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In a video released in 2018 prior to her election as Prime Minister in 2022, Giorgia Meloni blasted France (for its usurpation of Niger’s and the 13 other former French West and Central African colonies’ wealth) especially President Macron about the shameless and continuous imposition of the French backed franc CFA in these countries.
As Prime Minister what position is she going to take against France. Arguably, the CFA franc (CFA – French acronym for Franc of the Financial Community of Africa) has for the last 50 years prevented the former French colonies to develop on their own. Despite Africa’s riches of natural resources, they have hardly moved up on the latter of economic development. Instead, they continue lingering in poverty.
Their continuous tie to the CFA franc has significantly contributed to bringing about the military coup in Niger, as well as before in Mali and Burkina Faso.
See video below.
The 2018 video went viral.
The military coup in Niger has raised many “crisis moments” — with ECOWAS threatening to interfere militarily, if the “democratically elected“ President Mohamed Bazoum, is not returned to power. The military junta under General Abdourahamane Tiani, so far has strictly refused, accusing Bazoum of being a western lackey, obeying orders from France and the EU.
Washington’s Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said that Russia, singling out President Putin, with the Wagner Group of mercenaries, is “taking advantage” of the Niger Coup, implying that Putin and Wagner may have been party to the coup. See this.
A military intervention in Niger [by ECOWAS, France / NATO] could set off a broader war, Antinekar al-Hassan, a political adviser to ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, told RIA Novosti.
A military intervention can hopefully be averted. President Putin early on worried that any foreign intervention may trigger a conflict way beyond Niger’s frontiers. This is clearly not in Russia’s interest as the Global South under the leadership of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) is cooperating in bringing unity to Africa.
Why is this military coup appearing so much more important than the preceding three in West Africa, all within the last couple of months, Burkina Faso, Mali, and oil-rich Nigeria? Perhaps because the US has a military base in Niger? And because Niger is Africa’s largest producer of one of the world’s highest-grade uranium – an estimated 5% to 10% of world production. Niger also has petrol.
ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, threat of military intervention could easily be dismissed if we are looking only at ECOWAS as a West African economic community. But ECOWAS is more. ECOWAS is backed by France, the US and NATO. A NATO intervention in Africa, beginning with NIGER, would be fatal, not just for Africa, but for the collective Global South. It could trigger much more than just the attempt to reinstating deposed President Bazoum.
What the western media are silent about is the hundreds of years of French exploitation of West and Central Africa, which after independence in 1960 were grouped by France into two unions, West Africa (8 countries) and Central Africa (6 countries).
The two blocks of the 14 countries have a common currency, the CFA franc which is closely linked to and backed by the French Central Bank (Banque de France), which, thereby is economically enslaving the 14 countries for French benefits. Unconfirmed estimates indicate that the 14 former colonies contribute through that link between 15% and 25% to the French GDP.
This reminds of Muammar al-Gaddafi, who was miserably lynched by NATO troops led by France on 20 October 2011, because he was about to introduce the Libya-backed Gold Dinar as an African-wide independent currency.
And what is it with Washington, the EU, warning about “foreign intervention”? What these worldwide usurpers are constantly doing, is precisely this interfering in other sovereign countries internal affairs, dishing out threats and “sanctions” – for anyone defying their self-styled supremacy.
This must change. And it will, as Africa is gradually waking up to becoming their own sovereign nations, especially with the China-Russia led Global South unification effort, enhanced by reorienting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) towards the BRICS-plus and Global South.
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Peter Koenig is a geopolitical analyst and a former Senior Economist at the World Bank (30 years). He has worked for eight years in West Africa, Frances former colonies, including in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. He knows about the “CFA-arrangements” which continue making the 14 West and Central African CFA-zones dependent on France.
He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for online journals and is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed; and co-author of Cynthia McKinney’s book “When China Sneezes: From the Coronavirus Lockdown to the Global Politico-Economic Crisis” (Clarity Press – November 1, 2020).
Peter is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He is also a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Chongyang Institute of Renmin University, Beijing.
Featured image is licensed under Wikimedia Commons
