‘They’re Exploitative’ – Timi Frank Urges African Leaders To Reject France

Timi Frank, a former Deputy Spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has given reasons why African leaders should turn their backs on France.

In a statement Tuesday, Frank blamed France for decades of exploitation of Africa with no real development.

He was speaking in response to the ongoing “Africa Forward: Africa-France Partnerships for Innovation and Growth Summit” attended by the French President Emmanuel Macron and several African leaders including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Nairobi, Kenya.

African countries, particularly in West Africa, which are rich in natural resources, had little to show for years of French influence, he said.

He argued that recent political developments in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have exposed what he called France’s exploitative relationship with African nations.

“France has nothing to offer Africa anymore. “African leaders must not enter into any new arrangement that will take the continent back to economic and political bondage,” he said.

He said the military coups in some Francophone African countries had opened the eyes of many Africans to what he called “decades of exploitation.”

“Since the military coup in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, Africans have clearly seen that France was only exploiting the people and their resources without giving anything meaningful in return,” he said.

He said African leaders should turn more to the United States than France.