Fifteen years of promises, and Paris is still working out what it actually means to let go. France's complicated relationship with Africa is back under the microscope, this time through a new book by RFI Africa specialist Christophe Boisbouvier, who argues that the country has long been too arrogant, too sure of itself when it comes to the continent.
Boisbouvier's central argument is not that France should walk away entirely, but that a genuine partnership of equals is still possible. The catch: it has to be built on respect, not on the old habits of interference and dominance that have defined the relationship for decades.
The tension France is sitting with right now is not a small one. Paris wants to shed the weight of its colonial legacy while holding onto real influence across African nations. Those two things have proven very difficult to do at the same time, and the gap between the rhetoric and the reality has not gone unnoticed.
Whether France can actually make that shift is the question Boisbouvier leaves on the table. African nations, for their part, are not waiting around for an answer.
Originally published by AllAfrica.