Networks of French influence in Africa

Origin

August 1st Colonial heritage, cold war, expatriates & companies, origins of the term, etc

Countries concerned

Angola, Togo, Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic republic of Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroun, Chad, the Comoros, Gabon, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, etc

Tally of Françafrique

August 1st Army, diplomacy, francophonie, trade, development assistance, etc

Diplomacy

The French consular network is very dense in Africa, although it is dense in the whole world in general (2nd consular network after the USA).

Development assistance

The French development assistance in Africa is articulated around two organizations: the AFD which manages the financings of state in state and the Proparco, lender atpreferential rate for the intêrets economic French in Africa.

Military cooperation

Agreements of defense signed at the time of independences give the framework of the military cooperation between France and various African countries. These same agreements encroach sometimes largely on the economic ground in their appendices and are often supplemented by special agreements, held secret.

For example, the Agreement of defense between the Governments of the French Republic, of the Republic of Ivory Coast, the Republic of Dahomey and the Republic of Niger of April 24th, 1961, establishes the installation of French military forces in these three countries, their facilities of circulation and use of the infrastructures and evokes Special agreements under the terms of which these three countries can require the assistance of France as regards defense. The second appendix of this agreement of defense, concerning strategic raw materials and products (hydrocarbons, uranium, lithium…), stipulates that these same countries, for the needs for defense, reserve by priority their sale with the French Republic after satisfaction of the needs for their domestic consumption, and supply themselves by priority near it and when the interests of defense require it, they limit or prohibit their export bound for other countries .

There exist currently five French military bases in Africa (preposition forces) located at Dakar, Djamena, Djibouti, Abidjan and Libreville more those located on the French territories of Mayotte and the Réunion. The base of Djamena should not close soon within the framework of the French military redeployment in Africa.

Economic aspects

August 1st

Françafrique

The term Françafrique was formally taken again in 1997 by association Survie to denounce the perverse aspect of the Franco-African relations. Popularized by the context of the topicality (Business Elf, crisis in Ivory Coast, etc), it has been for summer mentioned in the media (in particular Le Monde , Libération or the Express train ) to indicate overall the particular relations between France and its old African colonies, looked under a critical angle.

Divergent approaches

August 1st Smith & Verschave

Political networks and racketeers

August 1st Foccart, Elf, etc

The Elf Business

August 1st

Foccart

1st aoûtLa political African of France does not decide at the Parliament, it is never discussed publicly. Since nearly fifty years, it is in the Elysium, or rather with the African cell of the Elysium (six street of the Elysium), that the President and his advisers decide to reverse or maintain the modes African with the liking of the supposed interests of the Hexagon. In November 2006, for example, the cell sent the French Army to support the dictatorship with the barks of Idriss Déby in Chad, without very informing the National Assembly of it…

The African cell is indissociable of its founder, Jacques Foccart, named by de Gaulle the inspiring General then of Chirac (who, at the beginning of her mandate, admitted to have it the every day on the telephone).

Papamadi

Oldest son of François Mitterrand, Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, former journalist of the AFP in Africa, occupies of 1986 to 1992 the station of advising for the African Businesses in the Elysium, with the cabinet of his father, which was worth to him in Africa the nickname of “Papamadi”.

Support of dictatorships

August 1st Gangster drifts, mercenaries, lords of war, etc

Foreign competitions

August 1st

The United States

August 1st

China

The fast development of the Chinese economy obliges the China to make safe its raw material provisioning. One thus passed from a help targeted on the “countries brothers” likely to pass under the communist bosom to a help targeted on the countries to promising basement. It is helped in this by a diaspora established well in the “small economy” of the African countries.

The Chinese development aid also has a characteristic. The China does not release appropriations for the construction of a building but it even builds it. It makes come the labor and the material of China and its projects thus do not contribute to local development during their phase of construction by the contribution of currencies.

With reading

Booklet of the generous Information:

Of Françafrique to mafiafric - the hidden side of politics French in Africa

http://www.les-renseignements-genereux.org/brochures.html?id=445

Françafrique, the longest scandal of the Republic of François-Xavier Verschave

To listen

Françafrique , the album of Tiken Jah Fakoly left in 2002

References

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