Chad president unhappy with Macron accusing African leaders of ingratitude

Chad’s President Mahamat Déby has expressed his discontent with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron after the latter accused African leaders of ingratitude. Déby made his comment yesterday on Facebook, a day after Macron criticised what he claimed was Chad’s failure to thank the French president after its military support for African countries to fight terrorism.

“I’d like to express my outrage regarding recent remarks by President Macron which border on contempt for Africa and Africans,” said Déby. “I think he is in the wrong era.”

Chad announced on 28 November that it had decided to cancel an agreement with France to enhance cooperation in defence industries and security. Déby described his country’s move to end military cooperation with France as a sovereign decision.

On Monday, Macron said that African leaders “forgot to say thank you” and that France “did the right thing” regarding its military deployment against terrorism in the Sahel region since 2013.

READ: Chad President: French soldiers will leave our country by the end of January

During an annual meeting at the Elysee Palace with his ambassadors, Macron noted that African leaders forgot to thank France for this support, claiming that, “None of the states of the Sahel region would be sovereign today without that intervention.”

Macron’s statement came after Chad demanded that the French government withdraw all of its forces from the African country by 31 January.

France ended its military presence in Mali a few months ago, coinciding with Niger and Burkina Faso announcing that they would terminate military agreements with the former colonial power. Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced his intention recently to close French military bases in his country.

France’s military, economic and cultural influence in African countries has declined, coinciding with African demands to eliminate the colonial legacy, according to observers. In contrast to the decline in France’s influence as the former colonial power, new international actors have entered the region, not least China and Russia.

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