hey everyone welcome to real view africa with justine a show where we look back at
the interaction of the african continent its people and the western world through the lands
of a certified african resident still reeling from colonial shock me before we get into this
episode let's pause at this incredible photo of senegal after they won the africa cup of nations
you'll need that little happiness to carry you through this episode
today's feature story is the tragedy of west and central african countries
as they relate to france no this is not about in paris that would require fire beat tobacco
this story is one that has been boiling over decades and it's perfectly summarized in this meme
for almost a century and a half france maintained a substantial colonial empire in africa lucius
and cookie would be jealous because this empire stretched from maghreb through western and central
sub-saharan regions though directional ended in the early 1960s french influence over its former
colonies continued some call it new colonialism the french call it work ethic france has attempted
to maintain a hegemonic foothold in francophone africa through political security economic and
cultural connections attempted is an undercutting descriptor for a pillager extraordinaire come on
these people have been excellent at it a round of applause for colonialists who found ways to both
serve their interests and keep a lasting bastion of prestige associated with legacy of past mastery
starting us off in this journey of plummeting into their base is the imperialist monetary
policies from paris that french african colonies continue to endure these policies are so tactful
in certain countries back that they continue to [ __ ] domestic economies and undermine democracy
another pause here to say undermining democracy would be a great apology to a book for the west
by the early years of the 20th century the french held most of what would become their
colonial territory in west africa including present-day senegal mali burkina faso benin
guinea ivory coast and niger and in more recent years have brought them all together
into what is now known as france's world cup winning team of 2018.
they were all about getting to work maybe more than brittany to foster production of groundnuts
and cotton where appropriate conditions were present in a bid to lend their pockets from
all that hard work by other people they imposed taxation as a means of inducing participation
in the cash economy where crops could not be grown they gently nudge people to migrate to
wedge earning areas would you look at that france darling it looks like you understood
the relatability of migration and wages back then why are you scared of the concept now
keep that same energy monomi although slavery had been abolished in europe and the new world during
the middle part of the 19th century some forms of servitude continued on on the west african
landscape their whole stance was the same as an intern in most companies which is close to zero
wages is better than no wages in their pursuit of continuing to gaining more from whatever
the africans were going through the french often looked the other way in order to ensure the
success of their programs why stand up for human rights when you can stand on a pile of money right
the french colonial encounter in west africa was driven by commercial interests as the political
administration and the economic interests were fairly uniform throughout the colonial period
little was done to improve the lives of west africans although attempts were made to provide
minimal health and educational services their csr colonial social responsibility was clocking
at least one school and hospital per countless atrocities for balance in a fit of irony more
than a million african soldiers contributed to the defeat of nazism and fascism in world war
ii that should have been an opening credit real to equality and respect but that contribution
is often ignored and underestimated by france and france has always taken for granted the fact that
africans could be asked to help again in case of any military threat or war expectation because war
is exactly like happy it never goes away and you need all the help you can get after world war ii
france came back with refined culinary tests of colonial control just like french cuisine it was
innovative sophisticated but most importantly future proofed the french assembled a colonial
park that took control over the economies of west african countries they took possession
of their foreign currency reserves hashtag the money is the motive they control the strategic
raw materials of the country hashtag all about the source they stationed their troops in the country
with the right of free passage and demanded that all military equipment be acquired from
france even taking over the training of african police and armies hashtag home is where the gun
is side note does anyone know if hashtags are still relevant i want to know so i can take over
some of them with the energy of a french colonizer france required that french businesses be allowed
to maintain monopoly enterprises in key areas of water electricity pots transport and energy
you know nothing major just the utilities at the core of modern existence and operation
as a way to encourage progressive and free trade in the region france not only sets limits on the
imports of a range of items from outside the frank zone but also set minimum quantities of
imports from france you may think this possibly isn't happening anymore take a minute to remember
that picture of senegal winning afghan because unfortunately these treaties are still in force
and operational indonesia for instance the royalty rates were set up to benefit france's state-owned
mining company a river and its subsidiaries over the past 50 years the secretive powerful african
cell has overseen france's strategic interests in africa reporting only to one person the french
president african cell is such an obvious title for an illegal entity they should have
workshopped some other names for example barrier reef or ninjas for paris consequences of policy
dependence led to dependence on the french economy dependence on the french military and the open
door policy of french private enterprise welcome to france freak insurance we come to you faster
than your landlord at the end of every month here at france freak we believe in covering everybody
including our former colonies france afrique insurance believes in taking just a piece of
your earned money and resources and setting it aside for the benefit of every country
but most importantly france we believe if we can take care of us we can take care of you
subscribe to front office insurance today we secure our future so you can depend on us
service only available in french west africa and french equatorial africa
terms and conditions are mandatory too bad you already signed some african leaders boldly stood
up against the unending imperialist tendencies of france but their resistance was generally
met with a stronger contestant death and france has never hesitated to eliminate presidents who
posed a threat to their plans you can start a revolution against the french that's the thing
france has consistently connived and been in collaboration with other western powers
to assassinate african presidents they deemed a threat to their interests presidents like thomas
sankara who denied being under france's influence was eliminated in an assassination plot that
france must amended with the aid of sankara's close friend and associate name will not be
given here is a list of west african presidents that were assassinated by france since 1963.
the sdece dgse and dst are three french intelligent agencies that have been active
in doing dirty work that encompasses coups and assassinations this level of organization and
collaborative effort is a great inspiration for anyone struggling to write a villain story
french crimes in africa don't just go straight to the shooting that's amazing hour they start
off with misinformation campaigns that focus on control and military propaganda you know the thing
that carries away your aunties on whatsapp by the time they essentially wipe out your leader you
kind of bought into it like your parents or older relatives telling you to go get your shoes so you
can head out together before they abandon you and start funding your trust issues france maintained
their grip on africa through their cfa franc monetary system which prevented former colonies
from attaining economic independence cfa which directly translates to french colonies in africa
is a currency named after oppression and was used to create financial stability in the region
besides being forced to pay a colonial debt 14 western and central african countries that's
been in burkina faso ivory coast mali niger senegal togo cameroon central african republic
guinea bissau equatorial guinea chad congo brazzaville and gabon have their national
reserves held by france in france's central bank the amount of abuse that former french colonies
received were working at several colonial rates per minute these countries were asked to put 50 to
65 percent of their foreign currency reserves in the french treasury that's over half their money
but to properly secure the bank france asked for an additional 20 for financial liabilities if they
need more they would have to borrow it from the french government at commercial rates why not just
ask a hundred percent of people's lives in these countries to shut down and if they could just find
a way to collectively cease to exist this level of financial piracy and cutthroat swindling is only
second to what billionaires have unlocked these african states are french taxpayers but their
citizens are not french and do not have access to public goods and services their money helps
pay for french people have been living off the wealth of african countries and have been doing
so for over half a century this is such a reverse sugar daddy situation france got themselves a very
poor wealthy sponsor out here posting on the gram and paid partnership with poverty-stricken african
citizens the paper icing on this sand grain cake is that these countries are obliged to
ally only with france during situations of war or crisis this problematic rhetoric is the reason
french presidents and ministers are greeted with never-ending protests whenever they visit
their former african colonies the role of french security policy in africa has long been recognized
as a critical factor in african politics and international relations french involvement in
africa has worked against african interest as french intervention continues to deny african
countries political freedom in order to sustain their current social economic and political
conditions it's the human centipede leading these countries of their agency and resources
in fact policies portrayed as promoting stability and development can be factors of instability
dependency domination and subordination for instance when guinea demanded independence in 1958
france unleashed its fury by destroying schools nurseries public administration buildings cars
books medicine research institute instruments tractors animals were even killed if only there
was a way to involve peta activists they also bind and poison food in warehouses these are
just simple territorial gun tactics perfected by cartels in other parts of the world but why would
it be big news when it's an actual government using it on innocent citizens of another country
these acts were meant to send a message to other colonies that the consequences of rejecting france
would be high france was taking rejection like an abusive guy who you said no to once and he ends up
with a crazy wall and your family's bones in his backyard in march 2008 former french president
jacques shirak said without africa france will slide down to the rank of a third world
power shirak's predecessor francois mitterhand prophesied in 1957 without africa once will have
no history in the 21st century kind of a wonderful self-ban from presidents who knew what their
country's true worth was a mediocre superpower being held together by military equipment
and unfettered access to someone else's uranium deposits over the past few years france has faced
sharp criticism across its former colonies in africa the criticism is rooted in a feeling that
colonialist practices and paternalistic attitudes never really ended and that's because they haven't
you can easily understand this by looking at nigeria's story social media posts radio shows
demonstrations and words on the street have propelled these conversations to the forefront
you can see just how messed up everything is live from someone's kitchen or a turret
on their nomadic journey losing livestock to radioactive dust tipping over to desperation
there have been reports claiming that france might be working with jihadists to steal gold
in mali where for almost a decade french soldiers initially came at the invitation of the malian
government they have tried and failed to stop the spread of armed islamist groups by giving fighting
terrorists is so hard energy france stands accused of disrespecting mali's highest officials through
a recent coup attempt now they are effectively being chased from the country and other west
african countries alike they are blamed for sanctions imposed by the echoes aimed at trying to
get the military government to commit to handing over power with france assumed to be the group's
puppet master the french are also blamed for their failure to stop an insurgency that mestasticized
and spilled over miley's borders destabilizing a vast stretch of arid territory known as the sahel
this level of bumbling idiocy isn't becoming of you france you used to be so good at pushing kuz
how are you letting your talents go to waste many africans maintain that the french have been at
the front line of enslavement colonization and raping of their continent by stealing their gold
diamonds and other natural resources they also maintain that france's colonial tax is
bleeding africa and feeding france numerous resentments have built up against france
due to the political interference and armed interventions with one of their biggest failures
being the legacy of the rwandan 1994 genocide france has good reason to seek to improve its
image that's mostly a black hole right now current president emmanuel macron is pushing to end france
freak and it's horrible policies and while his peer campaign with the continent is improving
there are areas where they are still failing big time france's commitment to letting go
of the reins and giving their former colonies political and economic serenity remains to be seen
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