Prénom de l'expert

Thierry

Nom de l'expert

VIRCOULON

Associate Research Fellow, Coordinator of the Observatory of Central and Southern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa Center, Ifri

Research Areas:

Risk and conflict analysis
Security sector reform
Governance of natural resources
Central Africa, Southern Africa, Great Lakes region
Relations between China and Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa Center

Macro view of a political map of Ethiopia

East and Central Africa Observatory

Thierry Vircoulon is a graduate from the French Public Management Institute (ENA) and the Institute for Political Studies in Paris. He holds a masters degree in Political Science from Sorbonne University. He has previously worked for the French Foreign Ministry and the European Commission, notably in South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most of his work is focusing on governance and SSR. He is also part of the OECD group of experts on statebuilding and peacebuilding.

Support independent French research

Ifri, a foundation recognized as being of public utility, relies largely on private donors – companies and individuals – to guarantee its sustainability and intellectual independence. Through their funding, donors help maintain the Institute's position among the world's leading think tanks. By benefiting from an internationally recognized network and expertise, donors refine their understanding of geopolitical risk and its consequences on global politics and the economy. In 2024, Ifri will support more than 70 French and foreign companies and organizations.

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Analysis from Thierry VIRCOULON

Publications

Press

Memos

Ansongo, Mali, décembre 2015 – Formation d’un soldat malien par un soldat français dans le cadre de l’opération militaire Barkhane

The dilemma of the Franco-African military relationship: reinvent or turn the page?

18 November 2024

The origins of military presence and cooperation in Africa can be traced back to the tacit decolonization pact between the countries of French-speaking Africa. This cooperation led to the creation of African armies in the former colonies, as part of a project to prevent the spread of communism and maintain France's influence in the newly independent countries.

Thierry VIRCOULON

Studies

Chad: from Deby to Deby. Recipes for a successful succession (2021-2024)

04 October 2024

As in Togo and Gabon, the transition that took place in Chad from 2021 to
2024 resulted in a dynastic succession. Mahamat Idriss Deby succeeded his
father, Idriss Deby Itno, who was President of Chad from 1996 to 2021. While
the majority of Chadians were hoping for a change of government, the “Deby
system” has managed to hold on.

Thierry VIRCOULON

Memos

Early map of Africa, publisher: Homannianorum H, 1737 Nuremberg (Germany)

After the Failure in the Sahel, Rethinking French Policy in Africa

10 April 2024

Condemnations of French politics have gained momentum in recent years in French-speaking Africa. The grievances are multiple: military interventions, the persistence of the regional currency inherited from colonial time (CFA franc), development aid policy, restrictive visa policy, etc. However, the reasoned criticism against the French policy in Africa has turned into an anti-French diatribe on social networks and in the simplistic rhetoric of neo-Pan-Africanists.

Alain ANTIL Thierry VIRCOULON

Papers

Fulani Working With Cattle, Bamenda Highlands, Cameroon

Mbororo Fulanis in the Anglophone Crisis: From Land Disputes to a Regional Conflict

15 June 2022

This study highlights the particular situation of the Mbororo minority, which has settled in the Northwest English-speaking province that is more conducive to livestock farming than the Southwest.

Fanta DADA PETEL Thierry VIRCOULON

Papers

South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo

A Sino-Congolese Scandal. Illegal Exploitation of Minerals and Forests by Chinese Companies in South Kivu

09 February 2022

Since 2020, the exploitation of gold from mining sites in the Wamuzimu chiefdom in the South Kivu province by Chinese companies has aroused great discontent among the population.

Justin MWETAMINWA Thierry VIRCOULON

Studies

La 34e session de l'APP ACP-UE s'est tenue en Haïti du 28 au 21 décembre 2017

’Delenda est Cotonou ?’ The European Union and the ACP States: A Partnership without Partners

29 November 2021

Although it has largely gone unnoticed in France, the agreement signed on December 3, 2020 between the European Union (EU) and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP) is a major shift in the long-standing relations between the EU and countries in the Global South.

Thierry VIRCOULON

Studies

Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing in 2018

Chinese Influences in Africa. 1. The Political and Diplomatic Tools of the "Great Developing Country"

17 November 2021

China and Africa have enjoyed a strong relationship since the wave of African independences in the 1960s. Nevertheless, relations between China and Africa have significantly expanded since the late 1990s and have been fueled by a growing discourse centered on a “win-win” partnership between China and Africa.

Jean-Pierre CABESTAN Elisa DOMINGUES DOS SANTOS Zhao Alexandre HUANG Philippe LE BILLON Thierry VIRCOULON

Papers

The Peuls Mbororo of North Cameroon: Insecurities of a Pastoral Society and Limits of a Hybrid Security Response

08 November 2021

The Mbororo are Fulani who, unlike the Fulbe, have not become sedentary and have practiced nomadic herding for a long time. However, over the past several decades, they have been undergoing a sedentarization process in northern Cameroon (Septentrion), to the point that many of them have become semi-sedentary and agro-pastoralists.

This community of herders faces environmental, land, fiscal and criminal insecurities.

Fanta DADA PETEL Thierry VIRCOULON

Studies

Ituri : Resurgence of Conflict and Failure of Peacebuilding Policy

16 June 2021

In the far northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the province of Ituri experienced a decade of relative peace between 2007 and 2017 and is nowadays victim of the resurgence of its historic inter-communal conflict between the Hema and the Lendu.

Thierry VIRCOULON

Papers

Post-Nkurunziza : The Total Supremacy of the CNDD-FDD

17 March 2021

Despite the coronavirus pandemic and the passing of President Pierre Nkurunziza on June 8, 2020, the election cycle (presidential, legislative, senatorial, communal and hillside elections) have been upheld and went smoothly. Not only has the ruling party, the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) remained in power, but it has also consolidated its dominance over an institutional system that had been modified with the 2018 constitutional revision.

Thierry VIRCOULON Henri-Paul MAGLOIRE