Tinubu’s Precious Frenchship
Amid growing anti-French sentiments in former African colonies, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s relationship with France raises the question of whether Nigeria will become Paris’s new inroad into Africa.
Nigeria–France relations have been on a chequered trajectory from Africa’s decade of independence to the present polarized international system, characterized by the rising of the concert of medium powers. However, bilateral relations have particularly grown in the economic and cultural spheres as Nigeria emerges as France’s leading trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, with French imports from Nigeria, at ₦2,125 billion ($1.4 billion), accounting for 11.05 per cent of Nigeria’s total exports in the first quarter of 2024. Nigeria, because of its demographic, economic, cultural and political significance with its strategic foreign policy heritage in Africa, has remained a huge stumbling block for a total French domination of its former colonies, amid Nigeria’s bid for greater regional integration.
Nevertheless, Nigeria–France relations witnessed a flourishing boost as President Emmanuel Macron hosted an illustrious state reception for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on a three-day state visit to France in November 2024. The grand reception began with the touchdown at Orly Airport, full military honours by the elite French Republican Guard, official engagements at the historic 350-year-old French military museum, Les Invalides, a masterful military parade, and a sumptuous dinner at the iconic Palais de l’Élysée. Macron staged a flamboyant show of warmth and friendship as he sought a ‘renewal’ between Paris and Africa in his last term in charge of France as waves of military coups and growing anti-French sentiments in West and Central Africa and the Sahel lessen France’s hegemony in Africa...
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