Colonial states have also an ongoing responsability in the "poor Africa" myth.
For exemple Belgium still has a crunch on political life in CDR, though the soft power is now prefered (isn't dr Mukwege?) sometimes more violent events still have their origin in Western Europe.
France have more or less the same attitude with its former colonies. The convertibility of the FRANC CFA is assured by the French treasures [0]. Curiously several African leaders who made attempts to leave this currency, were assassinated.
The "Françafrique" is a system were French politicians received money without any conterpart (it was not even corruption!). See the story of Jacques Foccart and Robert Bourgui, who implemented and ran it for years [1]. They are weird and fascinating guys.
For exemple Belgium still has a crunch on political life in CDR, though the soft power is now prefered (isn't dr Mukwege?) sometimes more violent events still have their origin in Western Europe.
France have more or less the same attitude with its former colonies. The convertibility of the FRANC CFA is assured by the French treasures [0]. Curiously several African leaders who made attempts to leave this currency, were assassinated.
The "Françafrique" is a system were French politicians received money without any conterpart (it was not even corruption!). See the story of Jacques Foccart and Robert Bourgui, who implemented and ran it for years [1]. They are weird and fascinating guys.
[0] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-04-17/african-m...
[1] (in French) https://www.challenges.fr/election-presidentielle-2017/qui-e...