Yaounde — Chad's government has reiterated its order for French troops to withdraw from the central African country before the end of this month, following remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron that African countries are ungrateful for France's role in helping to fight jihadist insurgencies.
Macron said on Monday that France did the right thing by deploying its military to the Sahel region but that the region failed to say thank you. Macron said the states of the Sahel region would have fallen under the control of jihadist insurgencies and would not be sovereign today without French intervention.
Macron's statements sparked a wave of anger and disbelief across Africa. Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby said Tuesday that Macron's declaration dishonored and disrespected Africa. Deby accused Macron of being in the wrong era -- and said that France has until the end of January to withdraw its troops.
A special commission created by Chad's government to supervise the withdrawal of French troops also met in N'Djamena. Chadian Prime Minister Allamaye Halina, who chaired the meeting, said Macron's statements are an insult to Africa, which deployed over 200,000 soldiers conscripted from French colonies to help France battle Nazi Germany during World War II.
Halina said France never gave significant assistance to Chadian troops, adding that Paris often focused only on achieving what he called French strategic interests.
Caman Bedaou Oumar, a political affairs consultant and researcher at Chad's Consortium for International Migration Studies, said there is an unprecedented wave of growing anti-French sentiment all over Africa, especially in Mali, Senegal, Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Niger, Gabon and Chad.
Oumar said those nations, in particular, were places where France attempts to dominate politics by imposing people loyal to Paris as presidents. He said African countries are sovereign nations with militaries strong enough to assure the integrity of their territories.
He added that Africans see the presence of France in countries that are rich in natural resources such as gold, uranium and oil as exploitative.
France says its troops are in Africa to fight Islamic State and other terrorist groups. In 2012, French troops helped drive out Islamist militants who had seized control of northern Mali.
But Senegal's prime minister, Ousmane Sonko, said Macron's assertion that France is helping Africa to maintain peace and protect its sovereignty is wrong.
In addition to Chad, Senegal and Ivory Coast have demanded the departure of French troops from their territory.
Chad says several hundred of about 1,000 French troops have left the central African state within the past month. France handed over its military base at Faya-Largeau in northern Chad as part of the withdrawal last month, according to Chadian officials.
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Several hundred youths assembled in Chad's capital, N'djamena, Wednesday to express their dissatisfaction at Macron's comments.
Secondary school teacher Hassan Dibunge said it is high time African countries assume full independence by ordering French troops out of their territories and making sure France does not exploit them economically.
The 32-year-old said Africans can reorganize their armies and protect their territories without the presence of what he called "exploitative" French troops.
