The recent coup in Niger is the fourth in the past two years in a coup-belt region covering Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea. And these coups underscore one important point — that France has overstayed its colonies in sub-Sahara.
It all began with La Françafrique. The French success in World War II (and other post-WWII battles such as in Algeria), partly due to the assimilation policy, persuaded it to grant partial autonomy to its sub-Saharan colonies, while keeping a tight grip on them.
