September 1, 2023
By Sylvester Thompson, ABUJA
There is a reason why most of the coups on the African continent are happening in Francophone Africa.
Let’s take Niger as a case study: the country’s major export product is uranium ore which constitutes about 75% of its export.
All of Niger’s uranium exports goes to France. By law, 80 per cent of what France pays for Niger’s uranium is retained in France.
Before Niger can have access to this money, it has to convince the French government, with good reasons, what the money will be used for.
It is the French government’s prerogative to agree or refuse to release the money.
This same arrangement is in place between France and its other former African colonies.
It was a pre-condition to their gaining “independence”. But are former French colonies really independent? Are we seeing a push back by disgruntled citizens against France and its puppet African leaders?
Just imagine a scenario where all of Nigeria’s oil export, is by a colonial law, warehoused in London and the Nigeria government will only have access to it subject to the British Parliament’s approval then you will understand the scenario better.
14 African countries are obliged by France, through a colonial pact, to store 85 per cent of their foreign reserve in the French Central Bank in Paris directly under the control of the French Minister of Finance.
Until 2014, Former French African colonies were still paying a so called “colonial tax” to France to defray the costs of colonising them. Those African leaders who rebelled were either assassinated or toppled by military juntas sponsored by France.
Francophone African leaders are constantly stalked and bullied by France that they tend to cater to France’s interests more than their own people for fear of being toppled or even killed.
France desperately keeps a strong hold on its former colonies at whatever cost. The rationale for this is not farfetched.
In March 2008, former French President Jacques Chirac said, “without Africa, France will slide down into the rank of a third [world] power”
Chirac’s predecessor François Mitterand already prophesied in 1957 that “wthout Africa, France will have no history in the 21st century”.
It’s such an evil system even denounced by the European Union, but France is not ready to move from that colonial system which puts about 500 billion dollars from Africa to its treasury year in year out.
I believe France is presently trying to use Tinubu/Nigeria to get Niger back to the fold. If this doesn’t work, it wont be out of place seeing them directly intervening or sponsoring other elements within Niger to topple the new military junta.
