1. My Argument
In pointing to West Africa as a Region that the rest of Africa should watch, I am calling on our political awareness and conscience to the position of Africa in the current world order. Several eminent personalities have been doing that for some time now: Nathalie Yamb, Julius Malema, Prof. PLO Lumumba, Amb. Arikana Chihombori, among others. We may wish to follow their pronouncements and improve awareness of our condition as a Continent.
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are showing us that we can get free from the condition of poverty and war in which the global north wishes to keep us: alive, but not developing, because they need our resources to prosper themselves. Watch how European leaders are visiting Africa and what they seek: The German Chancellor has visited many African countries this year, after Germany realized that allowing the blowing up of the Nordstream and the sanctions on Russia, means that his country in particular, and Europe in general needs to look for alternative sources of energy. Meanwhile, who is profiting from the European energy crisis?[1]
Energy is the strategic issue dominating world relations today. Gas and oil. That is the reason America still occupies parts of Syria and Iraq, that is why no stability has returned to Libya, and why there was/still is, interest in the instability in the Sahel. Energy is what East and Southern African countries have. And more: we have no money, no technology and no qualified manpower to develop them. How much more exposed can one be?
EXCEPT the three most affected countries in the Sahel understood that their security efforts were met with a web of sabotage, and quickly ended all cooperation with France and the European Union on security matters. Proof that no foreign army can bring back peace in a country. Events in Mali and Burkina since the departure of the French forces is testimony to that.
Their efforts at reconquering autonomy and independence should be followed closely by countries in East and Southern Africa. It is my contention that we are too relaxed and content and not alert enough to the neocolonial order of exploitation of our resources. We actually settled comfortably with an extractive industry and our leaders are packed at the window receiving fat rents, while the rest of the population fights for a decent job, for electricity etc. In all of this, we see from time to time an evangelist raise their voice: We thought that President Ruto was becoming our mouthpiece on fighting for resources sovereignty. Until, that is, we saw how he treated the visit of the king of England, and his statements around the unequal economic relations. After saying it loud that the international system is unfair on Africa, he then turns around to say that talking of compensation for the slave trade is past history, and we should just move on!! What else is President Ruto saying that maybe shows that he is not the defender of our interests? Our climate Ambassador? Following closely the arguments around climate financing and carbon credits, we have the impression that this is a dual weapon that will result in the carbon colonization of Africa. It may not deliver on its promise, but what it will certainly do is:
perpetuate natural resources extractivism by allowing the buying of vast tracts of land[2] for countries with money and a pollution conscience to clean. Uganda, Tanzania, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Kenya. Evolving situation.
Comfort big polluters through these land purchases, allowing them to continue polluting under the guise that carbon is being absorbed in Africa.
I could talk of my own country and that would be even more complex. In this article, I wish to highlight events in West Africa around these three countries, ECOWAS, and what we should learn from this situation.
2. Events in Mali, Niger, Burkina
Communications war
Mali and Burkina Faso have demoted French from official to working language in their territories. For obvious reasons, French cannot be completely left out, but that is an important step that allows national languages to be better acknowledged and given importance. Eventually, discussion around the issue of an African diplomatic language is unavoidable. In that sense, I have made several articles about the advantages of Kiswahili[3]. We need to invest, and no one should think that adopting an African language will be a question of legislating. Resources need to be put behind any attempt because this is a cultural as well as a resource war.
Radio France Internationale was asked to leave these countries, although Cote d’Ivoire is ready to work for their return on behalf of France. They just have to return! Communications war is a powerful weapon for the mobilization of opinion-making. We still wake up to listen to what say BBC, CNN, RFI. What is our version of our story and history?
Resources appropriation
It is known thar Trance has long established stranglehold on the economies of French-speaking African countries[4]. Gold in Mali, uranium in Niger, etc. Recent events: Burkina Faso and Mali are now investing in gold refineries in their countries. Burkina Faso has even renegotiated gold agreements with some Australian and Russian enterprises, in order to exert more control over national resources.
Niger has imposed a commercial price on the uranium in line with market prices; While in the past Niger sold to France the kilogram of uranium for 0.8 Euro/kilo, France fetched 200 Euro for the same kilo in the market. Now Niger has adopted and imposed the market price, take it or leave it. After all, with so much uranium going to Europe, 80% of Niger remains in the dark. I lived there and I know the experience. It is not for nothing that the ECOWAS summits are full of European envoys and look more like EU summits! It is not for nothing that Nigeria has cut electricity to Niger. Europe is jittery about the gas pipeline from Nigeria to Europe through Niger. Energy, energy, energy. If you have lived in Europe like I did, you know what one day without energy would do to Europe!
A French Company was managing the water supply systems in Niger (at least in Niamey). That is also ended, and a Nigerien company will now provide the services. Even the French Ambassador Itte who did not want to leave Niger after being given 48 hours, boasted that the water that Niamey was consuming was French water. From the Niger River dividing Niamey town into two, how more hostage to foreign interests one can be?
On the double taxation and French control of municipal services (water, sanitation, urban transport, toll gates, etc), how much control France maintains in Africa? One only needs to visit Abidjan and Dakar. Does the public know that national mining enterprises in French-speaking countries in West Africa cannot dig below 12 metres in their own soil without seeking permission from France?
Burkina Faso is also taking steps to establish a nuclear power plant for better energy self-sustenance.
Lopsided agreements
Niger has also denounced the double taxation agreement with France, to take effect in a few months time: Double taxation is a financial system whereby an enterprise established outside of its country of origin, has to pay taxes on revenue gained in the country of operation, and normally would also be expected to pay taxes on the repatriated revenue in the country of origin of the enterprise. To get around this double taxation, many countries, and France in African countries in particular (Niger is our case here), have established a regime whereby French companies would only be taxed in France, on repatriation of benefits, against a corresponding procedure for Niger companies in France. One would say there is reciprocity in the arrangement. Except then one needs to ask: how many Nigerien companies are there in France and what is their volume of profit? Think of Air France and Orange alone! Well, that is ended now. We others could learn a thing or two from this.
We all know that particularly after the Valetta Summit on migration, Europe has outsourced European migration management to African governments, thus effectively moving the borders of Europe into the Sahel. Several African countries have been financed into agreements for the management of migration on behalf of Europe, a sort of “we give you money and you keep your people far from us”. And Niger, a pivotal country in this strategy, has just denounced such an agreement with the European Union. Certainly this migration is full of dangers such as crossing the inhospitable Sahara desert, human traffickers, passing through North African countries that consider black Africans as expendable - the Libya slave market, the events in Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria, and crossing the Mediterranean Sea mass grave where national guards of North African countries were armed by Europe to dissuade immigration. However, externalizing control of borders to African countries is disrespectful and a perverted way of managing relations between countries. Well, Niger has just denounced such an agreement for combatting immigration.
Maybe not in my lifetime, but Europe may run to Africa, if only because of environmental disasters to come. Notice how interested are they in our national parks, which increasingly are being made (by our own leaders) beyond the access of the African hoi-poloi. Gardens of Eden for others.
Regional integration
The attitude of ECOWAS as a messenger of foreign colonial interests has discredited this regional body. Its recourse to force before diplomacy has discredited it thoroughly. Imposing sanctions, not only is it not in its constitution, it actually works against itself and the nature of its pursuits. All these actions have created a reaction: The 3 countries have just created an Alliance of States of the Sahel (AES), a first step towards a confederation. And having denounced and withdrawn from the G5 Sahel, where France exerted excessive influence. Chad and Mauritania, the only countries remaining in the G5 Sahel, just acknowledged this situation and dissolved the G5. Despite the manner in which this withdrawal was announced, a little undiplomatic and not wise in terms of the consequences on administrative structures created around the G5, the act in itself is indicative of serious move towards relinquishing all colonial forces tying them down. We hope that the currency issue will soon follow.
3. Sober Conclusions
Clearly these three countries are doing much to free themselves, from where we can draw serious lessons. they also need our solidarity because they are paying and will continue to pay for defying France's economic interests and the interests of the West. Remember Haiti, remember Guinea, remember Sylvanus Olympio[5].
The West still thinks they have the right to determine who should be partner with an African country. Defying this order and their self-entitled sense of superiority will carry its own risks of destabilization, security-wise, economically and politically.
It is only contradictory to see that ECOWAS continues to keep economic sanctions on Niger, while the USA has sent a new Ambassador, who presented credentials to the new authorities just this month. There seems to persist a lot of contradictions on the behaviour of ECOWAS. It feels like an EU regional grouping. By the way, I was also accredited as Ambassador of UNHCR to ECOWAS.
The US insists on maintaining a military airbase and personnel presence in Niger to fight terrorism. We will be watching, aware that not every bad situation can be corrected immediately, but hoping that the authorities in Niger will find a diplomatic but firm way of getting out of this embrace. Particularly not with a country that will establish and keep military presence wherever they can see an opening.
Jose
December 2023
[1] https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-gas/crisis-year-2022-brought-134-billion-in-excess-profit-to-the-wests-five-largest-oil-and-gas-companies/
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/30/the-new-scramble-for-africa-how-a-uae-sheikh-quietly-made-carbon-deals-for-forests-bigger-than-uk
[4] https://hir.harvard.edu/true-sovereignty-the-cfa-franc-and-french-influence-in-west-and-central-africa/
[5] https://www.quora.com/Why-was-then-president-of-Togo-Sylvanus-Olympio-assassinated-What-was-the-real-story-behind-the-assassination Contrary to the prevailing narrative that he was assassinated by soldiers because of ethnic grievances. Who tells the story is key to understanding events.
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