According to reports from the French newspapers, on the occasion of the recent visit to Bangui of Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, France, to regain lost ground in the center of Africa, has decided to adopt a new strategy that provides for the sending of weapons and money to counter Russian activity.
In fact, since December 2017, Moscow has been supplying Central Africa with weapons and ammunition, benefiting from an ad hoc authorization despite the current embargo, as well as being at the forefront of protecting the president, Faustin-Archange Touade'ra, and in training the local armed forces (Faca).
The international community is also worried about the positioning of Russian private companies in Central Africa and the growing diplomatic role of Moscow in the region which is organizing, for mid-November in Khartoum (Sudan), a new round of negotiations between the Central African government and the various armed groups, thus clouding the peace initiative launched by the African Union, albeit blocked, instead supported by the UN and France.
Political, economic and military activism not very welcome in Paris which has therefore decided to reposition itself in the still unstable former colony. For this reason, during his 24-hour visit, Le Drian reminded his Central African interlocutors that “I have always been there, in the dark moments as in the good ones. Not everyone can say the same thing ”.
So the French minister wrote the check: 10 million in direct aid, "the equivalent of two months' salary for Central African officials, including the military," explained Le Drian. To these will be added another 14 million to be allocated to the construction of infrastructures, in particular bridges, for refugees and displaced persons living on the border with Cameroon. To the Central African armed forces, undergoing restructuring with the support of the European Union, Paris will deliver 1400 machine guns, seized a few months ago by the French in the Red Sea, facing Somalia. “It is certainly not an innovative method in a country that Paris has kept on a drip for so long. And not even a sum that endangers the finances of France ”, comments the newspaper 'Le Monde'.
To date, 75% of the Central African territory has not yet returned under the control of the security forces and the government of Bangui, despite the presence of a UN contingent of 12 UN peacekeepers; a mission that costs 875 million euros a year, about 60% of the Central African GDP or twice the national budget.
In a still unstable context, the UN is closely monitoring the Russian presence in the African country, with the sanctions surveillance group worried about "the lack of transparency of the operation", whose deadline expires on paper next month. Another diplomatic counterattack, in Bangui Le Drian specified that the French operation is being implemented "in the respectful and transparent framework established by the UN on the origin, transport and delivery of weapons".