By: The Fatu Network Editorial
At a diplomatic corps meeting in Paris on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that African nations “forgot to say thank you” for France’s military intervention in the Sahel region, claiming none of these states would be “sovereign” today without French involvement.
The following day, Chad’s President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno strongly rejected these remarks, declaring Macron was “in the wrong era” and expressing outrage at comments that “border on contempt for Africa and Africans.”
Chad’s Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah highlighted Africa’s unrecognized role in liberating France during both world wars and criticized France’s presence in Chad as serving mainly French strategic interests. This followed similar criticism from Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, who also rejected Macron’s claims about African sovereignty and pointed to France’s role in destabilizing Libya. Chad recently ended its defense agreements with France, calling them “obsolete.”
