Each French president, since General de Gaulle, has defined by a speech his African policy. And this policy has always hesitated between two extremes: cover for all regimes, to protect our economic interests; or defend human rights to protect the consistency of our foreign policy.
Each time, after a few fine speeches, presidents end up using the first strategy.
Never, until today, have we realized how urgent it was, how essential it was, to look at Africa from a third angle: how to make it not become a hell for future generations? This question actually meets the two others: if Africa is a hell, (economic, climatic and political), France won’t find any economic opportunity; it won’t be able to defend democracy or maintain a foreign policy that will be based on respect for the international texts it has signed.
And this is not only valid for France. This is the same dilemma for all Western powers, and European firstly.
In other words, if Africa does not develop very quickly, much quicker than the current rate, the worst is likely to happen. Hundreds of millions of people will leave the continent and it will be impossible to send them back in.
Of course, Africa has everything to succeed; and there are multiple examples of its successes. We can name the countries that are succeeding there, the democracies that are consolidating there, middle classes that are starting to demand for economic, social and political rights over there, the worldwide companies, which are being born there.
But we shall not bury our heads in the sand. The worst already exists too, in many parts of the continent: It is in Africa, on our doorstep, that slave markets have been rebuilt; that some countries impose military services for life (yes, for life!) on their youth; that the standard of living is falling because of birth rate; that women are systematically raped; that children are put to work at five years old in mines; that dictators torture, massacre, plunder without any counterpowers; that the climate becomes even more unbearable than anywhere else. And trafficking in men, women, children, weapons, drugs, goes all over this continent back and forth, to provide for, at the end of the chain, our needs and our desires.
Will we still believe for long that Africans won’t soon leave their continent by tens of millions of people, if nothing changes? Will we still believe for long that we will be able to oppose the arrival of those who flee this hell ?? Will we still believe for long that we will decently be able send them back?
Our interest, as much as theirs, is that every effort should be made to ensure that Africans live in a stable rule of law and that they hope that tomorrow in their own countries will be better than today.
To achieve that, we will have to devote much more resources to the development of this continent, in our own interest; by stopping to give money to governments, which are all, in one way or another, affected by corruption; through associations, entrepreneurs, women’s movements, cooperatives; by empowering them to defend the rights of women and children to health, education and respect; and by helping them to reconcile growth and energy savings, particularly carbon-free energy: it is criminal to sell coal-fired power plants to Africa.
This doesn’t mean to interfere in the political affairs of these countries (the example of Libya has shown how dangerous it is to believe that the rule of law can be imposed in a country) but rather to ignore their governments, as much as possible, to speak to their people, and help them to take themselves in hand; by supporting, in particular, the magnificent youth, that only want to serve their own countries.