France has a lot of troops in africa, protecting civilians whenever a civil war erupts ( like in operation licorne in cote d'ivoire) , or more recently in mali, to fight against djihadist groups spreading chaos.

This article reads like propaganda to me. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that france still has unjustified commercial priviledges,espeically in the oil business, but the monetary things reads like a complete misunderstanding of central bank monetary stability policies ( franc cfa is exceptionnaly stable compared to the poor politicial stability of the area).

Unlike the U.S., I don't think French foreign military involvement is all that well known or understood.

> Though I still don't understand why the ex French colonies just don't say no.

Economic & political pressure. If they break "agreements" they might find themselves with sanctions. Now they can't sell the cocoa or the oil. Or France would play one country against each -- "start a conflict with your neighbor in exchange for ... something"

I'm not an expert, but losing France as a customer of cocoa (especially now after the panic about dwindling supplies, see http://www.ibtimes.com/chocolate-crisis-world-running-out-co...) doesn't seem like a huge deal. :) Also "oil" is generally pretty salable, there ought to be other customers.

If losing France would mean an EU embargo - which is a bit doubtful IMO - that would be more significant. But I don't think it's feasible to say that France could prevent a former colony from selling oil when we see that the so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq - way beyond pariah - makes significant profits in oil sales.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/analysis/2014/08...