…there is credible evidence from the same scholarly sources that articulate the unwillingness or inability of francophone sub-Saharan African nations to embrace these new forms of governance apparently because the status quo serves the interests of the political leaders of these countries and their external mentor-France. The various economic, cultural and security arrangements that France established with its former colonies in Africa in the 1960s have enabled the French to maintain unprecedented influence in the domestic and external affairs of nations such as Cameroon, Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in over fifty years after independence. Sustained by institutions such as La Francophonie and France-Afrique, French leaders since De Gaulle have supported African leaders, even if those leaders were engaged in practices that stymied efforts at democratic transitions and transparent governance, as long as French strategic interests (political, economic and cultural) were advanced (Martin 1997). By contrast, the British have not sought to exert undue influence in the internal affairs of its former colonies in Africa and have largely left leaders and citizens of those nation to embrace the kinds of democratic transitions that are compatible with their values and historical experiences. It is against this background that this paper proposes a thorough re-examination of American support for democratic transitions in Africa in large part because it was American leadership (with the support of its western allies) that stimulated, energized and supported the movements for transitions across Africa in the early 1990s (Kpundeh 1992).
(Emphasis mine.)
From Ngwafu, Peter A. (2016) “U.S. Support for Democracy in Africa: Discrepant Orientations of Anglophone and Francophone Africa towards Democratic Practices, Good Governance & Human Rights,” African Social Science Review: Vol. 8: No. 1, Article 2. Available here.