It might sound like a recurring story common in Africa: a coup in which a group of senior, sometimes junior officers take over power to promote a certain leader while, in most cases, keeping in place the same old policies that have kept the regimes in power since independence in the 1950s and 60s.
Yet there seems to be something different in the series of coups that we’ve seen in West and Central Africa over the past three years. Most had wide popular support even if the outcome was overthrowing of a democratically elected leader, as was the case in Niger.
Whether in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger or Gabon, one key reason behind the popular support for recent coups is that many African peoples have grown frustrated with the status quo and the way the ruling elites have functioned for decades, leading to more poverty, suffering and waves of refugees who would rather die trying to emigrate than stay home, jobless and poor.
While these nations have officially gained their independence, the practical reality that many Africans experienced on a daily basis was that the former colonial powers remained in control of their affairs in order to serve their own interests. To exploit the vast natural resources of these African nations, those powers backed up corrupt and repressive regimes, or those who agreed to grant them a permanent military presence to protect their interests.
In most cases, the post-independence ruling elites did not serve the interests of their people, seeking only to manipulate the power and wealth in the hands of small minorities, while the vast majority of the population continued to live in misery. One striking example is Niger which provides much needed uranium to French and European nuclear reactors at a cheap price, while many parts of the country lack electricity and need to import it from neighbouring Nigeria.
The same story is true of Gabon, rich in oil and magnesium, but 40 per cent of the relatively small population of 2.4 million people suffer unemployment and poverty. The late president of Gabon, along with nine of his children, including the recently ousted president, Ali Bongo, have all been charged with embezzlement and abuse of state money for their own personal benefit, buying properties in Paris and Nice for over $90 million. The coup leader in Gabon was extremely critical of the widespread corruption in his country and warned more than 200 businessmen that he would no longer tolerate overblown contracts with the government in return for bribes to officials.
France, the former colonial power in countries that have recently witnessed military coups, must reconsider its strategy in dealing with African nations, giving up what many Africans consider to be its condescending attitude and its disregard for their wishes and priorities. Indeed France has provided much needed military support to confront the growing influence of terrorist groups, including IS, in the Sahel. Yet its military strategy has obviously failed, and IS continues to be able to pose a threat to the security of the region and its people.
The former colonial power and Western nations in general should take stock of the changing world order, where there are nations with growing economic and political influence that might provide an alternative to their failed policies in Africa.
After the fall of the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Western experts noted that this was the end of history, and that this was the age of Western dominance, likely to last for a long time. Yet this was a short-sighted prediction that proved to be wrong.
With determination and hard work, China became the world’s second largest economy, building strong ties and spending billions in investments in many African nations. Russia managed to overcome the humiliation of the fall of the Soviet empire, rebuilt its economy, and restored existing ties with key African nations that had received Moscow’s support during the years of struggle for national independence.
India has recently managed to send its first spaceship to the moon, with purely Indian technology, a source of pride and inspiration for many Third World countries. The growth of India’s economy has qualified it to join the G-20 that includes the world’s major economies, and it is currently hosting the group’s summit.
Such a rise in the economic and political influence of several world nations, creating what some observers now refer to as a “multi-polar world order,” provides better opportunities for African countries to diversify their options and look out for the interests of their peoples.
Africa’s problems will definitely not be solved through changing regimes alone, and solving them requires a lot of hard work by African peoples and governments. Yet the writing on the wall is that the old strategies of former colonial powers cannot be sustained; there is a dire need to reconsider them.
African peoples do not need to be told how to run their countries, and they are entitled to look for options that serve their interests far from the old patterns of exploitation that only benefit small, corrupt elites. Stability is needed in Africa, but it cannot come about as long as the majority of Africans are not benefiting from their own rich resources and continue to live in poverty.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 7 September, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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