West’s waning influence in Africa laid bare as France announces withdrawal from Niger

France’s decision to withdraw its ambassador and military forces from Niger, the West’s last key ally in the central Sahel region, amid a wave anti-French sentiment, are yet another blow to Paris’s influence in its former African colonies, laying bare Europe’s weakening influence in the continent, analysts and diplomats say.
President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement on Sunday (24 September) that France would withdraw its ambassador and military contingent from Niger, was welcomed by Niger’s military leaders as a “step towards sovereignty”. But with French forces having already been kicked out of neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso following coups in those countries, experts and diplomats warn that this creates a gaping hole in Western efforts to counter a decade-long Islamist insurgency, which could bolster Russian influence across the vast, insecure scrublands of West Africa. Niger’s ban on “French aircraft” flying over the country’s airspace issued on Saturday (23 September) and Burkina Faso’s suspension of French news outlet Jeune Afrique in the country underlines how precarious the situation has become for France in the region.
“The events in Niamey are yet another blow to Paris’s influence in the Sahel,” notes a recent analysis published by the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. But French withdrawal, while welcomed by the Niger’s junta, worries experts who say a spike in insecurity in Mali and Burkina Faso after their coups could be a sign of what lies ahead for Niger, where militants have already killed hundreds of civilians in recent years. Following its forced withdrawal from Central Sahel, France is left only with Chad and the West African coastal states of Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and possibly Benin as host countries for a significant French presence. But, according to the Carnegie analysis, even in West African countries, it’s hard to imagine a stronger military presence for the former colonial power, which has become very unpopular with public opinion in the region as “cooperation with France in security matters is no longer perceived as indispensable and irreplaceable.”