An editorial in the Egyptian government-backed Al Ahram daily entitled “Coup Continent” lays the blame for the recent spate of military coups in Africa right at the door of the former colonial powers, for choosing to keep their former colonies in poverty.
“Whether in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger or Gabon, one key reason behind the popular support for recent coups is that many African peoples have grown frustrated with the status quo and the way the ruling elites have functioned for decades, leading to more poverty, suffering and waves of refugees who would rather die trying to emigrate than stay home, jobless and poor.”
But those ruling elites are there for a reason. The problem, Al Ahram wrote, is “that the former colonial powers remained in control of their affairs in order to serve their own interests. To exploit the vast natural resources of these African nations, those powers backed up corrupt and repressive regimes, or those who agreed to grant them a permanent military presence to protect their interests.” As an example they point to Niger “which provides much needed uranium to French and European nuclear reactors at a cheap price, while many parts of the country lack electricity and need to import it from neighboring Nigeria.”
