French Relations to West Africa

Below is my response to a New York Times article pertaining to French relations to countries in the West African region. Voila the link to the article:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2009%2F11%2F13%2Fworld%2Fafrica%2F13francophone.html%3F_r%3D1%26ref%3Dglobal-home&h=1281af9a255a6533299950b72c573095

This is quite an interesting article. It is true that there are pervasive anti-french sentiments throughout this region and, within Dakar itself, the sense of outsiders imposing themselves here extends to all westerners. For example, in a conversation with a family friend yesterday, he lamented with annoyance that, "the city seems to be going to the tubabs" in reference to the rich neighborhoods that are "over-run" by foreigners.

The French have maintained significant control over this region thanks to the colonial period when they sowed the seeds of dependence between themselves and the local governments, economies, and infastructures. In other words, rather than investing in the infastructure in a way that would encourage autonomy and sustainability, the French implemented cash crops and export-oriented economic systems that benefit foreigners and harm the locals. In Senegal, this manifests in a massive encouragement and export of peanuts that are refined into oil and re-imported to Senegal at a higher price than they were first exported for. Thus, the local economy is drained outwardly and France reaps the benefits.

My issue with this article, in spite of its accuracy concerning the French-West African relations at present, is its presentation of the US as a good example, refraining from maintaining relations with certain corrupt governments. However, the US is just as complicit within these abusive systems that create West African dependence on "western powers" thanks to our close ties to the IMF and World Bank. These two organisations are closely tied to the US goverment and they have conscientiously sapped local west-african economies through their Structural Adjustment Policies of the last 40 years. In short, these policies require the realocation of resources from infrastructure and education to debt repayement, which goes straight into the pockets of rich nations in an endless spiral due to the unfair terms of this debt. So, villifying the French without implicating the US within the abuses of this region is misleading.

Although the locals are not altogether fond of the remnants of the French colonial system, their imaginations are captured by the wealth associated with France and particularly the US. So, they want to partake of this richness and be your friend, because you represent money and opportunity, but they carry chagrin simultaneously. Many Senegalese still refuse to send their children to french-speaking schools. But this is a predictable legacy of colonialism.

As for the political situation, Senegal doesn't fit into the same mold as the other countries of the region because, in 2000, the French-backed former-president was ousted peacefully in favor of Abdoulaye Wade. So, their was a semblance of independence and democracy around the turn of the century, but since then it has become clear that Wade is infringing on the democratic nature of the constitution by extending his term limits. Likewise, he is maintaining close bonds with European powers, although I'm not informed enough to know whether this extends to the French.

Well, let me know if you have any questions about what I've written or about the situation in general!

~Jocelyn

Lu et approuvé :: Read And Approved

This is a text written by Aminata Traoré, a malian writer, and translated from french to english for a short film by Kan-si, a Senegalese artist. It is a powerful film entitles Lu et approuvé, featuring an African woman's mouth speaking these english words to us. They are painful words for us to hear, but they are powerful. I'm sharing them with you because not because I want to insite defensiveness, but because I believe they touch on important issues that all of us have to face. Living here, they are at the forefront of my mind daily.

~Jocelyn

"The African continent enters into globalization from below, absorbing the waste that you rich countries would have difficulty recycling if it were not for our own initiative and unpredictable behaviour. In this way, the structure and dynamic of the local urban and rural markets is seriously compromised.

The phenomenon is world wide, I agree. However, I would like to focus on one of the dimension of the open market, presented as being inevitable, that impoverishes, that alienates. If it is so, the expansionist West can expect an ever greater influx of immigrants, people who culturally uprooted due to an irresponsible, mindless globalization process.

In a world order that showed responsibility, and that respected the most basic of human rights, the Ivory Coast would not have to rip itself apart in order to supply the world market with products such as cocoa, coffee and wood, while its own people, mostly young, get poorer every day, and are forced to move , or turn to ethnic or religious contentions and /or violence in various forms.

Equally, Mali, a landlocked country in the Sahel without access to the sea, would not have worked so hard to produce significant quantities of cotton which subsequently it cannot sell because those same economic powers that invite Mali to join the open economy are flooding the market. The people of Mali would need to emigrate in such great numbers to Europe or elsewhere, nor wear our old clothes, not sleep beneath our old blankets, hoping to dream like us.The textile artisans Sénoufos, Peuhl, Bamanan, who are still working in our countryside and still create quality textiles by hand, would not be relegated to Bamako, the capital of Mali, waiting for an improbable visa in order to reach your cities.

The prevailing economic order not only robs us of the riches of our lands, which gives back, but also robs us of our dignity. We enter into the global world imitating you, masking our real selves. That is how your great companies can prosper and win the battle of competition. That is how you balance your budgets and disrupt ours. This outrage, that has gone on too long (Slavery, Berlin conference, Post-colonisation…) prevents the international community from being moved by the plight of Africa .

All the more reason why you have no right to judge our democracies, or tell us how we should make our society democratic. Robbed of the riches of our lands, of our knowledge and of our experience, in the near future our only resort will be to take up arms, just to survive."

-Aminata Traoré