Niger coup: is this the end of French influence in Africa?

Emmanuel Macron’s wish to reset ties between Paris and West Africa may be ‘too little, too late’

Illustration of Emmanuel Macron, Mohamed Bazoum and Mohamed Toumba
(Image credit: Illustrated / Getty Images)

France’s historic influence in West Africa could finally be coming to an end after a succession of coups culminating in last week’s military takeover in Niger.

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Elliott Goat is a freelance writer at The Week Digital. A winner of The Independent's Wyn Harness Award, he has been a journalist for over a decade with a focus on human rights, disinformation and elections. He is co-founder and director of Brussels-based investigative NGO Unhack Democracy, which works to support electoral integrity across Europe. A Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellow focusing on unions and the Future of Work, Elliott is a founding member of the RSA's Good Work Guild and a contributor to the International State Crime Initiative, an interdisciplinary forum for research, reportage and training on state violence and corruption.