Niger severs ties with La Francophonie, denounces it as ‘tool to defend French interests’

The Nigerien military government has announced the suspension of all cooperation with the International Organization of Francophone nations (OIF), citing France’s utilization of the OIF to defend French interest.

Niger has cut ties with the OIF, Nigerien military leaders said, as the West African country has disengaged from multiple foreign partners since the military seized power in a coup on 26 July. The 88-member body “has always been used by France as an instrument to defend French interests,” a spokesperson for Niger’s military government said on Sunday December 24. This is widely seen as a response to the OIF’s decision taken on 19 December to suspend Niger from the bodies of La Francophonie, denouncing the July coup and calling for the release of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, who has been under house arrest for five months now.

But the military government in Niamey — where the OIF was originally established in 1970 — has described the OIF as ‘an empty shell, a shadow of its former self’. The founding fathers of the OIF saw the organization’s mission in promoting the French language, supporting peace and democracy, and encouraging education and development in Francophone countries around the world, many of which are former French colonies.

The Nigerien military government has now said that La Francophonie is no longer an instrument of reconciliation but rather a tool for “the diktats and interests of France”. In their communiqué, Niger’s transitional authorities have also called for a decolonization of minds and the promotion of national languages “in accordance with the ideals of the founding fathers of Pan-Africanism.”