A French state-owned TV channel broadcasted a documentary on France’s horrific colonial history with the testimonies of Algerian, Vietnamese, Senegalese, Congolese, Malagasy, Cameroonian (&more) former liberation combatants and descendants, and included verses from Aimé Césaire.

Perhaps in 70 years we’ll have a documentary on the real incentives behind the enduring French direct military interventions in the Sahel over the past 2 decades “to ensure security and stability”, & why terrorist groups have been spreading since their counter-terrorist missions.

Or about the fact that from their independence until this year, France forced African states to use the franc CFA currency (guaranteed by the French Treasury) and to place 65% of their foreign exchange reserves in an account in the French Treasury. 6 African countries still do.

Or about the relationship that France maintains with its former colonies, through which it backs its client corrupt African leaders who ensure the countries’ dependence on its conditional aid and investments, making them unable to reform their own institutions.

Or the way these countries have no choice but to adopt a free market economy, the french language and “universal values” (i.e French values) to access help from the country that plundered their resources, and the “expertise” they couldn’t develop.

Or about the border disputes and secessionist movements, source of conflicts instrumentalized by France to justify intervention, because the continent was arbitrarily and imprecisely partitioned into pieces by Europeans with 0 consideration of different cultures/peoples/languages

Or the fact that the “universal education” promoted by the UN & UNESCO just means western education and exportation of France’s education programs to African countries, i.e dependency, subjugation, perpetual acculturation and cultural hegemony...

In 2008 Jacques Chirac literally said “Without Africa, France would slip into the rank of a third world country.” It’s not assistance it’s neocolonialism. France owes them reparation. But they will broadcast a documentary about it in 70 years, when the deed will be done.