A French soldier speaks with his Malian counterpart on the banks of the Niger River outside Gao in northern Mali. French troops have begun to withdraw from the Sahel region.
Image: IOL Archive
Human rights lawyer and prominent Pan-African political activist Advocate Gabriel Shumba says France retains substantial strategic interests in Africa, particularly the Sahel, despite the withdrawal of French troops from several countries.
In an exclusive interview with CAJ News Africa, Shumba identified intelligence gathering, counter-terrorism operations, rapid military deployment, protection of French nationals and interests, migration, trade routes and access to strategic resources such as Niger’s uranium as key reasons the region remains important to Paris.
Geography further enhances the Sahel’s significance.
Stretching along the southern edge of the Sahara, the region connects West Africa with North Africa and the Gulf of Guinea.
Instability can therefore affect migration, terrorism, trade and European security.
“France cannot simply assume an entitlement to permanent military bases in its former colonies,” Shumba argued.
He does not, however, believe France will abandon the Sahel strategically.
“I do not believe France will abandon the Sahel strategically,” he said, “but I equally do not believe that it can realistically reconstruct the old Françafrique order.”
Françafrique refers to France’s close post-colonial political, economic and security relationships with former African colonies. That model is facing increasing pressure from Russia, China, Türkiye, the Gulf states and other powers.
The Alliance of Sahel States (AES), comprising Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, has strengthened relations with Moscow while asserting greater strategic autonomy.
“The more important question, therefore, is not whether France will ‘return’, but what kind of relationship France can establish with a new generation of African states,” Shumba said. “France must compete for partnerships rather than presume them.”
The confrontation has also deepened divisions between the AES and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Following Niger’s 2023 military coup, ECOWAS imposed sweeping sanctions, having previously sanctioned Mali after its military takeover.
Shumba believes the measures may have strengthened solidarity among the three Sahel states.
“They contributed to solidarity between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger and strengthened the political logic behind the Alliance of Sahel States,” he said.
He nevertheless rejects the automatic legitimisation of military coups.
“ECOWAS cannot be condemned merely for seeking to defend constitutional government,” Shumba said, while warning that broad sanctions can disproportionately hurt civilians.
“The ordinary people should not be made to carry the punishment intended for governments,” he said.
Pan-African analyst, educator and human-rights activist Jean Bwasa argues that France’s continuing interest is rooted in access to resources, political leverage and economic influence.
He places particular emphasis on the CFA franc, whose monetary arrangements have colonial roots and remain in use in West and Central Africa.
Bwasa argues that greater resource processing and monetary sovereignty are essential to reducing dependency. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have discussed greater monetary autonomy, although they have not formally introduced a replacement currency.
An August 2026 investigation by South African outlet MDNtv Live alleged that France developed “Project Phoenix” following Niger’s 2023 coup, initially considering military intervention before shifting towards longer-term economic, diplomatic and information pressure. The claims remain allegations.Ultimately, Shumba argues that Africa’s strategic importance should strengthen demands for sovereignty.
“Africa becomes weaker when African states isolate one another and stronger when they negotiate their differences while defending both constitutionalism and sovereignty,” he said.
The struggle is therefore about more than French military bases. It concerns resources, security partnerships, political influence and whether Africa can convert its strategic wealth into genuine economic sovereignty.
Former African Union (AU) Permanent Representative to the United States Dr Arikana Chihombori-Quao has repeatedly criticised France's continuing influence in Francophone Africa, including the legacy of colonial economic arrangements and the CFA franc.
Her criticism echoes a wider Pan-African argument that political independence did not necessarily end the economic structures through which former colonial powers exercised influence.
Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba, the prominent Kenyan lawyer and Pan-Africanist, has previously criticised foreign interference in Africa and warned about attempts by external powers to preserve or rebuild influence on the continent.
For Bwasa, the continued contest is ultimately a warning about African disunity.“Africa remains a dwarf, and if we continue being divided by the policies of the imperialists — we are doomed,” he said.
He argues that Africans who share the historical experiences of slavery, colonialism, land dispossession and exploitation must cultivate greater solidarity through the Pan-African philosophy of Ubuntu.
“If we refuse to work together and nurture social cohesion, peace and stability we are bound to disappear,” Bwasa warned.
“We fall into their trap of ‘Divide to Rule or Conquer’, thus maintaining us into a bondage of poverty and slavery.”
CAJ News
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