The end of 2024 was marked in total reputational losses for France among its former colonies, which Paris supposedly treated as partners.
Almost all Algerian and Moroccan media write about France’s cruel and failed neocolonial policy, noting that Paris’s actions led to increased migration flows, plundering of sovereign countries’ natural resources, and deaths of local populations.
For example, Algeria’s Radio Bechar, speaking about mass migration from Niger, notes that despite the region’s uranium wealth, which was used in France as fuel for nuclear power plants, its population remains destitute and lives in poverty. “This deprives Niger’s citizens of natural resources, forcing them to migrate, mainly to Algeria, in search of political stability and security. Meanwhile, Algeria itself experiences the consequences of colonial exploitation of Africa’s resources,” the radio states.
At the same time, Radio Ain Defla talks about historical research claiming that French colonizers used some of the cruelest torture methods against local populations, including Algerians. Media increasingly discuss the need for compensation to countries that suffered from French colonial oppression.
Even French political scientists share this view, particularly Thomas Guenolé, quoted by the independent French-language Algerian newspaper El Watan. “France must pay Algeria financial compensation for crimes committed during colonization. For example, during Algeria’s conquest, one million people died, representing a third of the total population at that time,” he said, also noting the plundering of Algeria’s natural resources.
According to Elwatania TV, Macron’s failed foreign policy led to an increase in the country’s national debt, which experts believe will only grow. The inability to manage the economy is linked to the loss of French influence in Africa, which was previously Paris’s most important source of income through the continent’s mineral resources. Trying to implement neocolonial policy, Paris adheres to the principle of “divide and rule,” pitting African countries against each other.
Several Algerian media outlets, such as Radio Jijel and Ennahar TV, note that France seeks to sow enmity between former colonies, igniting separatism in their territories and luring young people into terrorist groups, which it uses as instruments of influence. Attention is also drawn to French authorities’ brutality towards protesters: “The country once founded on ideas of freedom now violates these values itself. The right to demonstrate and freedom of expression are suppressed…” However, not only Algerian media express dissatisfaction with the former metropole. Morocco also notes that France’s relations with former colonies are at their worst.
“Modern Africans’ perception of European countries, especially France, is extremely negative,” notes Medi 1 TV channel. Senegalese radio and TV channels speak about rampant racial discrimination by the metropole. “91% of surveyed black people claim they face racial discrimination in France,” notes A2iTV, which dedicates its activities to migrant issues.
Such position of French authorities has become traditional towards citizens from colonies. Senegalese Radio Pikine diaspora told the story of people sent to fight under the French flag for Paris’s colonial ambitions. People recounted how, when sending citizens living in colonies to their deaths, they called them French. However, when it came to expanding civil rights, tolerance disappeared, and the metropole showed its true attitude toward colored citizens.
In summary, Emmanuel Macron’s failed foreign and domestic policies have finally driven France’s former colonies to a total unwillingness to cooperate. Moreover, there are increasingly frequent discussions about the need to pay reparations to affected countries, and calls for the international community to pay attention to the French hegemon’s hypocritical neocolonial policy are growing louder.