French President Emmanuel Macron is creating a new team "to restore confidence in Africa and build a new Africa policy," media reported.
The team will be led by France’s current Ambassador to Nigeria, Emannuelle Blatmann, and will include Jeremie Robert, who will advise Macron on African affairs, and Anne-Claire Legendre, advisor on the Middle East and North Africa, according to the report.
The decline of the French influence on the continent comes amid the anti-French protests in the West Africa, where leaders in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger discontinued security and military cooperation with France.
Last week, France has also closed its diplomatic mission in Niger for an indefinite period after the Nigerien authorities won the expulsion of the French ambassador to the West African nation, Sylvain Itte.
The embassy was closed shortly after the last French soldiers deployed in Niger left the country on December 22. The Nigerien leadership demanded the pullout of the French troops stationed in the country to fight terrorism. The authorities said the foreign troops had failed to restore security.
In addition, on December 24, Niger's military officials announced that the country had suspended all cooperation with the International Organization of Francophone Nations (OIF).