Chad, Senegal bash Macron over Sahel remarks

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
7 Jan 2025 18:23

The French president had accused African leaders of having "forgotten to say thank you" to France for its role in combating insurgencies in the Sahel region.

Listen

France's President Emmanuel Macron looks on during commemorations marking 10 years since an attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper and the Hypercacher Jewish supermarket, outside the weekly's former offices in Paris, on Tuesday January 7, 2025. (AP)

Chadian and Senegalese authorities strongly criticized French President Emmanuel Macron's "contemptuous" remarks following the withdrawal of French forces from their countries.

Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko rejected Macron's claim that "no African country would be sovereign today if France had not stepped up."

Speaking to the diplomatic corps on Monday, Macron accused African leaders of having "forgotten to say thank you" to France for its role in combating insurgencies in the Sahel region.

In a statement on Facebook late Monday, Sonko asserted that "France has neither the capacity nor the legitimacy to ensure Africa's security and sovereignty."

He added that France has "often contributed to destabilizing certain African countries like Libya with disastrous consequences noted on the stability and security of the Sahel."

Macron 'is in the wrong era': Chadian president

On his part, Chad's President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno expressed his outrage over Macron's statements, accusing the French President of being stuck "in the wrong era."

"I'd like to express my outrage regarding recent remarks by President Macron which border on contempt for Africa and Africans," he said in a speech at the presidential palace published on the presidency's Facebook page.

Similarly, Chadian Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah condemned Macron's remarks as a "contemptuous attitude towards Africa and Africans."

"French leaders must learn to respect the African people," he stressed, expressing his government's "deep concern” over Macron’s comments, according to The Chad Infos.com.

Koulamallah said France's contribution to Chad during its long presence in the country "has often been limited to its own strategic interests, without any real lasting impact for the development of the Chadian people."

He also highlighted Africa and Chad’s "key role" in the liberation of France during both world wars, a contribution he said France has "never truly recognized."

France first intervened in Mali in 2013 to repel an offensive by extremists, which subsequently led to the deployment of French troops in several neighboring Sahel countries.

However, France is now restructuring its military presence in Africa after being expelled from three Sahelian nations—Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—now governed by juntas hostile to Paris.

Chad, which previously hosted the last French military bases in the Sahel, terminated what it called its "obsolete" defense and security agreements with France in November.

Approximately 1,000 French military personnel were stationed in Chad, and their withdrawal is currently underway.

Similarly, Senegal and Ivory Coast have also called on France to withdraw its troops and vacate military bases from their territories.