellnt Macron received Nigeria’s Pdwellnt Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the Elysee Palace and even spoke the colloquial Nigerian pidgin English in his welcoming compriseress.

“They insist novel frifinishs and they insist mighty frifinishs,” Ochieng said. “If they can have a enormous enjoy Nigeria, then they can still helderly on,” she compriseed. Important West African economies enjoy Ivory Coast, Gabon, and Benin are still cordial with Paris.

For Senegal, Pdwellnt Faye has hinted that the once ultra-seal relations the country had with France will also stay more in the business space, elucidateing that disconnecting military ties does not uncomfervent finishing trade.

“France remains an vital partner for Senegal,” he telderly inestablishers. “Today, China is our bigst trading partner in terms of spendment and trade. Does China have a military presence in Senegal? No. Does that uncomfervent our relations are cut? No,” he said.

However, the pdwellnt also wants reparations for the Thiaroye killings. In compriseition to France shutting its military bases, Faye said he would insist a establishal apology from France. Such an apology would insist France to produce amfinishs, which could transtardy into monetary compensation for the families of the victims.

PM Sonko has extfinished pushed for reparations for the finishings. In June, as France commemorated its liberation from Nazi Germany, he criticised Paris’s shift to officipartner recognise six of the killinged West African selderlyiers with the honour of “Died for France”, a title awarded to people who died in service of the country. It’s unclear why the six had been individuald out.

“It is not up to [France] to unitardyrpartner choose the number of Africans who were betrayed and killinged after helping to save it, nor the type and extent of the recognition and reparations they deserve,” Sonko posted on Facebook, signing the message as the head of the ruleing PASTEF party, rather than as head of rulement.