{"id":19018,"date":"2025-12-28T13:53:46","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T13:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/?p=19018"},"modified":"2025-12-28T13:53:46","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T13:53:46","slug":"why-frances-focus-is-shifting-to-anglophone-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qiraatafrican.com\/en\/19018\/why-frances-focus-is-shifting-to-anglophone-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Why France\u2019s Focus is Shifting to Anglophone Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the end of the 19th century, European powers partitioned Africa <\/a>in a frenzy of colonization known as the “Scramble for Africa.” Today, a new form of competition is unfolding\u2014less overtly colonial but equally consequential. Global powers such as China, the United States, Russia, and former colonial nations like France are vying for influence across the continent through infrastructure investments, military partnerships, and strategic diplomacy. This modern contest is reshaping Africa’s geopolitical landscape and raising critical questions about sovereignty, development, and the balance of power in the 21st century.<\/p>\n

Africa has been a central part of President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s foreign policy from the start of his tenure. This was motivated by Macron\u2019s perception that a large number of global challenges with implications for France are concentrated in Africa (climate change, demography, terrorism<\/a>, economic development, and health). Macron has put a good deal of energy into reshaping the France\u2013Africa relationship and building a new narrative. He drew on France\u2019s foreign policy levers and made many positive announcements, but it remains difficult to point to concrete achievements.<\/p>\n

France has legitimate interests in Africa that it would like to promote through a partner-based approach founded on transparency and reciprocity. That is the focus of the speech President Macron gave on 28 November 2017 at University Ki-Zerbo in Ouagadougou<\/a>. He set out a series of detailed commitments for forging a new relationship and a new outlook for France and Africa.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, France\u2019s influence in its former African colonies\u2014known by the term Fran\u00e7afrique\u2014has seriously declined in recent years. Military coups in the Sahel<\/a>\u2014such\u00a0as in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger\u2014have led to the expulsion of French troops and the cancellation of military agreements. These coups have often been driven by explicitly anti-French sentiment and involved the open embrace of France\u2019s adversaries, such as Russia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More than a decade of insurgencies in the Sahel have displaced millions and engendered economic collapse, with violence <\/a>pushing further south towards West Africa’s coast. While controversy has also centered on perceived remnants of French colonial control\u2014such as through the use of the CFA franc,<\/a> which requires former colonies to deposit at least 50% of their foreign reserves with the French Treasury in Paris.<\/p>\n

Finding itself on the back foot, French diplomacy<\/a> has shifted its focus to English- and Portuguese-speaking African countries\u2014countries (Anglophone) with no colonial history with Paris and whose dynamic domestic markets offer significant opportunities for French companies. On November 20, 2025, Emmanuel Macron<\/a> started a five-day African tour covering Mauritius, South Africa, Gabon, and Angola. The aim is to renew partnerships, promote youth and economic initiatives, and strengthen cooperation after France\u2019s setbacks in the Sahel.<\/p>\n

This article will not focus on the Macron trip to Africa, but it will briefly explore the drivers of the pivot, its geopolitical and economic rationale, detailed country-by-country dynamics (Nigeria and Kenya), and the broader risks and opportunities. The final section offers political and economic implications of the shift for both France and African states.<\/p>\n

Economic Opportunity: Dynamic Markets and Investment Potential<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Since 2022, France has pulled its soldiers out of Mali, Burkina Faso<\/a>, and Niger\u00a0after military coups brought in leaders hostile to the French presence. Chad\u2014a linchpin of the West’s war against jihadists in the Sahel\u2014abruptly ended its security cooperation pact with its former colonial master in November.<\/p>\n

Analysts suggest that these events in the Sahel have not only diminished France\u2019s diplomatic and political clout on the continent but also contributed to declining commercial success in Africa <\/a>as well. In banking, for example, Cr\u00e9dit Agricole, BNP Paribas, and Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale have all withdrawn from the African market in the last few years\u2014with the higher geopolitical risks a key reason for this.<\/p>\n

Paris’s pivot towards English-speaking Africa signals Macron’s desire to reverse the country’s declining influence on the continent, with visits to Nigeria in 2018, Ethiopia <\/a>in 2019, and South Africa in 2021. “This is not a new trend … but the crises in the Sahel have accelerated this dynamic,” said Togolese economist Kako Nubukpo. Now, “France’s leading trading partners in Africa are not French-speaking,” Nubukpo said.<\/p>\n

A key partner in this change of strategy is Nigeria, with its 220 million inhabitants, whose President Bola Tinubu<\/a> was received by Macron in a grand state visit just one year ago. In 2024, Africa’s most populous country became France’s leading economic partner in sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n

Laurent Favier, consul general of France in Lagos<\/a>, noted that as part of the deep cooperation and relationship between both countries, over 14,000 Nigerians are employed by over 100 French companies that operate across the country today. These firms operate in crucial areas like oil and gas, agriculture <\/a>and agri-food, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, technology, logistics, and microfinance, he said.<\/p>\n

According to Favier, they make investments in factories, farms, and vocational training institutes and establish long-term partnerships that exemplify their entrepreneurial drive and a strong commitment to social impact.<\/p>\n

France still holds significant sway despite competition from China<\/a>, India, and Turkey, said Alain Antil, a researcher in sub-Saharan Africa at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI). This is especially true in English-speaking countries where France “is not held back by its colonial past,” he told AFP.<\/p>\n

And with urbanization and an emerging middle class, countries throughout Africa are seeking to take advantage of French investment <\/a>to boost economic growth. “Between 2020 and 2050, there will be between 600 and 700 million more urban dwellers in Africa,” said Antil, adding, “It’s transforming African societies and cities,” which need to be built and equipped to manage the change.<\/p>\n

Country Case Studies\u2014Nigeria and Kenya<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 2025, senior French officials explicitly signaled that \u201cWest Africa\u2019s security <\/a>woes are no longer France\u2019s concern,\u201d underscoring the end of large-scale French intervention as a standard security provision. Africa and defense specialist Jonathan Guiffard, of Institut Montaigne, said France cannot afford to abandon all ties in West Africa <\/a>but may need to reduce its military presence. \u201cFrance will keep ties with these countries but will have to leave Chad, as the fallout is too deep,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Similarly, experts agree that France needs to rebuild its African partnerships with less focus on military <\/a>interventions. Antoine Glaser, a specialist on African politics, said France\u2019s reliance on security pacts was anachronistic. \u201cFrance must recognize that it has remained present for too long by replacing African armies in terms of security,\u201d Glaser told RFI.<\/p>\n

Vircoulon said the historical reasons for France\u2019s military presence in Africa have largely disappeared. \u201cInstead of demilitarizing the relationship, the French government <\/a>is trying to invent a new model of military partnership that is politically risky,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n