Tensions Rise Between Mali and France Amid Troop Withdrawal in the Sahel
A French soldier talks with a Malian woman in southern Mali, 17 March, 2016 (Wikimedia Commons)
Franco-Malian tensions have escalated as Mali’s Defense Minister Colonel Sadio Camara oversaw the delivery of four Russian helicopters to the West African country on October 1. Mali’s revitized partnership with Russia comes after France announced plans to scale back its military deployment in the Sahel region in response to the May 2021 coup orchestrated by Colonel Assim Goïta and his military Junta.
French military assistance in Mali began in 2013 as conflict erupted in the Sahel, a transition region stretching from Mauritania to Eritrea. The conflict led to the seizure of Northern Mali by armed rebels with ties to Boko Haram, ISIS, and al-Qaeda. Although 5,000 French troops currently operate in Mali, there are plans to reduce that number to 3,000 throughout the coming months.
As France began the process of scaling down its troop presence in the country, Malian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga accused France of “abandonment in full flight.” As a result, Mali has had to explore “ways and means to better ensure security, independently or with other partners, so as to fill the void that will inevitably be created.” Maiga’s “ways and means” were no doubt referring to its ties with Russia, which at the 2021 UN General Assembly publicly acknowledged its partnership with Mali. An increased Russian presence in Africa is already cause for concern in the United States. Additionally, to replace departing French troops, Mali has reportedly expressed interest in hiring more than 1,000 paramilitaries from the private Russian security firm Wagner Group.
Wagner Group has a tumultuous history in Africa. Operatives in the Central African Republic were believed to have been mercenaries, while those stationed in Libya were linked to war crimes during the civil war that raged from 2014 to 2020. Moreover, the Foreign Minister of Chad, Cherif Mahamat Zene, claimed that the rebels who killed President Idriss Deby in April of 2021 were trained by the Wagner Group. Inside Mali, however, increased Russian presence has been well-received. Many Malian citizens see French occupation of their country as a form of neo-colonialism. Oumar Cissé, an influential peace leader within Mali, informed the BBC that “Russia has no interest in Malian politics, unlike France, which manages the conflict according to its economic and political interests.”
The cold war between Mali and France has reignited questions about the relationship between France and its former colonial possessions. Many francophone citizens in Africa view French influence as politically and economically motivated. Malian citizens have shared this sentiment. Such Malian discontent with France is particularly interesting given that during the Summit Afrique-France 2020, Secretary-General Stéphanie Rivoal decreed, “France, in the long term, is Africa’s best ally, especially in francophone regions.”
France and Mali appear to be singing different lyrics to the same song. France remains uncomfortable supplying troops to an unstable region without a strong government and has met Mali’s pivot to Russia with frustration. Conversely, Mali is outraged with France for its decision to withdraw troops from an unstable region where the government has very little sway and views Wagner Group as a neutral solution to the conflict in the Sahel. Without significant steps to heal the divide, both countries appear poised to further sow seeds of discord.