“A contemptuous attitude towards Africa and Africans”: these words from Emmanuel Macron that are not going down well in Chad

Emmanuel Macron prononce ici son discours devant les ambassadeurs de France en poste dans le monde, au palais de l'Élysée, le 6 janvier 2025. AURELIEN MORISSARD/POOL/EPA – MaxPPP

Chad deplored this Monday, January 6, 2025, the "contemptuous attitude" of French President Emmanuel Macron who considered that African leaders had "forgotten to say thank you" to France in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel, remarks also condemned by Senegal.

The Chadian government expressed its “deep concern following the remarks recently made by the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, which reflect a contemptuous attitude towards Africa and Africans”, indicates a statement from Chadian Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah read on state television Monday evening.

Chad broke off military agreements with the former colonial power at the end of November.

Mr. Koulamallah recalls “that he has no problem with France” but also that “French leaders must learn to respect the African people”.

Senegal also contests

Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, for his part, contested on Monday, January 6, 2025, that the announced withdrawal of French soldiers from his country would have given rise to negotiations between Paris and Dakar and virulently rejected remarks by President Emmanuel Macron on French military engagement in Africa.

M. Sonko described on social media as “totally wrong” the claim that the announced departure of hundreds of French soldiers would follow a proposal from France that would have given the countries concerned by a reorganization of the French military presence the first opportunity to announce such withdrawals.

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France was “right” to intervene militarily in the Sahel “against terrorism since 2013”, but African leaders “forgot to thank us”, President Macron said on Monday, estimating that “none of them” would run a sovereign country without this intervention.

“It doesn't matter, it will come with time”, quipped the French president, who was speaking at the annual meeting of French ambassadors.

In his press release, Abderaman Koulamallah particularly emphasizes the “decisive 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”.

“In 60 years of presence (…) the French contribution has often been limited to its own strategic interests, without any real lasting impact on the development of the people Chadian”, he criticized.

“True independence”

“The Chadian people aspire to full and complete sovereignty, true independence, and the construction of a strong and autonomous State” added Mr. Koulamallah.

Chad had announced by surprise on November 28 that it was ending the military agreement between Paris and N'Djamena, marking the end of sixty years of military cooperation since the end of French colonization.

The French army withdrawal operations began in December.

Chad was France's last anchor point in the Sahel, with around a thousand soldiers stationed, mainly at Camp Kossei in the Chadian capital N'Djamena.

French troops and combat aircraft have been stationed in Chad almost continuously since independence in 1960, serving for the training and education of the military. Chadians.

“Reorganization”

The former colonial power had up to 5,000 soldiers in the Sahel as part of the anti-jihadist operation Barkhane, which was halted at the end of November 2022.

Between 2022 and 2023, four former French colonies, Niger, Mali, the Central African Republic and Burkina Faso, ordered Paris to withdraw its army from their territories, where it had historically been based, and moved closer to Moscow.

Last month, within hours of each other, Senegal and Chad in turn announced the departure of French soldiers from their soil and formalized a “reorganization”. In January, Côte d'Ivoire also announced that the French military base at Port-Bouet near Abidjan would be returned to the country.

“Completely obsolete” agreements

According to Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, in power since 2021, these agreements were “completely obsolete”, given “the political and geostrategic realities of our time”.

Last May, three years of transition ended in N'Djamena, with the election of Mahamat Idriss Déby, who was to power by a military junta after the death of his father Idriss Déby, killed by rebels at the front in 2021.

Threatened by rebel offensives, Déby père was able to count on the support of the French army to repel them in 2008 and then in 2019.