Macron unveils Madagascar deals to counter perception of decline

France’s President Emmanual Macron visited the East African island of Madagascar last week, announcing a range of investments and proposed economic partnerships as he seeks to bolster French influence in Africa at a time when it is coming under increased pressure.

After talks with Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina, Macron announced that the French development agency AFD would be supporting the construction of the Volobe hydropower dam in eastern Madagascar, financed by a loan from the French treasury.

The project will be supported by EDF, France’s government-owned electric utility company, which has acquired a 37.5% stake in the project. EDF will also partner with Madagascar’s hydroelectric company CGHV to boost Madagascar’s burgeoning renewables industry, helping to ensure wider access to electricity in a country where two-thirds of the population still face insufficient amounts of electricity.

Other investment or partnerships deals were announced across sectors including agriculture, education, tourism, and strategic minerals.

Macron’s trip to Madagascar comes at a time when French influence on the continent is waning. In 2022, France was forced to withdraw its military from Mali, a former colony, after its military junta decided to expel them and align more closely with Russia.

The same has since happened in Burkina Faso and Niger, while French troops still in Chad are facing increased domestic opposition owing to France’s colonial legacy. Partly as a result of these increased political and security risks, French companies in sectors such as banking appear to be scaling back their commercial interests in Africa.

In East Africa, too, Britain’s move to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius has raised questions in some quarters about whether France’s control of territories such as the islands of Mayotte and Reunion should be reconsidered.

France looks to maintain relevance

Douglas Yates, a professor of political science at the American Graduate School in Paris and expert in France-Africa relations, tells African Business that Macron’s investment announcements “will not help much” in boosting French influence.

“France has become very distant, and competition has become ferocious with Asian great powers like India and China,” he says. “France is just not able to marshal enough financial resources to have a real impact. Having said that, every penny counts – these are poor countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, and they don’t throw money away.”

Yates suspects, however, that France will not be forced to follow Britain’s lead in renouncing its remaining colonial territories. “The Chagos Islands really have more to do with Britain and the United States. Mayotte has absolutely no leverage to pressure France about anything, especially now that the island is completely devastated [by Cyclone Chido in December],” he explains.

“While there are great similarities in distant colonial islands in the Indian Ocean, the demographics are different. Chagos was sparsely populated. Mayotte, being part of the Comoran island chain, is much more populated, experiencing much more immigration, as Comorans seek a foothold in the EU to gain the right to enter and settle there,” Yates says.

“But the real problem for Paris is having any kind of impact whatsoever in the far reaches of the world, especially as the French navy is a shadow of its former self.”