"Too arrogant": France failed to see its rejection in Africa coming, according to journalist Christophe Boisbouvier

France was "too arrogant, too sure of itself" and failed to anticipate the wave of rejection that ousted it from parts of Africa: this is the assessment made by journalist Christophe Boisbouvier, an Africa specialist at RFI, in an interview published on October 23, 2026 by the French radio station and reported by AllAfrica. In it, he presents his book "La Françafrique est morte, vive l'Afrique-France" ("Françafrique is dead, long live Africa-France").

Fifteen years after promises of a "new relationship" with the continent, Paris is still trying, according to him, to reconcile two contradictory objectives: renouncing interference inherited from colonization and maintaining its influence. Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 speech in Dakar, claiming that Africans had "not fully entered into history", left a lasting wound, the interview notes.

A military withdrawal in two stages

The setback is primarily geographical. France was forced to leave Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, whose military governments turned toward Moscow. Elsewhere, the departure was negotiated: an end to permanent bases in Chad, Senegal, and Côte d'Ivoire. In Dakar, it was President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, elected in 2024, who secured the closure of the last two French bases in July 2025, while maintaining economic cooperation.

However, Boisbouvier does not gloss over recent interventions. He points to French support that helped foil a coup d'état in Burkina Faso in September 2015 under Michel Kafando's transition; the French airstrike against rebels in Chad in 2019; and, in December 2025, intelligence and logistics provided to Benin, alongside air and ground support from Nigeria, to thwart a coup attempt against Patrice Talon. In Gabon, where General Brice Oligui Nguema ended fifty-six years of Bongo dynasty rule in August 2023, the journalist believes French intelligence services were aware of the preparations, though no evidence of direct involvement exists.

The balance of power reverses

The most compelling argument is economic. According to the interview, the continent's combined gross domestic product is set to surpass that of France in 2026, at around 3,000 billion euros. The Africa-France summit in Nairobi in May 2026 demonstrated that cooperation between equals was possible—provided it is negotiated rather than conceded.

The question of replacement remains. Russian paramilitaries from the Africa Corps have gained ground in the Sahel, and Boisbouvier points to abuses attributed to them in Mali, including the deaths of hundreds of civilians in Moura in 2022. The Russia-Africa summit on October 28 and 29, 2026 will show whether African states intend to trade one form of dependence for another, or impose their own terms this time.