Making progress in Francophone Africa
Francophone Africa appears to have performed poorly compared to Anglophone Africa, in terms of progress in security sector reform (SSR). However, given that the continent as a whole has a poor record in the sector, this generalisation can be criticised. Further, it is only one aspect of the debate on the state of SSR in Francophone Africa.
Another aspect strongly influencing the (mis)fortunes of SSR in the former French colonies is the argument that the concept is an invention of the English-speaking world and largely inapplicable to the Francophone context. At worst, SSR is portrayed as an outright assault on the independence and national sovereignty of Francophone countries.
This argument, however, conveniently ignores that fact that Francophone African countries (such as Benin and
Mali) first articulated what is today theorised as SSR during the pioneering Conferences Nationales in the early 1990s.
Since then, a number of countries, including Mali, Senegal and, to a lesser extent, Cameroon, have launched SSR processes, largely independent of major international pressures, and within stable (if not necessarily democratic) contexts. Other initiatives contributing to SSR discussions include the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa’s Security Sector Reform Programme, which has helped promote awareness of SSR in countries like Togo.
The debate moved on further in 2008, thanks to a range of mutually reinforcing pronouncements and events in the French-speaking world. In rapid succession, France and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), comprising 56 member countries, embraced SSR:
- France, the agenda setter for its former colonies, embraced the basic principles and objectives of the concept, and issued a policy paper titled, ‘Security System Reform: France’s Approach’, which highlighted a commitment to making SSR a “key component of France’s strategic action”.
- The OIF, in its declaration issued at the end of the Quebec summit in October 2008, also explicitly embraced the concept: it reiterated the direct links between stability, democracy and peace, already highlighted in its 2000 Bamako Declaration. This commits its members to basic democratic and human rights principles, and the 2006 Saint Boniface Declaration on conflict prevention and peace consolidation.
- OIF members have committed themselves to involvement in the ongoing debates on SSR.
The focus is now where it needs to be – on how Francophone countries will align the governance of their security sectors with their democratising political systems. In just a few months, thanks to the actions of the African Security Sector Network (ASSN), among others, much has already been accomplished in starting serious reflection and initiating promising agendas for parliamentary oversight, for example.
Much remains to be done but it is encouraging that Francophone Africa appears to be overcoming its initial (misguided) reservations about the concept. Unfortunately, however, recent military coups in Mauritania, Madagascar and Guinea have raised the possibility of a return to the type of politics that once defined Francophone Africa.
Boubacar N’Diaye
Political Science/Pan-African Studies,
The College of Wooster, Wooster
Ohio 44619, USA
T +1 330 2632409
F +1 330 2632340
bndiaye@wooster.edu
The African Security Sector Network
The African Security Sector Network (ASSN) is a multidisciplinary network spanning academics, think tanks, civil society organisations, security practitioners, members of parliament, and so on. It was created to harmonise the activities of the various African organisations working in the area of security sector reform (SSR) and governance.
The ASSN is founded on the perception that:
- Management and governance of security in Africa have been and continue to be deeply flawed.
- Poor governance and lack of accountability of the security sector have driven many of the conflicts and human rights abuses that afflict the continent, and constitute a profound challenge to peacebuilding and the consolidation of Africa’s fragile democracies.
- Reform is essential if objectives of conflict prevention and management, peacebuilding, and democratic governance and development are to be achieved on the continent.
- Local ownership of SSR has been problematic, as most programmes have been designed outside the continent.
ASSN seeks the transformation of security governance and the promotion of peace and justice in Africa through:
- convening both formal and informal stakeholders
- producing and disseminating new knowledge
- enhancing capacity
- developing policy and undertaking advocacy
- expanding security literacy.
