“Totally erroneous comments”, a “contemptuous attitude”: Senegal and Chad were quick to react to the comments made by Emmanuel Macron during his traditional speech to the ambassadors on Monday January 6 in Paris. France was “right” to intervene militarily in the Sahel “against terrorism since 2013”, but African leaders “forgot to say thank you to us”, declared the French head of state, estimating that “none of them between them” would not manage a sovereign country without this intervention. “It doesn’t matter, it will come with time,” the French president even quipped.
The Chadian government expressed its “deep concern following the comments made recently by the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, which reflect a contemptuous attitude towards Africa and Africans”, indicates a press release from the Chadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abderaman Koulamallah read on state television Monday evening. Abderaman Koulamallah recalls “that he has no problem with France” but also that “French leaders must learn to respect the African people”.
At the end of 2024, Chad, Senegal then Ivory Coast had announced in turn the withdrawal of the French military presence on their territory in 2025. French troops and combat aircraft have been stationed in these three countries almost continuously since independence in 1960, used for the training and training of the military. According to Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, in power since 2021, these agreements were “completely obsolete”, facing “the political and geostrategic realities of our time”.
France “contributor to destabilization”
In front of the ambassadors, Emmanuel Macron addressed the gradual withdrawal of French soldiers from Africa, believing that it was a consequence of the putsches that occurred in several countries, including Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. In the evening, the Senegalese Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko, reacted in turn, disputing that the announced withdrawal of French soldiers from his country would have given rise to negotiations between Paris and Dakar, and speaking on “. This Tuesday, January 7, the Senegalese press as a whole does not hesitate to claim a “reframing” of Emmanuel Macron by Ousmane Sonko.
The latter specifies that “no discussion or negotiation has taken place to date” and that this decision taken by Senegal “results from [ait] of its sole will, as a free, independent and sovereign country”. According to the Senegalese Prime Minister, France, on the contrary, “often contributed to destabilizing certain African countries such as Libya with disastrous consequences noted on stability and security of the Sahel.”
Finally, both Chad and Senegal were keen to recall the support of African soldiers for France during the two world wars. The Chadian Minister of Foreign Affairs thus underlined the “determining role” of Africa and Chad in the liberation of France during the two world wars” that “France has never truly recognized” as well as “the sacrifices made by African soldiers”. While Ousmane Sonko, with more daring remarks, affirmed that “if the African soldiers, sometimes mobilized by force, mistreated and finally betrayed, had not deployed during the Second World War to defend France, it would perhaps still be German today.