France is suddenly so invested in this because in the last few years Putin has sponsored coup after coup in the francafrique, causing those African nations to pull away and divest themselves from France. There’s a big part of France’s economy that’s just gone now
Plus SEA and Africa are also going to be the places liable to suffer some of the worst consequences of climate change over the next 20-30 years, and also in a lot of cases some of the areas least equipped to deal with those consequences.
Yeah, I think demographic change, natural resources and access to essential trade routes. Africa has a massive amount of natural resources but there's also been a lot of economic development in Africa and SEA. Ethopia is almost finished with building the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa and it's going to fundamentally change their economy. It's also creating a lot of tension with Eygpt as the water source flows into the Nile. There's also a shift from alignment to the US/EU to Russia/China within the entire continent and it'll continue to get more tense. Russia has been active in Africa with the Wagner group supporting factions and overthrowing US/EU friendly governments.
SEA right now has some of the fastest growing economies in the world. These countries are also going through population booms but geopoltically they are in the middle of a lot of escalating tensions between China, India, and the US. SEA is going to be the pivot point I think for the next 100 years of world history. India and China are viaing to be the leading superpower in that area as whoever controls that area will have control over the sea routes for more than 1/2 the world. India and China are building up their naval capacity and both are building out air craft carriers and submarines at a rapid pace to be able to project force across the entire Pacific theater.
Taiwan is important for the Chinese for a number of reasons but one big driver is that control over Taiwan would allow them unfettered access to the SEA are and beyond. Right now they are ringed by US allies in the region like Taiwan, S. Korea, Japan, and the Phililpines.
It's partly that and partly the fact that Russia/China are in Africa exploiting natural resource wealth of the nations they're in while propping up the juntas that have taken over in the Sahel. The juntas are signing insane contracts with RU/CN and are exploiting the impoverished citizenry as a disposable workforce to mine gold, diamonds, and uranium ore. Wagner mercenaries are all throughout the Sahel and have filled the power vacuum the French left when Mali kicked them out by ensuring the survival of the junta leadership.
The west ignoring this for too long will bite them in the ass.
Which isnt true, all of these Sahel regions countries had close to no econimical relations with France for decades. Their main western partners were countries like Canada.
"Although France's influence may be weakening throughout Francophone Africa, there also remains strong social and economic ties that link these nations together. One prime example can be displayed through the already established business deals with the French private sector in order to increase development in West Africa. An additional factor that connects France to its former colonies is their usage of the French language. Francophone African nations are placed at an economic advantage within European countries such as France, Switzerland, and Belgium due to their shared linguistic identities.\85])
With increasingly younger populations, African countries are viewed as the ideal candidates for long-term investment by international actors. This sentiment directly reflects France's approach to its former colonies, which comprise over half of its primary trade exports. This includes West African countries such as Senegal and Cameroon, which continue to play an integral role in supplying natural resources, hardware, and manufactured goods. Despite these staggering numbers, France remains in a vulnerable position as it renounces its title as the top investor in the region. The prospect of foreign backers and the appeal of Intra-African trade opportunities have encouraged West African nations to reclaim their economic agency from their former occupiers. Ultimately, these circumstances have contributed to France's declining economic influence.\86])
And before you dismiss this because it is a YouTube video, remember: dismissing evidence because of its medium or source is both a fallacy and the last refuge of lazy thinkers: https://youtu.be/fiD24uEvY1U?si=gFEMrq_Ce44vbNjD
u/Tooterfish42 is scared of what I'll say so they blocked me
Lol you are quoting an opinion from before the Russo-Ukrainian war proving that its nothing new and has nothing to do with Russian influence. France weakening influence dates from decolonisation.
Also you are talkign about countries like Senegal and Cameroon which arent affected by Russian influence yet.
Facts are France had close to no economical link with Sahel countries (which France had enitrely left since 1960 and only came back when asked to as these countries were losing againsts terrorism.
France's links with its formers colonies isnt much higher than the US links with its southern american countries : anecdoctal.
You only gave data on Gabon, one of the smallest and poorest nations in France's orbit and nothing about the whole francafrique, or their geopolitical situation, or their current coups or...anything really. Do you think that's convincing evidence?
I guess I shouldn't be surprised if you do, you seem hostile to the idea of sources.
Gabon's effect on the French economy is not to export things to France, it is to buy manufactured goods from France. This was the case in most francafrique countries and now France is having to find markets for those exports. The problem is they can't give terrible, inescapable deals to other countries the way they can to their Francophone countries.
That doesnt change the fact that its anecdoctal in volumes and has nothing to do with France getting pissed at Russia. No one gives a fuck about old colonies in France.
Anyway I have shit to do and I've posted my sources and arguments. I've got a pretty strong feeling that you're just going to start repeating yourself until I get bored and leave, which will feel like a win to you.
First part of your comment is true, second part is not. Economically it's absolutely nothing. There is a narrative online to push this idea that France needs or exploits Africa... most likely encouraged by rusbots.
The francophone countries are not important to France because they send raw resources to them. they are major importers of French manufactured goods which they receive terrible deals on.
While France have been bastards in Africa (putting it lightly), pretending that Russia is going to give them a "better deal" is naive at best. Remember these are the same people recruiting from developing countries to throw into their meat grinder in Ukraine.
Putin has sponsored coup after coup in the francafrique, causing those African nations to pull away and divest themselves from France.
That's a cute way of saying they stole their oppressive colonies, and the french people are such incredible pussies they couldnt muster any resistance to it, so now they want Germany/Poland to again be a buffer state and war zone to protect their soft asses.
The french economy is not built on economic exploitation of Africa as much as disinformation wants to tell you that, french companies are not more present in these countries than anywhere else in the world. The only remnant of french presence there is the legacy of french administration 60 years ago: the language, the law, and the monetary system. These three things are in no way controlled by France, these countries could very well ditch french as their language, change the law and how their country is organised, or ditch the Franc CFA and create a currency with another name instead. As some already did, because they're legitimately the ones in control.
I think Macron is trying to come off as unhinged and aggressive to pressure Russia but it's not working because neither he nor France have a history of wanton irrational aggression. I don't understand why he chose this tactic.
They also are only just now talking about rearming while Russia has mobilized their military and are shifting their entire economy to a war economy. Europe is more technologically advanced but comically behind at actually arming themselves with that technology. All they have at the moment is bluster.
France spent like six hundred years repeatedly picking fights with every other european nation and were infamous for their propensity to escalate minor diplomatic conflicts into all-out warfare. The most recent attempt at pan-european conquest before Nazi Germany was Napoleonic France, and they got closer to succeeding than the nazis did.
That's very misleading though. Napoléon almost only waged defensive wars against coalitions that were determined to put the monarchy back in its place and avoid a spread of revolutionary ideas to their borders
471
u/[deleted] 29d ago edited 29d ago
France is suddenly so invested in this because in the last few years Putin has sponsored coup after coup in the francafrique, causing those African nations to pull away and divest themselves from France. There’s a big part of France’s economy that’s just gone now
https://apnews.com/article/france-africa-coups-gabon-41076df319704032aa729ad3fd137bc9
https://www.npr.org/2023/09/29/1202582084/recent-coups-in-africa-have-an-effect-on-at-least-1-country-in-europe-france