Francophone Africa has a unique history, and the intricate and complex intertwining and close intersection of its economic and political systems with France, even after gaining independence, have impacted its post-independence worldview and its relationships with the rest of the world, particularly the Anglophone world, including India. The deep-seated interdependencies, including linguistic constraints, prevented the independent Francophone countries in Africa from completely breaking away from France and approaching the rest of the world with a fresh and robust outreach.
Through various arrangements, France continued to maintain a fair degree of influence and control over its former colonies even after they became independent. Among these was the creation of La Francophonie to promote the French language and foster cultural, political, educational, and economic cooperation among members. What has been termed derogatorily as Francafrique refers to France’s political, economic, and cultural control over former colonies in sub-Saharan Africa and was instrumental in continuing a France-centric order, with France endeavouring to ensure its dominant status. The CFA franc, introduced in 1945 to replace the French franc, is still used in 14 Central and West African countries, many years after their independence, creating a strong economic link with France. The arrangement between France and these countries mandates that CFA franc–euro parity be maintained and that the central banks of these 14 countries keep 50% of their foreign currency reserves in the French treasury.
These arrangements are being perceived as one-sided, and there has been growing resentment in recent years, with young Africans and some political leaders in these countries calling for an end to French control. Francafrique is gradually being dismantled, and France’s military, diplomatic, and economic footprint in these countries is being challenged. In the face of rising nationalistic aspirations and demands for control of and benefit from their own resources, French multinational companies, which hitherto enjoyed a privileged position, have been forced to either establish partnerships with local companies or move out to other African countries.
As this trend spreads across Francophone Africa, France is no longer the exclusive business player, with some countries refusing to renew the licenses of French companies (e.g., Niger). Gradually, the market share of French products has declined to 6–7% compared with a 25% market share for Chinese products.
Competition for investments is building up in this resource-rich region, and the Francophone countries would like to benefit from and leverage this to gain maximum advantage for their people and ensure growth, development, and prosperity.
In this evolving and complex environment, India is fortunately looked at quite favourably by most Francophone African countries, many of whom wish to emulate and learn from India’s developmental model. At the same time, they also see value in engaging with China and other Western countries, including the EU, while retaining a degree of dependence on France. While India has fairly strong bilateral ties with all African countries, economic relations with Francophone Africa have been somewhat constrained by a number of underlying factors, including language, inadequate knowledge about Francophone countries, stereotypes, and businesses playing safe and hesitating to venture into a territory that is very French in its approach, rules, and regulatory framework.
Even though it is acknowledged that there are many economic complementarities between the resource-rich Francophone countries and a rapidly developing economy like India, the untapped potential in different sectors of cooperation remains high. India’s leading role as the Voice of the Global South, as well as its strengths in education, healthcare, emerging technologies like AI, renewable energy, financial payment systems, innovation, and frugal and cost-effective tech solutions, position it as a favoured partner for development in Francophone Africa. Increasingly, Francophone countries are ready to embrace India’s Development Partnership model as they observe the benefits of projects that India has implemented in many other African countries, including in Mauritius (which is both Anglophone and Francophone).
Among these, the successful implementation of the Pan-African e-Network for tele-education and telemedicine, including in Francophone Africa, has enthused young people to look at India as an alternative for quality education, including in engineering and medicine. Keeping in mind the demand for making quality education in English available in Africa itself, private educational institutions (at both school and college level) from India could set up campuses under the PPP model, supported by both local and Indian governments. India could also offer to send English and other subject teachers for schools, as was done in Ethiopia many years ago. While Ethiopia was an Anglophone country, there is now wider recognition that English is necessary today, and India has the required skilled manpower. India could also play a role in the healthcare sector by setting up testing labs, providing skilled healthcare personnel, and creating facilities for training manpower to run health centres and hospitals.
While, in the past, India’s developmental projects in Francophone Africa were sometimes delayed due to language barriers, lack of awareness, and unfamiliarity with India and its development partnership approach, Francophone countries are increasingly more aware of the ground realities and the advantages of working with India, amidst shifting geopolitical realities and changing priorities of the Western world, including France.
The mineral wealth of Africa, especially of Francophone Africa, has long been in the hands of either former colonial powers or other Western countries that had the technology and equipment for mining. However, with the entry of other players, notably China, the situation has changed somewhat. As the younger Francophone African population becomes more aware and integrated with the world through social media and AI, there is a rising demand for African governments to take charge of their countries’ mineral wealth and focus on development. While Indian companies are active in some Francophone African countries, in others they have had difficulties navigating complex rules and regulations, resistance from existing foreign companies, and sometimes local governments’ biases and misconceptions about Indian companies’ expertise. However, as India grows, perceptions are changing, and this could become a mutually beneficial area of cooperation.
It has been proposed by some experts that the impediments faced by Indian companies could possibly be overcome through trilateral cooperation by partnering with France, initially in the Indian Ocean countries of Comoros, Djibouti, and Madagascar. These countries are generally aware of India’s development partnerships in Mauritius and Seychelles and the mutually beneficial nature of India’s engagement there. A possible model for trilateral cooperation could be financing provided by France, with projects cost-effectively implemented by Indian companies. This arrangement would have advantages, as the involvement of France would help smoothen and hasten the implementation of various projects selected by the concerned country.
Areas of possible collaboration could include renewable energy projects (solar and nuclear), agriculture, health, and new technologies.
It is clear that the potential for India and the Francophone African countries to collaborate in diverse areas is immense. India needs to navigate carefully and overcome the complexities and challenges in tapping the opportunities that exist to further strengthen ties with Francophone Africa for a mutually beneficial, win–win outcome.
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