FRANCOPHONE Africa was never fully decolonised. In the name of protecting French property located in its former colonies, France insisted on, and the former colonies agreed to, the stationing of French troops in those countries.

This gave France immense opportunities to intervene in the politics of its former colonies. In addition, these countries were made to adopt a currency, the CFA Franc [Communaute Financiere Africaine/African Financial Community], which had a fixed exchange rate vis-a-vis the French franc.

And to maintain this fixed exchange rate, the monetary policy of these countries was controlled by the French central bank. Since monetary policy cannot be separated from economic policy in general, this basically meant that economic policy in these countries was largely controlled by France.

This entire arrangement also survived the integration of France into the European Union system.

The independence of these former French colonies therefore was always severely circumscribed; and attempts to break out of this situation by revolutionaries who happened to come to power in any of these countries were met with acts of neo-colonial ruthlessness perpetrated by France with US support against such recalcitrant governments.

Thomas Sankara, a revolutionary who came to power in Burkina Faso and who wanted to get French troops out of his country was assassinated in a coup in 1987, staged by one of his own party members but obviously at French instigation and with French support.

The struggle against neo-colonialism in these countries however has continued, with the local armed forces often being the sector from which the leadership of such resistance is recruited.

Captain Ibrahim Traore, a leader of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (PMSR) that was established in early 2022 in Burkina Faso, insisted on getting French troops out of his country after coming to power on September 30, 2022, and actually succeeded in doing so.

What is more, he also put an end to the CFA franc arrangement that his country had been trapped in.

Traore formed the Association of Sahel States (AES) along with two neighbouring countries, Mali and Niger, both of whom had also been seeking genuine decolonisation.

French and US troops were forced to withdraw from Niger and a Pentagon drone station there was closed down. The AES thus began to emerge as a thorn in the flesh of imperialism in a region that is very rich in mineral resources.

Among these resources, gold occupies an important position and Burkina Faso is among the largest gold producers in Africa, yielding 57 tonnes of gold in 2024.

But the people of that country hardly benefit from its gold production, with the bulk of the earnings from gold going to foreign companies that own the gold mines. The PMSR government set up a state-owned company called SOPAMIB in 2024, used it for gradually taking over foreign-owned companies that were engaged in gold extraction, and devoted the much larger revenue that began to accrue to the government from nationalised gold mines to industrialise the country and invest in education and healthcare of the Burkinabe population [citizens of Burkina Faso are collectively known as Burkinabe regardless of their ethnic origin].

With gold prices rising of late, as clouds begin to gather over the fate of the dollar and make many dollar-holders move to holding gold, the government of Burkina Faso finds itself in a position to take advantage of this situation and nullify, to an extent, the effects of the economic sanctions directly and indirectly imposed by the Western powers in the wake of the expulsion of French troops from its soil.

That is not all. The Traore government also regulated the artisanal gold sector, set up a gold refinery in the country, sought to process the other primary products of Burkina Faso domestically, helped the peasants to increase agricultural output, and took steps towards achieving foodgrain self-sufficiency.

These measures predictably attracted the ire of the US, and the chief of the US Africa Command (Africom) General Michael Langley in a hearing before a US Senate committee maliciously accused Ibrahim Traore of using the revenue earned from gold for his personal use, specifically for stepping up his personal security.

Langley’s comments, which were much publicised by the media all over Africa, drew widespread criticism from people across the entire continent. Langley’s remarks were perhaps meant to set the stage for a coup against Traore and an attempt at a coup duly followed on April 16, amid a plethora of media briefings in the West, often from unnamed sources, about the “dictatorial” nature of the Traore government and the human rights violations taking place in Burkina Faso.

The coup failed and the plotters were arrested, thus ensuring that Traore did not meet Sankara’s fate.

The coup attempt was a predictable response of imperialism to an African government seeking to achieve decolonisation (remember the assassinations of Patrice Lumumba in 1961, Eduardo Mondlane in 1969, Amilcar Cabral in 1973 and Samora Machel in 1986) that underscores the difficulties that the struggle for decolonisation faces in Africa including Francophone Africa.

These difficulties arise from multiple sources. Burkina Faso, for example, while confronting imperialism is faced simultaneously with an insurgency by Islamic terrorists who control as much as 40 per cent of the country.

Additionally the region is also dotted with pro-Western, undemocratic regimes funded by imperialism which uses such regimes for its own ends, from getting them to impose sanctions against noncompliant governments to providing the bases for staging coups against them.

The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) was mobilised against Burkina Faso — threatening it with economic sanctions ostensibly in the name of “defending democracy.”  

Little attention was given to “anti-democratic” Ibrahim Traore’s overwhelming support among the Burkinabes, shown with large street demonstrations in support of his government. The AES was formed as a breakaway from Ecowas.

Ivory Coast, a neighbouring country, has been used as a base for French interests to stage coups in Burkina Faso — in fact, the plotters of the coup against Thomas Sankara eventually fled to Ivory Coast and are still enjoying sanctuary there. Even the failed April putschists reportedly have used Ivory Coast as its base.

Despite such difficulties, the drive for decolonisation initiated in West Africa has found immense and enthusiastic support all over Africa where thousands of people staged demonstrations in support of Ibrahim Traore, demanding imperialists take their hands off Burkina Faso.

The cause for which Lumumba, Cabral, Mondlane and Sankara laid down their lives and for which Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere fought all their life, resonates ever so strongly with the people of Africa. We are seeing the beginning of a new chapter in the struggle for Africa’s liberation.

Expect imperialism, however, to respond to this struggle even more viciously in the days to come. In addition to the old French interests, the Donald Trump regime has initiated a new ferocious quest for raw materials all over the world in which Africa will be a key target.

In fact, Trump has already drawn up a plan to control the mineral resources of the Congo with the connivance of the Congolese regime.

The urgency with which Trump is seeking to control the mineral resources around the world, especially those resources that are required by new and emerging technologies, is a matter for further discussion.

But this urgency is evident in his rare earth minerals deal with Ukraine, in his desire to take over Greenland, his plans to make Canada the 51st state of the US, and in his covetous designs to control even the ocean floor.

Even Trump’s desire to act as the “honest broker” for peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine cannot be seen to be altogether unrelated to his desire to have access to the rich mineral resources of both countries.

Africa is emerging as a theatre of intense struggle between imperialism on the one hand and the forces of decolonisation on the other. The former wanting to control its rich natural resources to maximise its profits and the latter aiming to secure these resources for improving the lives of the people.