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Anti-French sentiment has been growing relentlessly throughout Francophone Africa where governments have struggled to contain mounting internal security problems from jihadi insurgents. France has troops in West Africa helping its former colonies Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger tackle the terrorist threat. But the French presence is proving increasingly unpopular in the region and President Emmanuel Macron who faces a Presidential election next month has reduced French troop numbers. But at a time when France is holding the Presidency of the EU, this is not good for morale.
A diplomatic spat between France and Mali this week saw the Malian authorities asking Joël Meyer, the French ambassador to Mali, to leave the country within 72 hours. This action was triggered by the comments of French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian who had said that the ruling junta in Bamako was “out of control”.
Mali feels aggrieved that France had influenced the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) to impose severe economic sanctions on Mali. The sanctions are reportedly due to the failure of the transitional authorities in Bamako to hold presidential and legislative elections that were previously announced for February 27. But the domestic terrorist insurgency that has been threatening stability has forced the government to focus on other priorities.
The whole region has seen a dangerous trend of military takeovers first in Mali, then in Guinea followed by another in Mali, then Burkina Faso and now this week a failed coup in Guinea-Bissau. In Ouagadougou, speaking for the first time since taking power the new military leader of Burkina Faso Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba promised a return to normal constitutional order “when the conditions are right”.
Meeting in crisis this week in Accra the West African ECOWAS bloc suspended Burkina Faso’s membership because of the military takeover, but nevertheless decided to engage with Damiba – a slightly more lenient approach than with neighbouring Mali. They have asked him to rapidly propose an election timetable.
A delegation sent to Ougadougou by ECOWAS has since established that ousted President Roch Kabore is safe and in good health, according to Reuters. But it will not be easy for Damiba to deliver on his election promises, as Mali found to their cost. So it can be anticipated that relations with ECOWAS are likely to become tenser.
Kabore had been ousted by an army mutiny for failing to contain violence by Islamist militants. In 2021, there was a series of atrocities in the country. A massacre at the village of Solhan on 6 June was one of the deadliest attacks in Burkina Faso, with at least 160 killed. The most recent trigger for pressure on the government was a November 14 attack on security forces in Inata in the north, near the border with Mali. The attack, near a gold mine in Inata, killed 49 military police officers and four civilians. The local population blamed the poor state of the defence forces on high-ranking military officials.
The Inata attack was followed by a series of demonstrations in Burkina Faso and Niger which were held in protest against Burkina Faso’s security accords with France. A 13-year-old demonstrator who used his slingshot to bring down a French drone over the protests became an overnight internet popular hero in the country.
By association with the ruling government of Burkina Faso, the French military has also received its share of popular protests against the state’s failure to stop a rise in Islamist violence in the country.
In his maiden presidential speech, Damiba said that Burkina Faso needed international partners “more than ever”, following condemnation of the coup.
He vowed that the fight against jihadists would be his priority and he promised to recapture rural areas, allowing the 1.5 million people who have fled their homes to return. But although he has led the fight against the extremists so far, he will need help if he is to deliver on this strategic target.
“I call on the international community to support our country so it can exit this crisis as soon as possible,” he said in his national address, but he has yet to make clear which part of the international community he wants support from. His immediate neighbor, Mali, faced very similar troubles before their own military coup last May 2021, has followed the example of the Central African Republic to seek Russian military help to boost their security capabilities. Whether Burkina Faso’s new leader chooses a similar path remains to be seen.
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