In international relations, () is France's sphere of influence (or in French, meaning 'backyard') over former French and Belgian colonies in sub-Saharan Africa. The term was derived from the expression , notably used by the first president of Ivory Coast, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, in 1955 to describe his country's close ties with France. It was later pejoratively renamed by François-Xavier Verschave in 1998 to criticise the alleged corrupt and clandestine activities of various Franco-African political, economic and military networks, also defined as France's neocolonialism.
Following the independence of its African colonies beginning in 1959, France continued to maintain influence over the region, which was essential for then President Charles de Gaulle's vision of France as a global power (or in French) that could rival British and American influence in the post-colonial world.
The United States supported France's continuing presence in Africa to prevent the region from falling under Soviet influence during the Cold War.
was defined by several features that emerged during the Cold War. The first was the African cell, consisting of the French President and his close advisors, which made policy decisions on Africa with the collaboration of powerful business networks and the French secret service. Another feature was the CFA franc, a currency union that pegged the currencies of most francophone African countries to the French franc. was also largely based on the concept of institutional , which was implemented through a series of political, economic, military and cultural treaties between France and its former African colonies. France also saw itself as a guarantor of stability in the region, adopting an interventionist approach that culminated in military operations averaging one a year between 1960 and the mid-1990s. Finally, a defining feature of was the network of personal, informal and familial links between French and African leaders. These networks often lacked oversight and scrutiny, which led to corruption and state racketeering.
Education was used as a tool to reinforce this system. France facilitated the arrival of young African executives who wished to pursue higher education in France: once graduated, fluent in French and imbued with European values, these young Africans returned to their countries. With the unofficial support of France, they would often become senior executives or join the state apparatus as senior civil servants.
Another tool was military cooperation. The defense agreements between France and francophone African countries were often accompanied by secret clauses allowing France to intervene militarily: to rescue regimes favorable to French interests, to fight jihadism, particularly in the Sahel, or to put an end to civil wars. Since 2022, several former French colonies in the Sahel have denounced their defense agreements with France, prompting the withdrawal of most French military forces in the region, some of which had been present since the 1960s. A notable example of this is the end of Operation Barkhane in 2022.
Since the end of the Cold War, the regime has been progressively weakened by France's budgetary constraints, greater public scrutiny, the deaths of pivotal actors (Foccart, Mitterrand, Pasqua and members of Elf), and the integration of France into the European Union. Economic liberalisation, high indebtedness, and political instability of the former African colonies, as well as the increase in African trade with other countries, have led France to slowly adapt its relations with former colonies.
Etymology The term was derived from the expression . The first known usage is in a 1945 editorial from the pro-colonial politician and journalist in the newspaper L'Aurore. It has often been mistakenly attributed to a 1955 speech by President Félix Houphouët-Boigny of Ivory Coast, who advocated maintaining a close relationship with France even after independence. Close cooperation between Houphouët-Boigny and Jacques Foccart, chief advisor on African policy in the Charles de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou governments (1958–1974) is claimed by supporters to have contributed to the "Ivorian miracle" of economic and industrial progress.
The term was subsequently used by François-Xavier Verschave as the title of his 1998 book, ("Françafrique: the longest-lasting scandal in the Republic"), which criticises French policies in Africa.
Successive French governments in the past decades have repeatedly declared the end of , which only goes to show how decolonization is still an unfinished process.
Pun Verschave also noted the pun in the term , as it sounds like "" (a source of cash for France; is French slang for 'cash'), and that "Over the course of four decades, hundreds of thousands of euros misappropriated from debt, aid, oil, cocoa... or drained through French importing monopolies, have financed French political-business networks (all of them offshoots of the main neo-Gaullist network), shareholders' dividends, the secret services' major operations and mercenary expeditions".Survie France (French)
History
Charles de Gaulle's presidency (1958–1969)
When Charles de Gaulle returned to power as French President in 1958, France had already been severely weakened by World War II and by the conflicts in Indochina and Algeria. He proceeded to grant independence to France's remaining colonies in sub-Saharan Africa in 1960 in an effort to maintain close cultural and economic ties with them and to avoid more costly colonial wars. Compared to the decolonisation of French Indochina and Algeria, the transfer of power in sub-Saharan Africa was, for the most part, peaceful. Nevertheless, de Gaulle was keen on preserving France's status (or ) as a global power rivalling British and American influence. Thus, he saw the close links with France's former African colonies as an opportunity to enhance France's image on the world stage, both as a major power and as a counterbalancing force between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The United States supported France's continuing presence in Africa to prevent the region from falling under Soviet influence. Similarly, the United Kingdom had little interest in West Africa, which left France as the only major power in that region.
On 24 August 1958, in Brazzaville, President Charles de Gaulle recognized that African states had legitimate demands in terms of independence, but that they should go through a period of political learning in the French Community, an organization encompassing France and its colonies. A referendum was organized on 28 September 1958, to decide on the fate of the African states in question. Voting "Yes" meant joining the French Community and engaging on a path to independence, while voting "No" meant immediate independence. De Gaulle also warned that states voting "No" would commit secession, and that France would pull out all financial and material aid. All voted yes but Guinea, led by Ahmed Sékou Touré, head of the Democratic Party of Guinea.
On 2 October 1958, Guinea proclaimed its independence, and Sékou Touré became its first President. At the time, France was still processing its defeat in Indochina and feared that Guinea would incite uprisings in the region. Though Sékou Touré had sent a letter to de Gaulle on 15 October 1958, asking for Guinea to stay in the CFA franc zone, France banished them from the monetary union and engaged in economic retaliation. This prompted Guinea to seek aid from Eastern Bloc experts in order to build a new currency, which was seen as a further threat to French influence. Among the methods of destabilization used, "Opération Persil" involved introducing a large quantity of fake bills into the country to cause inflation and disturb the economy. Nevertheless, with the help of the USSR and China, Sékou Touré's regime held on to power until his death in 1984.
To further implement his vision of France's in Africa, de Gaulle appointed Jacques Foccart, a close adviser and former intelligence member of the French Resistance during World War II, as Secretary-General for African and Malagasy Affairs. Foccart played a pivotal role in maintaining France's sphere of influence in sub-Saharan Africa by negotiating a wide range of cooperation treaties. These treaties included France's former colonies in sub-Saharan Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Republic of the Congo and Senegal), former United Nations trust territories (Cameroon and Togo), former Belgian colonies (Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo) and ex-Portuguese (Guinea-Bissau) and Spanish (Equatorial Guinea) territories. France's relationships with these countries was managed by the Ministry of Cooperation, which was created in 1961 out of the previous, colonial, Ministry for Overseas France. The Ministry of Cooperation served as a focal point for France's new system of influence in Africa until it was merged with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1999. Jacques Foccart also built a dense web of personal networks between French and African leaders, which underpinned the institutional structures of .
Foccart continued to serve as chief adviser for Africa until French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing replaced him with René Journiac. Upon becoming President of France in 1995, Jacques Chirac again sought Foccart's counsel and even brought him on his first trip to Africa as French President. Foccart continued to play a role in Franco-African relations until his death in 1997.
Georges Pompidou's presidency (1969–1974) During his five years in power, Georges Pompidou did not break with the Gaullist tradition. Françafrique continued to be strengthened under the leadership of Foccart, who consolidated the system of networks between France, French companies, and African elites.
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's presidency (1974–1981) When Valéry Giscard d'Estaing came to power in 1974, he intended to break with the practices of de Gaulle and modernize relations between France and Africa. Despite these intentions, the networks of Françafrique endured thanks to Journiac, who maintained strong ties with South Africa despite apartheid, but also with Congo, Gabon and Niger, whose raw materials were essential to France. Giscard-d'Estaing was also confronted with the political instability of African states, which led him to play the role of "policeman of Africa", i.e. to intervene militarily, notably in Chad and Zaire. Finally, Giscard-d'Estaing was involved in corruption cases revealed by the Canard Enchainé in October 1979. Jean-Bedel Bokassa, emperor of the Central African Republic, was alleged to have sent him suitcases of diamonds on several occasions. Silent at first, Giscard-d'Estaing finally spoke out as new evidence emerged, declaring that the gifts received had all been sold, with all proceeds going to NGOs. The affair was nevertheless a hit to his legitimacy.
François Mitterrand's presidency (1981–1995) François Mitterrand's 14 years in power were marked by two opposing trends. The imperative remained to defend French interests in Africa, which was in line with the choices of Mitterrand's predecessors despite his political differences with them (Mitterrand was a socialist, unlike the three previous Presidents). Nevertheless, he instituted a shift in doctrine regarding . In particular, French public financial aid was made conditional on the democratization of recipient African countries, which was in direct contradiction with the previous policy of open support for local strongmen.
Additionally, unlike his predecessors who maintained strong ties with South Africa, Mitterrand denounced the crimes of apartheid.
Jacques Chirac's presidency (1995–2007)