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NO.2314-France and Africa
Author: Kilimanjaro's snow
Drawing: Chestnut / Proofreading: Chao Qian / Edit: Moth
French once established the world's second largest colonial empire after Britain. The "territories" of this colonial empire are mainly distributed in Africa , especially the "Second French Colonial Empire" established after the 19th century.
The scope of the Second Colonial Empire in the History of France▼
At the beginning of the 20th century, France integrated African colonies into two major colonies: " French West African " (AOF) and " French equatorial Africa " (AEF).
The former includes four administrative regions: Senegal , French Sudan (now Mali ), French Guinea, Ivory Coast (now Côte d'Ivoire ), Mauritania and Niger later joined. The latter mainly includes Gabon , French Congo , Ubanji-Shali (now Central African Republic), Chad, etc.
Most of the French colonies are in North Africa
Household colonies in West Africa in 1913▼
Now, the French colonial empire has long disintegrated, but France has long influenced the economic lifeline of 15 African countries with the right to issue currency .
French version " Bretton Woods System "
On December 26, 1945, France approved the Bretton Woods Agreement and announced parity to International Monetary Fund for the first time. At the same time, the French government announced the use of colony francs in each colony, of which the common currency in African colonies is " French African colony francs ".
1958, French President Charles de Gaulle promulgated the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, using " French Community " instead of the "French Alliance" of the Fourth Republic, giving overseas colonies more autonomy. African Franc was also renamed from the "French African Colony Franc" to " African Franc ".
(Picture: Yitu.com) ▼
In the late 1960s, France divided the "African French Community Franc" into "African Financial Community Franc" (West African Franc) and "African Financial Cooperation Franc" ( Chinese Franc ).
FAF countries include Benin , Burkina Faso , Togo , Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau , and 8 countries; while FAF countries include Cameroon , FAF , Congo (Brazza), Gabon, equatorial guinea-Bissau and Chad .
In addition, there is another country in the African franc region Comoros , and the " Comoros franchise " is only used by one country.
Comoros, very small ▼
African francs were issued by the two central banks, central banks, -- Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), Cameroon and Equator African Central Bank (later evolved into Bank of China 4) established in 1959.
Only half of the managers of these two central banks are Africans, and the chairman is both French.After several struggles, the headquarters of the two central banks also moved from Paris to Africa, but France still firmly grasped the two central banks. So far, both central banks have appointed presidents by France, and French people are on the boards of directors of the three central banks (including the Central Bank of Comoros) as directors.
Central African Bank Headquarters, located in the capital of Cameroon, Yaounde
(Headquarters building against the backdrop of shanty towns, picture: wiki) ▼
The 16 directors of the Central Bank of West African countries are French, but any major decision must be passed unanimously; The 13 directors of Cameroon and Equatorial Africa Central Bank are French, and major decisions also need to be passed unanimously. means that the French have " veto ". , and on the board of the Bank of Comoros, 4 of the eight directors are French.
Headquarters of the Central Bank of West Africa, located in the capital of Senegal, Dakar,
(Figure: bceao.int) ▼
3 Francs and African francs fixed exchange rate . Through this operation, France formed a set of " franc system " outside the Bretton Woods system.
Through "cooperation" with the currency of African colonies, France can not only offset the impact of the United States' monopoly on France at that time, can also use currency and financial tools to effectively to control and to plunder French African countries, can also affect these countries' politics , diplomacy , kills multiple goals.
High emotional intelligence: currency "cooperation"; low emotional intelligence: take it and you
(Photo: Flickr) ▼
French "African cow"
Although the African franc is helpful for the stability of currency values in countries in the franc region, for African countries, the "monetary cooperation" policy of France French predatory has more harm than good.
When French African countries were independent, France took " currency cooperation " as a necessary condition for independence, and controlled the economic and financial lifeline of these countries. Take Congo (Brazza) as an example. The "cooperation agreement" signed during independence stipulates:
Congo (Brazza) must coordinate with France foreign trade , monetary and fiscal policy; Congo (Brazza) must join the African Franc area;
Congo (Brazza) from the Franc from the Franc (Brazza) All foreign exchange earned outside the region must be deposited into the Paris Franc account;
When using foreign exchange, it must be approved by a "mixed committee" composed of France and Congo (Brazza), Chad, Central Africa and Gabon;
Congo (Brazza) treasury is managed by France before it is separated from the French treasury.
Congo (Brazza) is located▼
And French citizens can freely invest, reside, mine, and open business in Congo (Brazza) and enjoy the national treatment of Congo ; French goods can be freely circulated in Congo (Brazza) and does not pay tariffs and are given priority sales, enjoy special trade rights, etc. This is simply inequality Economic plunder treaty.
Through these operations, France made a lot of money. Since the African Franc region countries must deposit their national currency reserves into French Central Bank . The French Ministry of Finance receives approximately US$500 billion of direct revenue and profits from from Africa every year.
A common people in the global era
It is hard to imagine that countries thousands of kilometers away will turn themselves into poverty by typing on the keyboard
(Picture: shutterstock) ▼
African francs and French francs implement fixed exchange rate , greatly facilitates France's investment in these countries. French resources are mainly concentrated in cocoa, coffee, cotton, peanuts, wood, petroleum , uranium and other fields, monopolizing the resource income of these countries.
Since up to 65% of the foreign exchange reserves in these countries are francs, the African franc region countries can actually only import consumer goods from France. This is typical " Neocolonialism ".
In the past, it was a gunboat colonization, but now it is a currency colonization
Hundreds of years have passed, the means have changed, the essence has not changed
(West African Franc, picture: Yitu.com) ▼
By mastering the currency issuance rights of African countries , France also obtained a considerable hidden gain - " minting tax ", and through currency, it binds much larger than the local population, France is like a "dairy cow" that continuously supplies milk.
France issued through currency to draw blood from African wealth , deteriorating Africa's governance. Former Ivorian president and spiritual leader of the African independence movement, Fibovani once publicly warned: Africans may not be able to keep their wealth in Africa. Since there is no barrier to capital transfer between France and the African Franc region, French capital continues to remit the benefits obtained in Africa back to France.
Some African leaders have accumulated huge wealth through corruption . Many of them have transferred these ill-righteous wealth to France through the convenience of the African franc, and then stepped down to France as a "condominium", such as the infamous "Emperor" of Central Africa Bocasa .
was supported by France, and was overthrown by France, and was overthrown by France.
The crazy Bocassa is such a typical
(Picture: Yitu.com) ▼
What's more, many people who are directly responsible for the Rwanda massacre are still at large because of France's protection. also has large-scale capital flights through money laundering, drug smuggling and related to this, with many destinations being France. Some other African elites also like to buy property in France, and transfers either " legal " or illegal huge wealth to France.
This is a great catastrophe in the history of Rwanda (Picture: Yitu.com) ▼
France binds the currencies of African countries, causing serious negative impacts on the economy of African countries . The economic integration process of the Franc region and former British colonial countries ( Nigeria , etc.) in West Africa is very lagging behind , and has affected the development of the regional economy.
Even within the Franc region, although " African Financial Community " countries are geographically similar, in the 1980s, only 7% of trade was carried out within the West African region.
Take Mali as an example. In 2020, the country's export targets were basically foreign countries
, while the proportion of West African neighbors was very small ▼
In order to maintain control over the African franc area, France did whatever it takes: Togo The first president, Silvanu Olympio, decided that Togo would leave the franc area in 1963, but on the eve of Togo's currency independence, he was assassinated by a sergeant of the former French Legion .
In 1987, the legendary leader of Sankara, who advocated leaving the African Franc region, was assassinated by , and France had no connection.
1962, Mali The first president Modibo Keita decided to withdraw from the African franc area, and was also overthrown by the coup launched by former French legion soldiers of , etc.
Is the French flower arm to maintain African stability?
or is it to make sure no one dares to resist?
(French Army in Mali, picture: Flickr) ▼
There is no way to fall down
In addition to controlling the right to issue currency, France's control over former colonial countries was once omnipresent: France is nicknamed " African military police ", claiming to be "Africa is in chaos, France has the final say."
In recent years, France has successively launched two large-scale military operations in Africa under the name of "counter-terrorism". has deployed more than 5,100 military personnel in , only in in the Sahel region of Africa, and more than 7,000 people have been deployed throughout Africa.
Sahel region is between Sahara Desert and West African rainforest
A few years ago, terrorist forces were rampant here once ▼
French soldiers who are about to participate in the "Crescent Dunes Operation"
(Photo: shutterstock) ▼
But France's exploitation of Africa has also aroused resistance from the African people. In recent years, the original French African countries of have set off wave after wave of anti-French craze .
Macron When he came to power, he vowed to reshape the relationship between France and Africa. In October 2021, Macron held the " France-Africa Summit " in the southern French city of Montpellier. did not invite political leaders from African countries, but replaced it with nearly 3,000 representatives of " civil society " representatives.
But it was these people who turned the summit into a critical meeting of against Macron and France, accusing Macron of "arrogance", "racism" and "colonialism". They also asked Macron to apologize to Africa for the crime of French occupation, stop supporting the "dictatorship" president on the African continent, and remove the French military base stationed in their country.
The new generation of African leaders are looking for new partners, and the existence of other major powers in Africa has also made France feel like a thorn in the throat.
In terms of economy, China has become the largest trading partner of on the African continent and the largest trading partner of many African countries. The trade volume between China and continental countries reached about US$254 billion in 2021, exceeding the combined US, India and France.
In the field of security, Russian 's "Wagner Group" has carried out activities in many African countries. In some traditional French spheres of influence, the military personnel of the " Wagner Group " provide military training for the army, special forces and the Presidential Guard., the most controlled by France, also threatened to replace the French army with "Wagner Group" for counter-terrorism.
The domestic social situation in Mali is turbulent, and ethnic conflicts are very sharp
Northern nomads also obtained a large number of weapons from the Libyan civil war
So the country's government relies heavily on the protection of external powers ▼
Russian Mercenary is the general of the Central African Republic The security system provides (picture: wiki) ▼
In politics and diplomacy, Russian , Turkey and Indian , etc. have all expanded their influence in Africa. Some traditional French countries within the "sphere of influence" are also actively participating in the arms of these emerging geopolitical players.
In December 2017, Kemi Seba, a famous anti-colonial "fighter" in West Africa, was invited to Moscow by the famous Russian nationalist intellectual , Alexander Dukin, and humiliated France a lot. Seba played a great role in Africa's anti-Legal public opinion .
Seba (right) met with Dukin (photo: INS) ▼
Burkina Faso, Chad and other countries purchased a large amount of Turkish military equipment and actively participated in the Turkey Africa Summit , and became Erdogan's guest of honor. Senegal, Mali and other countries have also signed an security agreement with Türkiye . Türkiye's rising activities in West African countries such as Niger, Senegal and Mali have also aroused France's vigilance.
Last year, among the three African countries Erdogan visited,
, two of them are located in West Africa, which shows the importance ▼
All of this shows that The fate of Africa is no longer in the hands of the French as before.
The French committed too much in Africa , and the countries that were once colonized by France were full of resentment towards France. In order to appease African countries, Macron announced in 2019 that the African franc would end in life, which is a new sign that France's hundreds of years of rule in Africa is about to collapse.
Reference:
3.Qi Jianhua. Pros and cons of the function and prospects of the African Franc[ J]. China Investment (Chinese and English), 2021(ZA): 90-92.
4. Qi Jianhua. Development history and operating mechanism of the African franc [J]. China Investment (Chinese and English), 2021(Z0): 82-84.
*The content of this article is provided by the author and does not represent the position of the Earth Knowledge Bureau
Cover: Yitu.com
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