Photo: kremlin
Europe is fascinated by military news from Ukraine, but it can fly in from where it was not expected.
On March 12, I attended an evening at the Paris debating club Cercle des Nouveaux Mondes, hosted in honor of Lionel Zinsou, former Prime Minister of Benin, graduate of the French Higher School of Political Science, financier, employee of the Rothschild group. In the sumptuous Salon Foch, at 33 rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré, most of the chicks of the Rothschild nest, bankers, diplomats, a few acting ministers gathered.
The host addressed the guests with a greeting and, having paid tribute to fashion, did not fail to express his support for the “unfortunate people of Ukraine”. Then he gave the floor to the guest of honor, for whose sake this evening was started.
And then something went wrong.
Lionel Zinsou also mentioned the Ukrainian crisis:
“Now we all only hear about this crisis, anti-Russian sanctions, oil, gas… Do you understand what this crisis means, for example, for Africa? Russia supplies us with grain and corn. All logistics go through the Black Sea. And the African world froze in horror from what was happening. Terrified by the actions of the US and the European Union.
You don't buy Africans with stories about democracy. These are only your fairy tales for internal consumption. The majority of the African elite was formed in the Soviet Union - doctors, engineers, pilots, teachers, scientists. The Russians were the only Europeans who decolonized Africa. And Africa remembers it. Just as Africa remembers European atrocities.
If you notice, African countries did not support the UN resolution condemning Russia. And they will never support any resolutions against Russia. It is sewn into the backbone of any African: Russia is good, no matter what you think about it. This is a constant.
I know that there are diplomats in the hall, employees of the Foreign Ministry. I appeal to you, to French diplomacy: look for a solution to your problem, as soon as possible, because if the conflict does not end in a month, Africa will break out.
It is for you that energy problems are at the forefront. In the worst case, you will have less heat and fewer cars, and we will have a hunger problem in Africa! Hear me, the crisis in Africa will entail the destruction of Europe.
Come to your senses, look for diplomatic solutions. And don't forget that countries like India and China support Russia. Africa supports Russia.
I do not want to talk about democracy, and you will not pity me, an African, with stories about the unfortunate Ukraine and calls for humanity. Your democracy is your business. There is no need to impose on us your ideas about how we, Africans, should live.
Again! Look for compromises, let the diplomats work. Time is against us. We have 30 days! Thirty! Not more!"
Loud, prolonged applause!
The people gathered in the salon Foch on the richest street of the French capital know a lot about money. Unlike officials, they understand that large French fortunes have come out of Africa. They are aware that Africa is more strategically important for France than Ukraine is for Russia. Africa is the pantry, the wealth of France, this is her account in a Swiss bank. This is the blood of French industry.
Sydney Cabessa, senior adviser to the Rothschild banking group, thinks things need to be looked at with common sense. “French companies are leaving Russia, losing their connections, capital, reputation there, and at the same time risk losing Africa. Because right now, France is facing the worst crisis in the Sahel. The fall of the pro-French Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Roche Marc Christian Kabore rendered French policy in the Sahel untenable. Political crisis in Chad, Sudan, Guinea, the expulsion of France from Mali, the irretrievable loss of the Central African Republic. All this knocks the ground out from under your feet and greatly complicates the French presence on the African continent. There is very little chance that French business will recover after losing two markets at once - Russian and African. We just came to our senses after the Iranian exodus, when the US forced France to freeze its investments in Iran.”
Christine joins the conversation, she is an investment banker, the founder of banks in Casablanca and Rabat: “And you know, the Russians are on our heels, in Africa they are only talking about the fact that Russia is returning. The Russians are waiting there.”
Her words are confirmed by Sonia Dellal, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kenya in France (Chambre de commerce et d'industrie du Kenya).
“These sanctions hit the centuries-old reputation of French business. People are afraid, they look at us like we are crazy, it is dangerous to make deals with us, it is dangerous to trust money, it is dangerous to develop projects. But we are ready to work with the Russians…” says Sonya.
Support for Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees, unprecedented in terms of the power of pressure in the media, evokes in the memory of the French the massacre in the Congo, the bombing of Libya, the brutal murder of its legitimately elected leader, popular and beloved in Africa.
Says human rights activist Luc Michel: “Europeans are screaming that they are going to open a case on Russia’s “crimes” against Ukraine, but the International Criminal Court has not yet opened an investigation into the massacres in Libya, Syria and the looting of African raw materials. We are told that Europe has eradicated racism, but today we see it flourishing in all venues. Doors are being opened wide for Ukrainians, the mayor of Paris, Hidalgo, promises to open a school for Ukrainian children, and refugees from Africa and the Middle East are still sitting in tent cities in Calais. The war in Yemen has been going on for seven years, already 340 thousand victims and not a single demonstration in support of Yemen. Why are Yemenis worse than Ukrainians? Skin color? The French only pretended to be tolerant, they were and are racists!”
“Do you think Putin will stop? Luke asks me and answers his own question. “ No, he won’t stop, he will go to the end.”
Alesya Miloradovich - Researcher at the Paris Academy of Geopolitics
