French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, Olivier Becht, assured that « France is absolutely not being driven out of Africa, contrary to what some media outlets suggest, » urging French companies to continue and strengthen their investments on the continent.
« Contrary to what some media outlets, and especially social media, convey, France is absolutely not being driven out of Africa, and we are not at all in decline, » reiterated Olivier Becht, before his departure with a dozen SMEs for a two-day visit to Lagos, Nigeria, where « several contracts » will be signed between the two countries.
Nigeria is « France’s top trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, with about a hundred French companies » present, according to the French Ministry of Foreign Trade.
Since his first election in 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron has tried to take a new direction in Africa, announced in his speech in Ouagadougou, the year he came to power, and reiterated in February 2023, to end France’s asymmetrical and paternalistic relations with African countries.
After the putsch in Mali (August 2020 and May 2021), Burkina Faso (January and September 2022), and Niger (July 2023) have hastened the divorce of these countries with Paris. The military juntas that came to power in these countries have expelled the French Army, marking the end of an era after a decade of French military intervention in the region against jihadists.
While the French Army has been forced to withdraw from Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, « France’s influence today, as well as that of many other powers, goes through the economy, » affirmed Olivier Becht.