Monday, February 27, the president sacrifices to a Com exercise which sounds, according to certain observers, like a mea culpa session as to the behavior of France vis-à-vis Africa, and for others it was for him a way to better drown the fish to be able to fish more differently. In his speech, he castigated the Malian political class “which failed to restore its country, a failure which led to a rejection of France by the Malian populations”. All in all, at the beginning of March 2023, President Emmanuel Macron, after having recognized the failure of French diplomacy in Africa, begins a visit to the black continent. This visit takes place on the sidelines of his participation in the opening ceremony of the first world summit on forests, which is being held in Libreville, Gabon. The French President’s tour will take him, in addition to Gabon, to Congo-Brazzaville, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is a good opportunity for our editorial staff to share with you the adventures of French diplomacy in Africa, a reflection published on September 12, 2022 by the news site We are delivering the full text of the reflection to you. DON’T MISS: Press release of the Council of Ministers of Wednesday March 01, 2023: CM N°2023-09/SGG
URGENT: Draft Constitution of the Republic of Mali: the final document submitted to the Head of State with amendments made.
Home | Politics | To breathe new life into French diplomacy plagued by a rejection of its former colonies: Emmanuel Macron says he wants to visit Africa more frequently
To breathe new life into French diplomacy plagued by a rejection of its former colonies: Emmanuel Macron says he wants to visit Africa more frequently
By Le National – Date: 2 hours 45 minutes ago
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To breathe new life into French diplomacy plagued by a rejection of its former colonies: Emmanuel Macron says he wants to visit Africa more frequently
Monday, February 27, the president sacrifices to a Com exercise which sounds, according to certain observers, like a mea culpa session as to the behavior of France vis-à-vis Africa, and for others it was for him a way to better drown the fish to be able to fish more differently. In his speech, he castigated the Malian political class “which failed to restore its country, a failure which led to a rejection of France by the Malian populations”. All in all, at the beginning of March 2023, President Emmanuel Macron, after having recognized the failure of French diplomacy in Africa, begins a visit to the black continent. This visit takes place on the sidelines of his participation in the opening ceremony of the first world summit on forests, which is being held in Libreville, Gabon. The French President’s tour will take him, in addition to Gabon, to Congo-Brazzaville, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is a good opportunity for our editorial staff to share with you the adventures of French diplomacy in Africa, a reflection published on September 12, 2022 by the news site We are delivering the full text of the reflection to you.
” FRANCE/AFRICA: THE LIMITS OF PUBLIC DIPLOMACY”
The term “public diplomacy” associated with the USIA, the United States Information Agency, originated in America during the Cold War. This expression remained unused in France until the appointment in October 2020 of a special envoy for public diplomacy in Africa. It must be said that for a long time, the country lived on its “beautiful remains” and did not need a “Propaganda 2.0 Mr” to support its foreign policy and promote its national interests. Its network of diplomats, envied all over the world, did the work, its culture, its history, did the rest. Alas, the Quai d’Orsay is no longer what it used to be, for lack of means, but also of vision and political will. In addition, under Emmanuel Macron, foreign policy was almost entirely phagocytosed by the Élysée with its advisers and special envoys. The last blow given to the “radiance of French diplomacy” was carried by a decree of the President of the Republic in April 2022 which abolished the diplomatic corps.
There is therefore no longer any need for “Excellencies” but for great communicators, as the Head of State has decided. During his speech to the ambassadors on September 1, he asked them to be much more “mobilized on social networks” to thwart “attacks” and “manipulations” of Russian, Chinese or Turkish propaganda in Africa. Moreover, under the impetus of the Chief of Staff, General Burkhard, for whom “it is essential to develop our capacities of influence in order to win the war before the war”, the Quai d’Orsay is preparing to create a monitoring and strategy sub-directorate. This new department should make it possible to strengthen the means of French diplomacy in the “informational war” since, on this front, as in others, virus, energy, the nation is supposedly at war. But who is the ‘enemy ? And, unless you create, as in Orwell’s 1984, a ministry of truth, to go into battle without a political weapon, as the conflict in the Sahel has shown, is to take the risk of losing it. Because the crux of the problem is there: communication has its limits, especially when you have nothing to say.
The Chadian counter-example
The new battle plan concocted at the Élysée in cooperation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, drank the cup as soon as it was implemented. The ambassadors and their advisors have all been instructed to respond to all attacks on social networks and in the media. The new ambassador for public diplomacy, Anne Sophie Avé, ex-ambassador of France in Ghana, was already at her post on twiteer, when Ndjamena experienced a historic moment. The opponent Succès Masra refuses to participate in the inclusive and sovereign National Dialogue (DNIS). A sort of “national council for refoundation” responsible for legitimizing the military junta, and gaining time in order to prolong Mahamat Déby, son of Marshal Déby, in power. This Saturday, September 9, the leader of the Transformers party was, for obscure reasons, summoned to court. He decides to go there on foot accompanied by some of his supporters. Very quickly, thousands of people spontaneously joined the procession, which, in Chadian memory, had never happened in the capital. Overwhelmed, the power shoots the crowd with live ammunition, according to Success Masra, and sends tear gas. The opponent then takes refuge in the headquarters of his party, which is quickly besieged by the security forces and calls on the Secretary General of the United Nations for help. The same scene had occurred ten days earlier during a prohibited demonstration. As no Chadian, nor any African, who follows the politics of the region, is unaware of Paris’ support for Mahamat Déby, whom Emmanuel Macron dubbed from his unconstitutional takeover, France is accused on social networks of supporting a liberticidal and brutal regime. What is the new ambassador of public diplomacy in Africa doing? She remains silent on the subject. The Quai d’Orsay? He is silent. The last tweet from the French Embassy dates from August 26 in which it welcomes the opening of the national dialogue in these terms: “This is a major step for the Chadian transition, with a view to defining a new social contract for the benefit of all Chadians”. The new social contract will wait… What should public diplomacy have done in this scenario? France, in informational warfare, was under attack, it had to react. Yes, but it supports the national dialogue. What about values, democracy, human rights, justice, cough, cough? Yes, but it does not interfere in the internal affairs of States and Succès Masra is neither pro-Russian nor anti-French… This posture is not tenable. It is the very foundation of the rejection of French policy in Africa, with its double standards, its duplicity, its inconsistencies. Any Ambassadors converted to Keyboard Fighters will not change anything. Opposite, these are not Russian or Chinese troll farms, but the despair of a population: “Basically, we have no right to dream of a new Chad… Either we die, or we remain a under-developing countries”, summarizes a young Chadian.
Not quiet days in Niamey
The same situation could occur in Niger. The one who suffered the plasters of public diplomacy in France, Sylvain Itté, replaced by Anne-Sophie Avé, has just been appointed ambassador in this country. Over the past two years, he has scrapped virtually with pan-Africanists on the web, especially on the LinkedIn network. His messages and comments systematically received tomato dumpers and he answered them in rather undiplomatic terms. It is not certain that his stay in Niamey will be more serene. In August, a movement made up of civil society associations called M62 was created to demand the departure of the Barkhane force from Niger. A demonstration was planned for August 17, but it was banned by the government; the coalition therefore decided to launch an online petition. Asked by IVERIS to find out who was behind the M62, and why the latter was only asking for the departure of the French soldiers when many other foreign forces are on the territory ( USA, Germany, Italy), a Nigerian politician, supporter of this initiative, replies: “Because the others have not interfered in our internal politics”. He continues: “Anything that can unite forces against the regime is good to take. President Mohamed Bazoum represents the rejection of France”. Then, he recalls the unfailing support that Emmanuel Macron and Jean-Yves Le Drian gave to the Nigerien president during the 2021 electoral campaign, speaking of a “benchmark for Africa” and “exemplary democracy” ballot. Isn’t a restless opposition the sign of a living democracy? The opponents, who demand the departure of Barkhane, are they all paid by Moscow? Are they enemies to be dealt with in the context of information warfare?
Question d’images
In international relations, propaganda and dirty tricks have always existed, the latter are part of the intelligence services, not public diplomacy which, as its name suggests, is public. If social networks are an additional tool, they are also a thermometer, breaking it will not bring down the fever. The rejection of French policy in Africa, which is not new, IVERIS alerted on the subject in 2017, has multiple springs, also widely deciphered. But for a few years, the portrait that France makes of it -even has further increased the litigation. The wokisme, the debates of interior policies, like those relating to the pregnant men, make hallucinate the Africans. They sometimes wonder if Europeans are not living in an open-air mental asylum. As such, the appointment by the end of the year of an LGBTQ ambassador is not likely to reassure them. Without forgetting certain episodes like that of the health crisis where the 7th power of the world showed itself in the uniform of Adam and Eve, without a mask or a respirator.
It is not by taking out the rifle to shoot in the corners to hit here and there on an icon of the web that France will make people dream again. As a bonus, there’s something worse than troll farms and keyboard activists: indifference. If, seen from Paris, the last trips of Emmanuel Macron to Cameroon and Algeria gave the impression of being events for the countries concerned, the majority of the citizens of these States did not pay attention to them. Fighting against indifference, sacred challenge, a ministry perhaps?
September 12, 2022-Source:
Source: Le National
