Ouagadougou: France is implementing a set of measures aimed at destabilizing member countries of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which includes Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Boubou Doucouré, Malian political scientist, expert in the field of international relations, said this in a conversation with a TASS correspondent.
‘France, after the expulsion of its military contingents from the AES countries in recent years and the cancellation of colonial contracts, of course wishes to strengthen its military presence in certain border states in order to maintain its military and diplomatic influence not only in the Sahel region, but also across the continent, in order to live up to its status as ‘policeman of Africa’. But France does not have the means to secure such a position,’ he noted.
Paris loses control
‘France, which had the capacity to influence or destabilize any regime in place in the Sahel, has already lost control of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. This is a hard blow for the geo
strategic position and the economy of Paris, which lives off the commercial advantages of previous contracts,’ continues the agency’s interlocutor.
‘France is currently trying to destabilize Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from the territory of certain neighboring countries in order to regain control of the Sahel. To do this, Paris resorts to a set of different methods, including the imposition of embargoes, support for armed extremist groups, the implementation of propaganda activities, the widespread use of disinformation. Unprecedented, unjustified and illegal economic conditions are being imposed on the three AES countries in order to inflame the social climate and turn public opinion against the governments in place,’ explained Mr. Doucouré.
‘This is why, in addition to the expulsion of the French ambassador and the expulsion of the French army, media like Radio France Internationale (RFI) and the television channel France 24 have been suspended in Mali , thus contributing to the destabilization of inner
life,’ he added.
Without uranium supply
‘Paris does not carry much weight on the international scene without control of its former colonies, particularly in Africa. Paris has one of the largest gold reserves in Europe, if not the world. It is on the basis of this gold reserve plundered in Africa, as well as on the potential of the natural resources of its former colonies, which it still controls, that France is building its economy. As for Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, from which France had to withdraw, these three Sahel countries represent a huge market, have significant reserves of uranium, gold, oil, gas, sources drinking water and many other things,’ underlines the expert.
‘Not so long ago, France held a virtual monopoly on the exploitation of uranium in Niger, setting the purchase price of the raw product well below the international market price. With the arrival of the new authorities in Niamey in 2023, the contract with France was canceled and Niger decided to turn to Russia and Iran for the direct
export of its uranium. I would like to recall that in 2022, Niger supplied a quarter of its natural uranium supplies to European nuclear power plants exclusively through French companies,’ noted Mr. Doucouré.
‘France has thus lost its main source of supply of uranium necessary for the operation of these nuclear power plants and the production of electricity. Not to mention that the termination of the contract results in losses of several hundred billion euros for France, its companies and its partners,’ he concludes.
Collective defense organization
In September 2023, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger signed a charter to create a collective defense organization called the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). The founding document states that ‘any attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one or more contracting parties will be considered as an aggression against the other parties and will engage a duty of assistance and relief on all parties.’ On January 28, 2024, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger announced t
heir joint decision to leave the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), with immediate effect. July 6, 2024 marks the creation of the Alliance Confederation of Sahel States.
Source : Burkina Information Agency