France’s imminent reduction of troop levels in Africa has experts eyeing which major power will supplant Paris’s influence across the continent.
The tongues started wagging after French President Emmanuel Macron announced earlier this month that his country harbors no desire to return to past policies of interfering in Africa.
During his March 1–4 tour of the continent to repair frayed ties, Macron landed in Libreville in Gabon—followed by other trips to Angola, Congo-Brazzaville, and the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo—echoing the same message: the era of French interference in Africa is “well over.”
A soldier of the French Special and Intervention Unit of the National Gendarmerie stands next to an NH90 Caiman Helicopter on July 15, 2022, as part of an official visit of French Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Armed Forces to Niger. (Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images)
“The age of Francafrique is well over,” Macron told a French community in Libreville, referring to France’s post-colonization strategy of supporting authoritarian leaders to defend its interests….