Very active in the media and on social networks, African diasporas are trying to upset the established order in their countries of origin. Often without much success.
Faced with the warning shots of an increasingly better organized diaspora, African regimes tremble but do not weaken. For several years, resistance to the regimes in place on the continent has been played out thousands of kilometers away, in international media, on social networks and even on opposition sites created by the diasporas themselves. Both civil society actors and fierce political opponents, members of the African diasporas are giving voice. But all of them have in common to shout in the void… Launched from France, the Collective for the Transition in Guinea, for example, had a real media showcase at the time of the presidential election of which Alpha Condé was the favorite. But the authoritarian Guinean head of state once again declared himself the winner, leaving the CTG to die slowly.
Diasporas that take little risk
This is, with a few details, the common point of all African diasporas: they are well established in the international media, especially French, but seem to weigh nothing in their countries of origin, which watch them from the corner of the 'eye. Or at least so little. Example with Gabon, where Ali Bongo has reigned supreme since 2009. The Gabonese diaspora living in France has organized many sit-ins but also marches to the Gabon consulate in Paris. But for what real impact in Libreville? Delphine Lecoutre, political scientist, who took an interest in this Gabonese diaspora, believes on RFI that it lives in a “media bubble”.
And if "it has invaded the space of social networks and the media, by attacking the regime", the Gabonese diaspora has, as for other countries, this terrible image of acting in the shelter, behind its computers, and of take no risk, where the protesters present on Gabonese territory foresee death or prison when they go out into the streets to say no to the power in place. " Those who are leading the fight are those who are in Gabon. It is these civil society organizations that take action on a daily basis, even if these often pass outside the radar screens of the international community, ”admits Delphine Lecoutre. In other words, the diaspora can at most prove to be an amplifier of the protest.
Media relays and on social networks
Even if it means disguising reality. If the Congolese, Togolese or Beninese diasporas are omnipresent in the media and on social networks, using and abusing fake news, in the countries concerned, the outgoing presidents continue to score high in the presidential elections. The diasporas may always cry fraud, on the ground, the reality is different. This is certainly the fault of the international media, which content themselves with relaying the words of opponents living abroad without leaving their offices in European capitals. Recently, a study by the NGO Africa No Filter showed how, in the international press, “stereotypical stories about Africa” are not in tune with today's reality.
It must be said that the methods of the African diasporas are well established: whether they are from Togo, Senegal or North African countries like Algeria, all of them regularly organize marches in symbolic places like the Trocadero. or the Place de la République, attracting the eyes and the microphones of all French journalists. Some only relay national protests. It is the Hirak who pushed the Algerians of France to go out in the street, not the opposite. For Senegal, it was in Dakar that the first massive demonstrations took place, before this continued on the Place de la République in Paris. But sometimes, the diasporas try to be at the origin of movements which find no relay in their respective countries of origin.
This symbolic opposition hinders the regimes in place
In spite of everything, the hubbub of the diasporas, as little effect as it may be, hinders the regimes in place. Social networks are scrutinized on a daily basis in the countries concerned and the authorities of the various African countries feel under pressure. Notably because Western diplomacy is also very attentive to disputes. And what marks in these relations between the diasporas and the countries of origin is this almost systematic opposition. Where the opposition movements are relatively sluggish in most African states, the diasporas do not hesitate to rise up, from a distance, against presidents deemed to be autocratic, and to give voice.
To what is due this opposition and this systematic hostility of the diasporas vis-à-vis the regimes in place in Africa? And what is it really for? Political scientist Delphine Lecoutre sees in it a particular affection, on the part of Africans, for freedom of expression in Western countries which they rarely find in their country of origin. "If the Gabonese opposition diaspora remains active in France - they have a slogan 'We do not let go' - it is first and foremost because it benefits from an area of political and civic freedom that does not exist. in Gabon. There, the political and civic space is extremely restricted and constrained ”, summarizes the researcher. And sometimes, rather rarely, the diasporas achieve their goal: to internationalize their actions.
Lack of recognition in the countries of origin
In September 2019, while in Barcelona, the Egyptian Mohamed Ali, a businessman once an ally of the regime, remotely triggered demonstrations in Cairo to protest against Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. Far from being as constrained as at home, African opponents use social networks to denounce corruption or human rights restrictions in their countries of origin. A pebble in the shoes of the leaders. Because it happens to the diasporas to find attentive ears. Since his arrival at the Elysée Palace, French President Emmanuel Macron assures us that he is ready to listen to “African civil societies” to better manage political transitions on the continent. Something to worry the “life” presidents of the continent.
On the side of African countries, this listening and the media relays granted to oppositions displease the heads of state who try, by all means, to marginalize the diasporas or to put them on the index. And that goes through an absence of recognition which excludes them, de facto, from national debates. Barely ten African countries, including Senegal and Tunisia, offer parliamentary representation to their diasporas. Algeria, she decided to vote a law of deprivation of nationality for its citizens living abroad who would commit "acts deliberately prejudicial to the interests of the State". As for the quarantine of other countries, they prefer not to give any legal existence to the members of their diasporas, by letting them scream in the void ...