We always try to accuse the leaders of African countries of corruption and working not for the benefit of the citizens of their states. However, even if they wanted to be good and honest leaders and rulers, they would not be able to do this. Why? I have encountered very interesting information that sheds light on this controversial issue.
In this short article I will try to represent the list of the components that explain the way how former African colonies of France are still dependent on their former metropole. The current relations between African countries and France prevent a successful development and real sovereignty of the first ones.
#1. The former colonies have to pay a colonial debt for using the benefits of France colonization
The newly “independent” countries should pay for the infrastructure built by France in the country during colonization. The amounts of this debt can be diverse depending on what country is paying the debt and how its infrastructure is developed.
#2. The national reserves can be automatically confiscated by the former metropole.
The African countries should deposit their national monetary reserves into France Central bank.
France has been holding the national reserves of fourteen African countries since 1961: Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. In fact, more than 80% of the foreign reserves of these African countries are deposited in so-called “operations accounts” controlled by the French Treasury. Two declared independent African banks – BEAC (Banque des Etats de l’Afrique Centrale) and BEACO (Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest) – have in practice no monetary policies of their own. The countries themselves do not know, nor are they told how much of the pool of foreign reserves held by the French Treasury belongs to them as a group or individually. Only a limited group of officials knows exactly the amounts of these operations accounts, where these funds are invested and other detailing information that should be carefully hidden from any African bank or government.
It is now estimated that France is holding nearly 500 billion of African countries’ money in its treasury and would do anything to preserve this money in its hands. Moreover, the African countries do not have access to this money. France allows them to access to only 15% of the money in any given year. If they need more than that, they have to borrow the extra money from their own 65% from that of the French Treasury at commercial rates.
To make things more tragic, France fixes a limit on the amount of money the countries may borrow from the reserve. The limit is fixed at 20% of their public revenue in the preceding year. If the countries need to borrow more than 20% of their own money, France puts a veto on a possibility to borrow more money.
In his recent video the former President of France Jacques Chirac said French should accept the fact that a big amount of their money in their banks comes precisely from the exploitation of former colonies on the African continent.
#3. France has a right for priority exploitation of any raw or natural resource discovered in the country
France has the first right to buy any natural resources found on the territory of its ex-colonies. The African countries are also not allowed to seek other partners freely.
#4. There is a priority of French interests and companies in the field of public procurement and public biding
According to government contracts, French companies must be considered first, and only after it is possible for Africans to build connections with other foreign companies. It doesn’t matter if the African countries can benefit from money elsewhere except France.
As a consequence, in many French ex-colonies all the major economic assets are in the hands of French ex-metropoles. For example, in Côte d’Ivoire French companies own and control all the major utilities – water, electricity, telephone, transport, ports and major banks. The same situation is in the field of commerce, construction and agriculture.
#5. France has an exclusive right for supplying military equipment and training African military officers
Through a sophisticated scheme of scholarships, grant system and “Defense Agreements” attached to the Colonial Pact (the document that sets up the common currency for all Francophone countries – the CFA Franc) the Africans should send their senior military officers for training in France.
The situation on the continent now is that France has trained hundreds, even thousands of traitors and then nourishes them. They are being activated when France needs them to commit another coup d’etat or create a disturbing political situation inside the countries.
#6. France has a right to deploy troops and intervene in the country to defend its interests
Under the conditions of Defense Agreements and Colonial Pact, France has a legal right to intervene militarily in the African countries and also deploy its troops permanently on their military bases.
#7. The African countries are obliged to make French the official language of the country and the language of education
The so-called cultural and educational system “Francophonie” with several satellites and their affiliates are supervised directly by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The African countries are obliged to speak French in the prejudice of other languages. It is suggested that if you speak only French, you have access only to less than 4% of the humanity knowledge and information. That is extremely limiting.
#8. French African ex-colonial countries are obliged to use the colonial currency FCFA (the CFA franc)
It seems that this evil system is a literally milk cow for France though it has been condemned by the European Union. However, France is not ready to get rid of such a system that drains the African countries of their wealth and brings to French Treasury about $500 billion annually.
#9. The African countries are obliged to send France an annual balance and reserve report.
Without the report the African countries cannot get money from the reserves of the France Central Bank. Anyway the central banks of ex-colonies are controlled and managed by the France Central Bank.
#10. The African countries are prohibited to enter into any military alliance
The African countries in general have military alliances with their ex-colonizers. Moreover, France forbids the Africans to look for any form of cooperation and protection for military purposes except ones that are offered by the French government.
#11. The African countries are obliged to ally only with France in a situation of war or global crisis.
More than million African soldiers contributed to the defeat of Nazism and Fascism in World War II. However, this contribution is often ignored or underestimated. Since World War II France has taken into consideration the fact that Africans may be used in the case of any military threat or war expectation.
France has been always addicted to looting and exploitation of former African colonies since the times of slavery. In this point French elite lacks imagination and creativity beyond tradition and history. That is why there are still French military bases and soldiers in Africa under the pretense of safety protection but in fact for the purposes of control and oppression of the local citizens. A logical question is: why there are still for example 450 French soldiers in Côte d’Ivoire who are able to control a population of 20 million people? Why do the so-called liberated and free African countries still pay a humiliating colonial tax? Is it not the very time to stop this complete hypocrisy and inhumanity?