France’s Symbolic Gesture to Mend Ties with Francophone Africa

After years of discussions between Cameroon and France, French President Emmanuel Macron has acknowledged the violent acts committed by his country’s military forces in Cameroon during the country’s struggle for independence.

In a letter to the Cameroonian President, Paul Biya, made public yesterday, Emmanuel Macron conceded that the former imperial power had “exercised repressive violence of several kinds in certain regions of the country.” He also said, “It is up to me today to assume the role and responsibility of France in these events.” The letter coincided with the findings of a joint Franco-Cameroonian commission that was tasked with carrying out an investigation into the repression Cameroonians faced during their struggle for independence from 1945 to 1971.

Macron paid tribute to four notable independence figures, including the charismatic leader of the anti-colonialist UPC party, Ruben Um Nyobe, who was murdered during a military operation organised by France. The former colonial power had forced hundreds of thousands of Cameroonians into internment camps where they were treated brutally for daring to stand up to French officials, leading to the death of tens of thousands of people between 1956 and 1961.

However, Macron’s letter has stirred mixed reactions from the public. Some have faulted the French president for failing to give a clear apology or mention of any form of reparations. Giving his opinion on the reparations discussion, Prof Willibroad Dze-Ngwa stated, “Reparations only come after judgment has been passed, and we did not go to the field as a law court to pass judgment and condemn (or) to recommend reparation.”

Macron had also admitted to the “massacre” committed by French soldiers in Senegal last year. The soldiers had killed dozens of Senegalese troops who were part of the Tirailleurs Sénégalais unit, recruited to fight for France at the start of World War Two. On returning to Senegal in 1944, the members of the unit challenged the unfair pay they were given compared to their white counterparts. The protest led to the violent killings of the Senegalese troops. The event had always been a stain on the French colonial rule in Africa, one that France had always disputed until last year.

The French leader came under fire earlier this year for his comment at an annual ambassadors’ conference in Paris. Macron reprimanded the country’s former colonies, Chad, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, for being ungrateful about the presence of the French military in their territories and its help in ensuring their sovereignty. “We were right (to deploy). I think someone forgot to say thank you. It’s ok, it will come with time,” said the French President. 

France’s influence with its former colonies currently stands in a precarious condition. Following the expulsion of its military personnel from most of Francophone Africa, which had previously given it an avenue to project and protect its interests. The country might also be hit by the dissolution of the CFA franc, connected to the French treasury. All these reflect the dwindling influence of France in Africa and put it on course to devise a more strategic way of maintaining its relationship with its former colonies. 

Macron’s acknowledgement may signal a strategic attempt to mend fences between France and Francophone Africa, but whether it will succeed depends on what follows. Without concrete steps such as formal apologies, reparations, or a genuine rethinking of France’s role on the continent, the gesture risks being another “symbolic act”, a phrase Macron himself used when describing France’s attempts at reconciliation in Algeria. As France’s influence continues to wane, the question remains whether words alone can restore the trust and ties that decades of colonial rule and recent tensions have eroded.