The JDNews. You are talking about a ” bankruptcy “ of the relationship between France and Africa. When do you think the tipping point was?
Pascal Lorot. French influence began to ebb with independence, which is a logical development. But Jacques Chirac remains, in my eyes, the last French president to have truly understood and loved Africa. He maintained real proximity with heads of state and perceived the cultural diversity of the continent.
After him, our political elites gradually lost contact with African reality. This lack of interest coincided with globalization, and a gap arose between Parisian perception and an Africa that was opening up to the world.
The term “Françafrique” is now seen as a colonial insult. What remains of this system?
Françafrique was an endogamous relationship in which France weighed heavily on the political choices of countries that were not yet fully sovereign. This dependence is today very relative, but there remains a paternalism. In Paris, we still talk to Africa like a schoolmaster to his students, as if she were not adults, whereas she is enterprising, modern, and no longer needs us to chart her path.
Beyond political errors, you point to a brutal economic decline. How did our businesses lose so much ground?
This is the result of what I call economic errors. In the absence of a real coordinated state strategy, our companies are struggling to understand how to do business in this new Africa.
“ African states, including democracies like Senegal or Ivory Coast, no longer accept moral injunctions from Europe »
French banks, for example, have sold their historic networks to competitors, particularly Moroccans. In one generation, our market share went from 15% to 7 or 8%.
France seems powerless against China, Russia or Turkey. Specific rejection of France or simple diversification of partners?
There is an asymmetry of approach. These newcomers have a real appetite for Africa and are focused on efficiency, the search for markets and resources. France remains caught in a love-hate relationship with the continent, inherited from a long history that China or Turkey do not have. However, the median age in Africa is 19 years old. This youth has not experienced colonization. It does not ask for repentance, but for jobs, energy and infrastructure. She sees France as one actor among others and no longer accepts condescension.
Does this paternalism translate into what you call “moral lessons” ?
Yes. African states, including democracies like Senegal or Ivory Coast, no longer accept moral injunctions from Europe. They claim their sovereignty, a word that comes up constantly. The more France seeks to impose its views on social or domestic political issues, the less audible it will be.
You also describe an instrumentalization of diasporas. How does this lever weigh on the bilateral relationship?
This is a documented reality, particularly for North Africa. Certain states, such as Algeria, may seek to mobilize their diaspora established in France to guide French policy towards them, particularly on questions of memory. The pressure game works both ways, but it exposes France more than any other European country, whose African history is undoubtedly the richest and most complex.
Why have certain recent diplomatic initiatives, notably under Emmanuel Macron, been so poorly received?
Because of a lack of knowledge of the continent’s codes. The speech in Ouagadougou, in 2017, where the president addressed his Burkinabe counterpart in an inappropriate manner, or his remonstrations to President Tshisekedi, in Kinshasa, were experienced as affronts. Wanting to represent Africa by a diaspora born in France rather than by its elected leaders clashed head-on with African elites.
On the military level, France closes its bases. Is this an admission of failure?
This is a necessary rearrangement. In 2013, with Operation Serval, we were liberators. But by remaining there for ten years without a political vision of an exit, we ended up being seen as occupiers.
Closing the bases in favor of shared training centers is a positive development.
However, Africa remains strategic for Europe, particularly for access to minerals…
This is crucial. Africa holds around 30% of the world’s reserves of critical minerals. Our energy transition and our reindustrialization depend on it. But we must offer partnerships of equals, promoting local industrialization and the creation of value on site, rather than reproducing the Chinese extractive model.
Despite this decline, do you remain optimistic?
The world will become more and more African. In 2050, one in four people on the planet will live on this continent. It is a land of talent, with an abundance of start-ups, from Abidjan to Nairobi. The idea that Africa needs France belongs to the past: it is now France that needs Africa. If we know how to reinvent this relationship by being more pragmatic, we will be able to support this dynamic.
Goodbye Africa, Pascal Lorot, Fayar, 240 pages, 21.90 euros
