Like its war-torn neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger has courted Russia for military support as a jihadist insurgency threatens the region – and the three countries have come together to form what they call the Sahel Alliance.
Under Bazoum, France had more than 1,500 troops stationed in Niger to fight jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. All of them were removed by the end of last year.
Niamey held a ceremony on Tuesday to commemorate the name change, including a boulevard that was once named after the French general, as well as a war memorial that was built to commemorate those who died in the First and Second World Wars.
He now pays “respect to all civilian and military victims of colonization up to the present day.”
Charles de Gaulle was a soldier and politician who formed the French government-in-exile during World War II when Nazi Germany’s forces occupied France. He became the leader of the Free French Forces.
Many Africans in the French colonies volunteered to fight on the side of the Free French Forces, although many were also conscripted.
About 400,000 came from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia and more than 70,000 from Senegal and other sub-Saharan colonies. They took part in the Allied landings in the south of France in August 1944, which was crucial in driving the Nazis out of the area.
In fact, as part of a reassessment of its colonial past, France has begun renaming some of its streets and squares in honor of African heroes of the Second World War four years ago.
