The recent coup in Niger will dwindle France's influence in the Sahel region, particularly after the army seized power in Mali and Burkina Faso, analysts and experts in international relations said.
Speaking exclusively to Qatar News Agency , they said the latest developments in West Africa should push Paris to review its foreign policy in the region and plan a new strategy.
QNA's meetings with experts focused on the future of the 1,500-personnel French base in Niger, the destiny of the new strategy announced by President Macron in July 2022, and the possible ECOWAS bloc military efforts to restore constitutional order in Niger.
French-US Commentator Gerald Olivier warned that that Paris would lose a strategic country and central ally in the Sahel region, forcing its influence to diminish.
If France really wants to preserve its interests and influence in the Sahel region and in Africa in general amid these rapid changes, it should consider reviewing its African policy and plan a new strategy, regardless of the final results of this coup, he told QNA.
Olivier noted that France was a victim of the rising wave of populism in African countries fueled by social media, which makes Paris the cause of all the security, political and economic failures in those countries.
The failure in the Sahel region was caused by the existing African regimes there, not France, because Paris did not intervene in the Sahel region to fix economic problems or low growth rates, and it is not responsible for corruption in those countries or for successive coups, he elaborated.
He stressed that France has been present in the Sahel region for decades, and since that time until today the geopolitical conditions have developed and changed a lot, indicating that France alone does not have the military or financial capabilities to completely eliminate the armed organizations.
He warned that French President Macron's new strategy which places Niger as a focal point for the French forces to confront armed organizations will inevitably fail, pointing out that France failed to anticipate the changes that occurred in Niger and the rest of West Africa countries. (MORE)
Source: Qatar News Agency