The Econmist - USA (2021-10-09)

The Economist October 9th 2021 MiddleEast&Africa 51

FranceandAfrica

Liaisons

douloureuses

A

yearagoAchilleMbembe,a Cameroo­
nian  post­colonial  writer,  lambasted
Emmanuel  Macron’s  Africa  policy.  Has
France,  he  wrote,  still  not  “understood
that, far from being transitory, the discred­
it into which France has fallen is a structur­
al  and  multi­generational  phenomenon
and not the result of the victimisation of a
few ex­colonised people?” 
On October 8th, at a France­Africa sum­
mit in the French city of Montpellier, none
other than Mr Mbembe will host a discus­
sion  between  the  president  and  a  dozen
young people. The 3,000 or so guests, from
Africa  and  its  diaspora  in  France,  will  in­
clude  entrepreneurs,  activists,  intellectu­
als, film directors, scientists and students.
No African government leader is invited. 
The official point, says the Elysée, is to
“speed  up  the  changing  relationship  be­
tween  France  and  Africa”  which  Mr  Mac­
ron hailed in a speech in Ouagadougou in

2017.  Then,  the  freshly  elected  president
      told  students  in  Burkina  Faso’s  capital:  “I
      am of a generation for whom the crimes of
      European  colonisation  cannot  be  disput­
      ed” and “of a generation that doesn’t come
      to  tell  Africans  what  to  do”.  It  felt  like  a
      symbolic moment that might herald a less
      testy  and  distrustful  tie  between  France
      and  Africa.  The  president  has  since  re­
      turned art to Senegal and Benin, promised
      an end to the cfa franc in West Africa and
      asked for forgiveness for France’s share of
      responsibility for the genocide in Rwanda.
      Yet distrust of French policy has if any­
      thing  hardened,  as  has  French  frustration
      over  those  suspicions.  Mr  Macron  keeps
      5,100  soldiers  in  the  Sahel  as  part  of  an
      American­backed  anti­jihadist  mission,
      Operation  Barkhane.  He  will  wind  this
      down in northern Mali, closing three mili­
      tary bases there, and reshape it from a base
      in Niger around a European special­forces
      unit, Takuba. In August the French scored a
      tactical success when a drone strike killed
      Adnan Abu Walid al­Sahrawi, the leader of
      Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. 
      Jihadists  and  terrorists  continue  to
      flourish  in  the  region,  however,  in  areas
      beyond the control of states, as does abuse
      by  government  soldiers.  Democracy  and
      the  rule  of  law  are  being  trampled  with
      abandon from Mali to Guinea. France usu­
      ally turns a blind eye to coups. But it is los­
      ing  patience.  On  September  25th  Mali’s
      prime  minister,  Choguel  Maïga,  who  was
      installed  after  the  second  coup  in  a  year,

accusedMrMacronofan“abandoninmid­

flight”,andsaidhehadnochoicebutto

turntoothersforsecurity.Hewasrefer­

ring,withoutnamingit,toWagner,a Rus­

sian mercenary outfit. Florence Parly,

France’sdefence minister, described the

notionthatFrenchsoldierswerequitting

theregionas“scandalous”. Butshe also

warnedMalithata Wagnercontractwould

compromiseitsmilitarypresence.

Amidsuchtensiontheunstatedpur­

poseofthesummitisa “needtoclarifythe

wayFranceisquestioned”,saysa presiden­

tialaide.Theideaistoleteachsidevoice

grievances,inthehopeofclearingtheairat

a non­governmentallevel.TheFrenchfeel

thattheyare“reproachedforsilence”,says

theElysée,andwhentheydospeak,“for

interference”.

MrMacronwillhavehisworkcutout,

someofitofhisownmaking.Daysbefore

thesummithedrewAlgerianirebytalking

ofa “politico­militarysystem”whichhas

“completely rewritten official history”

based on “a hatred of France”. Algeria

closeditsairspacetoFrenchmilitaryair­

craft.Francesaysitwillcutthenumberof

visasissuedinAlgeria,MoroccoandTuni­

sia unlessthe trio co­operatein taking

backexpelledillegalimmigrants.

ThisweekMali’smilitaryrulersprotest­

edwhenMrMacroncriticisedtheabsence

ofgovernmentinpartsoftheircountry.

“Youcouldsayit’sa difficultmomenttobe

airingdifferences,”saysHervéBerville,a

Rwanda­borndeputyforMrMacron’spar­

ty,“oryoucouldsayit’sneverbeenmore

pertinentormoreimportanttodoso.” n

P ARIS
Let’s clear the air, mes amis

EmploymentintheGulf

Spendingtostand still

B

ynowgulfrulershavetriedalmost

everything.For muchofthe region’s

modern history well­paid government

jobs have beenabirthrightfor citizens.

Thisperkformsthecoreoftheregion’sso­

cial contracts: cushy, lucrative employ­

ment inexchangeforthedeprivationof

political rights. Worried about growing

populationsanduncertain oilrevenues,

though,Gulfstateshavespentthepasttwo

decadestryingtopersuadeandprodtheir

pampered subjectsto work forprivately

ownedfirms.Ithasbeena real­worldex­

perimentineconomics—anda largelyun­

successfuloneatthat.

InSeptembertheUnitedArabEmirates

(uae) announceditslatestattempt,a pro­

grammethatwillcost5bndirhams($1.3bn)

a year(0.3%ofgdp).Atitscorearewage

subsidiesofupto8,000dirhamsa month

forthefirstyearandupto5,000dirhamsa

monthforthenextfiveyears,forcitizens

whotakeprivatejobs.

Likeitsneighbours,theEmiratigovern­

mentiskeentotrimitsownworkforce.In

2019, 78% of Emiratis in employment

workedinthepublicsector,eventhough

thesemadeupjust10%ofthecountry’sto­

taljobs.Only8%ofcitizensworkedsolely

at private firms. These numbers have

changedlittleovertime:in2008,80%of

Emiratisworkedforthestate.

Thismakessense:governmentstendto

paybetter.Whilefewpublishdetailedsta­

tistics,theimfputsthepublic­to­private

wagegapintheGulfat30­50%fornation­

als.Publicemployeeshaveeasiersched­

ules—sevenhoursa dayintheuae, com­

paredwitheightatprivatefirms—andbet­

terbenefits.ThegovernmentofDubaire­

centlygaveemployeesanextrasixdaysof

paidleavetocelebratetheworldexpothat

beganonOctober1st.Private­sectorwork­

ershadnosuchluck.Moreover,publicjobs

offernotonlylifetimeemploymentbutal­

soannualraises(andotherbenefits)that

oftenoutpacebothinflationandpayin­

creasesatprivatefirms.

Butwagesubsidiesareoftenineffective

at tempting nine­to­fourers to give up

theircushylife.Forprooftheuaeneedon­

lylooktonearbyKuwait,whichhasoffered

themsince2001.Dependingoneducation

andfamilysize,someKuwaitiscantake

homealmost$5,000a monthinsalarytop­

ups.Theimfestimatedin 2015 thatsubsi­

dies cost the government $2bn a year

D UBAI

Subsidiestopullworkersintotheprivatesectorarecostlyandineffective

Public offering

Public-sector employment among nationals

202 or latest available, %

Source:National statistics

Bahrain

Oman

Saudi Arabia

UAE

Qatar

Kuwait

100806040200