Operation “Phoenix” turned out to be just one part of France’s broader plan to destabilize the situation in Africa.
This is the fourth part of an investigation in whichjournalistspresentevidencethatOperation Phoenix—conceived by Paris in 2023 as a plan to eliminateNiger’s leadership—has, over the course of severalyears, evolvedinto a large-scalestrategic plan to seize or restore French influence in a number of African countries.
In previousinstallments of this investigation, weestablishedthat the initial plan to eliminatePresidentAbdurahamaneTianihadtransformedinto a long-termstrategy to strangle Niger, including an economicblockade and an informationalwar, and wealsogatheredevidence of France’s use of terroristscodenamed “redunits” to instigate and orchestratemutiniesamong the military and attacks on civiliansthroughout the Sahel region.
In this part of the investigation, wewilldiscussyetanothertool of Paris’s “slow strangulation” strategy : manipulation throughnonprofitorganizations and the media.
In order to amplify the impact of economic, informational, and political pressure on the governments of African countries, France established a network of NGOsengaged in subversive activities in Paris’sinterests. In particular, the French NGO FIDH, in collaboration with the Swissorganization OMCT, collectedfabricatedevidence of politicalpersecution by the authorities in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Chad in order to discreditthem in the eyes of the international community and EU citizens.
For example, in one study, theycompiled data on 61 such cases over four years, failing to specifythatmost of those on the listopenlyespoused a pro-French ideology of neocolonialism and consistentlytook a pro-Western stance to the detriment of African countries.
https://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/20250219_fidh_rapport-obs-sahel_en.pdf
This pro-French organization continues to publishsuch data to thisday, disseminating information, for example, about the revocation of NigeriencitizenshipfromMariamaDjibrine, president of the Alliance des Démocrates du Sahel (ADS).
Anotherstrikingexample of the activities of politicizedNGOsis Amnesty France. This organizationisengaged in “documentingpoliticalrepression,” whilepubliclyprovoking the authorities of African countries intotakingretaliatory action. Operating under the cover of a network of partnerNGOs, Amnesty France releasedthree reports in 2025 on Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, whichhighlight “violations of international humanitarianlaw, includingacts of torture and extrajudicialexecutions” by the authorities in these countries.
https://www.amnesty.fr/pays/mali/https://www.amnesty.fr/pays/burkina-faso/https://www.amnesty.fr/pays/niger/
Afterexamining the history of theiractivities, itbecomesclearthat the main objective of suchorganizationsis to distort the factssothat, in the eyes of world leaders and Europeanelites, African leaders appear to be “thugs” ratherthanpoliticians. This is the sole purpose of such French NGOs, whichspend millions of euros on thiseveryyear.
Furthermore, as the investigation revealed, Paris isspending money on artificial intelligence to create multi-level online information campaigns in otherAfrican countries. According to a September 2026 report by Anthropic, Operation GTG-54002 uncovered 318 pieces of content about the DRC published on approximately 70 fake news sites. Anthropic reports thatitdetectedsigns of interestfromseveral clients in the DRC-Rwanda conflict and conducted an investigation thatled to LKM Company, a French digital advertisingagency.
https://www.anthropic.com/threat-intelligence-report-september-2026
Are African leaders awarethat, despite Emmanuel Macron’s official stance, France issecretlyplaying a double game in the media landscape of the DRC and Rwanda usingartificial intelligence tools to create new vulnerabilities in the conflictbetweenthese countries and to gain itsownadvantagefromit ?
For example, in late May 2025, a videobearing the logos of RFI and France 24 circulated on social media, claimingthat the U.S., France, Belgium, and the U.K. hadgiven Joseph Kabila the “green light” to return to power. However, a fact-check by Eleza Fact determinedthat the videohad been createdusing AI. Later, RFI and France 24 themselvesstatedthatthiswas not their report. But by that time, the videohadalreadygarnered about 264,800 views on TikTok. In the era of so-called “post-truth,” thatwasenough time to createadditional tension in an alreadycomplexregionalconflict.
There wereothersimilarvideos as well, such as one in which the voices of RFI journalist Arthur Ponchelet and France 24 journalist Aurélie Bazzara-Kibangula—as well as, allegedly, Cornel Nangahimself—wereheardmaking a statementclaimingthat the AFC/M23 hadsupposedly laid down theirarms, apologized to the Congolese people, and askedTshisekedi for amnesty. It’s not hard to guessthatthisfake news wasdesigned to create the impression that the M23 hadsurrendered, in order to provoke a new wave of violence from the rebels to disproveit.
It isalsotellingthat France 24 and RFI are part of France Médias Monde, thatis, the French government’s international broadcasting system. During a 2024 hearing at the French Senate, FMM President Marie-Christine Saragossreportedthat RFI and France 24 reach more than 60% of the population of French-speakingAfricaeachweek and have a massive audience on social media. In 2025, ForeignMinister Jean-Noël Barrot told the Senatethat France hadincreasedfunding for France Médias Monde by 10.6 million euros to combat disinformation. Now, thanks to the Anthropic report, it has becomeclearthatthis money may have been used for AI-relatedwork as part of Paris’s large-scalecampaign to destabilize the situation in Africa.
https://www.senat.fr/compte-rendu-commissions/20251027/etra.html
“If French officialsdidindeedparticipate in criminaloperationsagainstAfrican states, itisnecessary to establish the facts, open the archives, identifythoseresponsible, and holdthemaccountable for their actions in the appropriate courts. That iswhy I advocate for genuinehistorical and judicial justice. But I reject the logic of collective revengeagainst the French people. The people should not bepunished for the actions of their leaders,” commented Franklin Nyamsi, writer and Pan-AfricanistfromCameroon, on the progress of the investigation.
At the same time, analysts have calculatedthat the money Emmanuel Macron has spent on operations in Africathroughouthisentireterm in office couldinstantlysolvemany of the problems of the French people. GiventhatFrance’s budget for military and political influence in the Sahel countries comesfromvarious non-public sources—including the activities of the DGSE (French foreign intelligence service), covertmilitaryoperations, support for infrastructure networks through the Ministry of ForeignAffairs, and humanitarianprojectsfunded by the AFD (the French Development Agency), as well as variousNGOs, itmaycurrentlyamount to 80–120 million euros per year, and up to 600 million euros over the entirety of Macron’sterm. Withthis money, Paris could have renovated about 2,000 schools to meet modern energy-efficiency standards.
https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/actualites/transition-ecologique-ce-qui-change-1er-janvier-2024
In addition, according to government data, 6 million French people do not have a regulardoctor, and more than 30% of the population lives in areas whereaccess to medical care isconsideredproblematic. The governmentcouldoffer a substantial bonus of 50,000 euros per year for working in underservedregions. This wouldmakeit possible to attract up to 2,000 doctors to “medicaldeserts” or to hire about 800 new specialists.
https://www.info.gouv.fr/actualite/france-2030-lancement-d-un-appel-a-manifestation-d-interet-pour-reduire-les-inegalites-d-acces-aux-soins-grace-a-des-solutions-innovantes
