France aims to remain a global power by relying on its overseas territories, yet it faces increasing legitimacy questions over its presence in far-flung former colonial outposts while struggling to mobilise the financial heft needed to develop and defend them.
During a visit to Mayotte on Monday – the first stop of a five-day tour of the Indian Ocean – Emmanuel Macron made numerous promises in an effort to address the deep distress of the local population, who feel abandoned following the devastating impact of Cyclone Chido on 14 December 2024.
The “restructuring” plan for this island off the east coast of Africa – which became a French department in 2011 – is intended to release €3.2 billion over six years to support the local economy, combat illegal immigration from the Comoros, tackle unauthorised housing, and improve security.
“I want to pay tribute to the resilience of the Mahoran people,” declared the president shortly after disembarking his plane, carefully avoiding any controversy.
During a previous visit in December, Macron had snapped at angry residents that they would be “10,000 times more in the shit” if Mayotte were not part of “France.”
A remark that, in itself, encapsulates Paris’ inability to nurture its former colonial possessions outside of a dependency-based framework.
These consist of twelve territories scattered across the globe, home to 2.6 million inhabitants, and grant France the world’s second-largest maritime domain, covering over 10 million square kilometres.
Long dismissed as peripheral zones – good only for hosting convicts, as in French Guiana, or for nuclear testing, as in Polynesia – the overseas territories, according to President Macron, will now serve as a cornerstone of France’s global power projection strategy.
However, riots that broke out in New Caledonia last spring – following a proposed constitutional revision of the electoral roll deemed unfavourable to pro-independence groups, and amid a crisis in the nickel industry – served as a stark reminder that France’s colonial past is far from resolved.
Occasionally docking warships is not enough to forge a shared national identity.
Moreover, the “strategic” importance of France’s overseas territories is out of step with the extremely limited budget available to Paris to develop and defend them.
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