A growing number of African nations are pushing the US and France out of the continent while welcoming China and Russia. The use of coercion and military power that characterises Western imperialist doctrine is being replaced by a new model of cooperation that seeks mutual benefit rather than the hegemony of one party.

“The struggle of the African people across the continent, particularly in the Sahel, is not an isolated event. All over the African continent, they are rising. The whole continent is burning right now. So we have not seen the last of the African popular masses overthrowing governments. We’ve only seen the beginning. They’re kicking France out, and the United States will be next,” declared journalist and activist Eugene Puryear on 19 September 2023 during protests against US and French imperialism and warmongering in the Sahel on the UN General Assembly opening day in New York.

In West African countries such as Niger, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Chad, protests against French colonialism and coups d’état against Western vassal governments are spreading, with new administrations emerging that heralded a new path to self-determination and sovereignty.

Arikana Chihombori-Quao, former permanent representative of the African Union to the United States, claimed that the recent military coups in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea were part of the first phases of an “African revolution” against Western neocolonialism. She added that this wave of military interventions is a reaction to the West’s ongoing “plunder of the continent’s natural resources.”

US to withdraw its troops from Chad and Niger

France was in the crosshairs, but as Puryear predicted, the US would soon follow suit. A few months later, the US government has announced that it will withdraw its troops from Chad and Niger as African countries question their role in the fight against terrorism.

In early April, Pentagon Press Secretary Patrick Ryder stated that AFRICOM is in talks with Chadian officials about a plan to “reposition some US military forces from Chad”, but that “this is a temporary measure as part of an ongoing review of our security cooperation, which will resume after the 6 May presidential elections in Chad.”

Niger hosts a major US air base in the city of Agadez that is used for a variety of military operations, including manned and unmanned surveillance flights. As for Chad, the US has Special Operations Forces troops stationed at the French base.

A paradigm shift from coercion to cooperation

The Western colonialist or neocolonialist model has been characterised by the use of coercion and military power to achieve its objectives and impose its political and economic agendas under the pretexts of ensuring political stability and the fight against terrorism, often to the detriment of the interests and sovereignty of the recipient countries of this pattern of “democracy.

In this context, we are witnessing how many countries, not only in Africa, are opting to establish new relations with other international actors such as China and Russia, which, unlike Western countries, offer an alternative based on cooperation and respect for their sovereignty.

China, in particular, has established a significant presence across the African continent through massive investments in infrastructure, natural resources and economic development through the Belt and Road Initiative. These investments are made in exchange for facilitating its exports of goods and access to raw materials necessary for the growth of its economy.

Similarly, Russia has sought partnerships in security, energy and natural resources. Through defence cooperation and investment in the energy sector. As has happened in Niger, where after French and US troops were driven out, the new government junta has turned to Russia for security.

On the other hand, the West’s loss of credibility in terms of human rights and international law as a result of the wars imposed on the African continent and in the Middle East to maintain its economic hegemony under the guise of the fight against terrorism, or its unconditional support for the genocide in Gaza, only accelerate a process of change towards a multipolar world that, for now, seems unstoppable.

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