https://www.lemonde.fr/en/le-monde-afric...1_124.html

The French press is reporting that Russia may be sending troops to Burkina Faso, one of the countries that has undergone a recent coup to try to shake off French control of their country.

Even last year, the French press has continued to follow the Sahel nations, after nearly all of them have removed French troops from their territories.

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/le-monde-afric...7_124.html

Chad, whose leader flew to Russia just this week, still hosts a contingency of a few hundred French troops. These are the last French troops stationed in the region.

https://www.theafricareport.com/334616/b...th-russia/

It will be interesting to see if they are removed as well. If so, I would expect movement in the next month.

Meanwhile, in Niger, where a coup also toppled a pro French government in recent years, Russian military personnel have been consulting with the new government for security purposes.

The US built a $100 million drone facility in Niger in just 2019. But the Biden Administration has concerns that it could be expelled so is planning for a new facility elsewhere.

https://mronline.org/2024/01/22/u-s-plan...and-benin/

But elsewhere, people show the cost of the base to be nearly $300 million. Either way, it’s an expensive base to walk away from if Niger and Russia decide it shouldn’t be there.

https://theintercept.com/2018/08/21/us-d...er-africa/

No doubt, Nigers military cooperation with Russia casts doubt on the future of the expensive facility.

In fact, Canadian special forces got the boot from Niger and pulled out just last week.

https://nationalpost.com/news/national/d...5cb255486d

US publications have cast doubt on whether the base was ever a good idea in the first place.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-niger-drone-base/

No doubt, if/when Americans are off the base, Russia will be able to make more use of it. The runways and facilities are estimated to have a long lifespan in the dry climate and require little maintenance.

This is one of facilities the Pentagon misled Congress about as well. It was described as “low cost” and has been controversial from the start.

https://theintercept.com/2023/09/08/afri...-military/

In neighboring Burkina Faso, they appear extremely grateful for the Russia aid, according to the BBC.

“Speaking at a ceremony on Friday, Burkina Faso's Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré said the wheat consignment from Russia would help to push his nation towards "developing our own production capacity in order to halt once and for all dependence on food from abroad".
Nandy Some Diallo, Burkina Faso's minister for solidarity and humanitarian action, said the government was "delighted" and called the grain delivery a "priceless gift" that would benefit people who were internally displaced and vulnerable.”

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68116860

Coupled with agriculture expertise and fertilizer, Russia is trying to help Burkina Faso feed itself, as noted in the article, rather than to merely limp along on small scale international donations that only provide short term solutions.

In fact, Russia did not have a staffed Embassy in Burkina Faso since the Soviet times, so this renewing of relations is actually quite a dramatic change for both countries.

Man, Igor is on a roll here. He ought to ask for a raise, based on # of words in his propaganda. Pretty soon he will be a rival to our local Clarence Darrow on verbose - ness.

In this topic, somebody who doesn't understand French colonialism is, like, so totally surprised and stuff, that France keeps an eye and an ear and a finger in all the pies in Sub-Saharan Africa .... where they seem to speak French as the language for reasons that I'm sure are totally irrelevant to the French interest in those areas. It's almost like France ... ohhh I don't know .... ISSUES THE CURRENCY for these countries or something like that. WEIRD!

Enjoy this game and others in the new Todor Edition of "Fisher Price's My First Geopolitics"!

Why so many former French colonies are still trying to get out from under Frances control is the main reason they turn to Russia. Here’s some background on that.

https://jacobin.com/2021/03/africa-colon...c-currency

France came up with a clever way to manipulate their economies by controlling and manipulating their currency, exchange rates, foreign reserves and more. It’s a very manipulative situation that never favors the Africans.

And here is one of Africa’s takes on it in their own words.

https://panafricanvisions.com/2014/01/14...onization/

And of course most of the former colonial masters take a “hands off other people’s former colonies” approach. Russia, having no history of African colonialism, is seen as a much more favorable partner. Couple that with the Soviet history of helping African countries and you suddenly have an option for people that have never had one.

And France is pretty pissed because they are hooked on that free money they don’t have to work for.

It’s similar to the “tax” countries all pay to trade in US dollars.

So just like Russia has targeted that system with BRICS, so support bilateral trade in local currencies and when they developed a SWIFT alternative, they are also targeting some of unearned income the French use to live beyond their means.

No doubt, the British system of profit from hacking the system are also being addressed. Between these old systems and the western debt, it will be interesting to see what these economies look like once they are stripped down a little bit.

(01-31-2024 02:47 PM)Todor Wrote:  Why so many former French colonies are still trying to get out from under Frances control is the main reason they turn to Russia. Here’s some background on that.

Meanwhile in Burkina Faso in Todor's head...

President: I tell zhou Francois, I am le sic of living under ze baguette regime
Vice President: LE HOHHHHH HOHHHHHHH WE WE WE!
President: Zey cuntrol our curansee. Zey cuntrol our saycureuhtee. Zey cuntrol us!
Vice President: Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir.
President: Soy inztead, we pahtnuh wit ze Putin! We trade ze baguettes and stripey shurts and ze mimes an ze lady's arm pit hair fuh ze T-55, ze KA-52, ze Votka, and ze widdle wooden dolls.
Vice President: Sade, dis-moi. (ah-ah-ah do do do-dooooo) Sade, donne-moi. (donne-moi do do do-doooo). Procedamus in pace. In nomine Christi, Ame

*everybody dances*

(01-31-2024 04:44 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  

(01-31-2024 02:47 PM)Todor Wrote:  Why so many former French colonies are still trying to get out from under Frances control is the main reason they turn to Russia. Here’s some background on that.

Meanwhile in Burkina Faso in Todor's head...

President: I tell zhou Francois, I am le sic of living under ze baguette regime
Vice President: LE HOHHHHH HOHHHHHHH WE WE WE!
President: Zey cuntrol our curansee. Zey cuntrol our saycureuhtee. Zey cuntrol us!
Vice President: Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir.
President: Soy inztead, we pahtnuh wit ze Putin! We trade ze baguettes and stripey shurts and ze mimes an ze lady's arm pit hair fuh ze T-55, ze KA-52, ze Votka, and ze widdle wooden dolls.
Vice President: Sade, dis-moi. (ah-ah-ah do do do-dooooo) Sade, donne-moi. (donne-moi do do do-doooo). Procedamus in pace. In nomine Christi, Ame

*everybody dances*

My inbox tells me plenty of people DO want to discuss it, but don’t want to get into the fray. Thanks for nothing. Meanwhile, I’ve discovered 2 regular posters have actually been to the Sahel countries and had very interesting things to share with me. I learned a great deal, despite your snide and tasteless joke.

You can mock starving people all you want for wanting to be able to buy food without paying a huge chunk to another country before you even get your paycheck.

Go there and laugh at some of the most destitute people in the world to their faces. You know, just because people are poor doesn’t mean they are beneath you.

I’m asking you nicely, please either contribute to the thread or don’t post in it. I don’t know what set you off today, because I don’t recall having ever interacted with you before on here.

Meanwhile, back in 2021 France removed its soldiers from Central African Republic because the government was not stopping a supposed anti-French information campaign. That campaign highlighted how much money France sucked out of the destitute country annually.

France wanted the government in power to suspend free speech rights when it came to discussing France, currency manipulation etc. It seems France insists its subjects smile and praise France while they starve in misery. Getting their money isn’t enough.

https://apnews.com/article/central-afric...97a62f5ca#

These actions, as in the other countries mentioned, largely predate any Russian major involvement there. Russia is simply responding to their requests for assistance, diplomatically, militarily, and economically. Although, Wagner Group was in the CAR fighting Islamists in some regions since around 2017.

The Central African Republic “failed to fight anti-French disinformation campaigns online, notably targeting the French ambassador and defense attache.”

In other words, they hate them, want them out, and make fun of them every chance they get and France couldn’t take it.

(01-31-2024 06:07 PM)Todor Wrote:  My inbox tells me plenty of people DO want to discuss it, but don’t want to get into the fray.

If you're going to be this board's version of Russia Today and peddle Kremlin talking points I'm going to call you out on it.