Françafrique: France’s Ongoing and Blatant Exploitation of Africa
FN Educational Resources
France’s relationship with its former African colonies is not merely history — it is an active, documented system of economic and political control that has persisted for over 60 years after formal independence. It even has a name: Françafrique.
1. The CFA Franc — A Colonial Currency Still Running
More than six decades after formal independence, fourteen African nations still use a currency conceived during colonial rule, managed under foreign constraints, and anchored to European financial power. The CFA franc was created in 1945 by the French government — not as a neutral monetary tool, but as an administrative instrument to manage colonial economies in service of Paris.
The mechanics are stark: France backed up currency regimes in Central and West Africa, while co-locating half of these regimes’ currency reserves in Paris — a requirement removed for West Africa in 2019 but still in force for Central Africa. In practical terms, African governments had to park their own foreign exchange reserves inside the French Treasury for decades.
The Francophone countries in West Africa rank among the 40 least developed countries in the world, while neighbouring Anglophone countries do not — a reality that has strengthened arguments that Françafrique is a neo-colonial system that preserved French economic and strategic interests while constraining sovereignty and limiting structural transformation in African states.
2. Uranium: Powering France While Impoverishing Niger
Perhaps no single example illustrates French exploitation more sharply than Niger’s uranium. Uranium was purchased from Niger at unfairly low prices compared to market value, despite powering a significant portion of France’s electricity.
Niger’s uranium province at Arlit has produced more than 140,000 tonnes of uranium since the late 1960s, representing the operational heart of Franco-Nigerien nuclear cooperation for over half a century. Yet Niger, which supplied fuel for French nuclear power plants generating cheap electricity for French homes and industry, remained one of the world’s poorest countries throughout.
Niger is now fighting back. In 2024, Niger removed Orano’s operational control of its three main uranium mines: Somair, Cominak and Imouraren — which holds one of the largest uranium deposits in the world. And in 2025, Niger’s government accused Orano of “irresponsible, illegal, and unfair behavior,” stating that between 1971 and 2024 it had taken over 86% of Somair’s uranium — disproportionately higher than its 63% stake — leaving Niger’s state-owned company as a minority stakeholder in its own resource.
3. Military Presence as Political Control
France maintained a network of military bases across its former colonies that served less as security partnerships and more as instruments of political leverage — protecting friendly regimes and removing unfriendly ones. In just five years, French forces on the continent went from 10,000 soldiers to 2,000 — not a strategy change, but a retreat driven by rising African pushback. The main cause was French troops being expelled from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger between 2021 and 2024, led by military governments motivated by strong anti-French sentiment and a growing call for African freedom.
Chad terminated its defense cooperation agreement with France on November 28, 2024, saying it aimed to “assert its full sovereignty and redefine its strategic partnerships according to national priorities,” calling the agreement “obsolete” and lacking “real added value.” Senegal, Ivory Coast, and others followed. The withdrawal marked a fundamental shift in Franco-African relations, with several analysts stating it represented the decline of Françafrique — France’s sphere of military, economic, and geopolitical influence over its former colonies.
4. The Hypocrisy Exposed
The irony is not lost on Africans. In June 2025, Macron himself framed Russian involvement as “neocolonialism” — saying it “secures your position as leader, then takes your mines, takes your information system, and puts the country under lockdown.” The irony of a French president accusing Russia of neocolonialism was not lost on African commentators. France’s own record with African mines, military installations, and political manipulation is well-documented.
Where This Leaves Africa
The momentum is clearly shifting. The military expulsions, the uranium nationalisations, the CFA franc debate, and the new UN resolution on slavery together create a historic convergence. The question is whether African states can turn this political and moral momentum into lasting structural change — replacing exploitative arrangements not just with new foreign patrons, but with genuinely sovereign, Africa-led economic frameworks.
The Sahel’s moves are bold, but replacing France with Russia is not sovereignty — it is swapping one dependency for another. The harder, more important work is building the institutions, the intra-African trade, and the financial systems that make external dependency unnecessary in the first place.
