French disconnection France's empire in Africa is crumbling while Russia circles

Retreats from crumbling empires are inevitably characterised by hastily arranged evacuations. Panicked civilians make their way to rickety airport terminals in the hope of an emergency flight out of the chaos. This was the postcolonial scene in Niamey, the capital of Niger, last week, as hundreds of French nationals joined other EU citizens in scurrying away from the west African nation.

- Nabila Ramdani

Sections of the military had staged a coup against Mohamed Bazoum, Niger's democratically elected president, just before 3 August, the country's National Day, when it marked 63 years since gaining nominal independence from France in 1960.

Crowds were chanting "Down with France" as they targeted the country's embassy, smashing windows and setting fire to perimeter walls. As Bazoum remained under house arrest, his allies in Paris feared the safety of westerners could not be guaranteed. A bullish statement from the Élysée Palace vowed that Emmanuel Macron "will not tolerate any attack against France and its interests", and retaliation would come "immediately and uncompromisingly", said Macron, sounding every inch the imperial master issuing a stark warning to unruly natives causing trouble more than 3,200km away.

Despite the illusion of complete withdrawal, France still has a garrison of 1,500 troops in Niger, together with an air force base servicing fighter jets and attack drones.

The current Niger crisis can thus be linked to former colonial relationships being restructured as Françafrique - a neocolonial nexus across sub-Saharan Africa encompassing economic, political, security and cultural ties centred on the French language and values.