If you want to frame your outrage, Africa is a continent. This is mainly about Mali and its fight against Al Qaida/ISIS.
France sent troops in with UN support in 2013 after a plea for help from the Malinese government (1)
That government was overthrown by the "National Committee for the Salvation of the People" very recently (2) so it's hard to say what the future holds, and if they should remain there. Most of the west (including the US) is not too excited about the new leadership though.
Mali and the surrounding countries were a French colonial territory for about 80 years from the late-19th through mid-20th centuries.
France has maintained relationships with its former colonies in West Africa, and frequently performs counter-terrorism operations there.
Some local West Africans are OK with it, others are not. A 2016 attack on a beach resort in Côte d'Ivoire was claimed by the attackers (AQIM - Al'Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb), to be directly because of the foreign presence in West Africa, and the beach resort was targeted specifically because it is popular with foreigners (4 of the 19 killed were French).
France's history in West Africa is complicated but it's probably because of that history that they continue to operate there.
I don't know what he means exactly but the main consequence is that the Franc CFA is pegged to the Euro. It has a big impact but I wouldn't call this "managing their economy".
The Economist has lots of coverage of the Sahel and the ongoing developments in Mali. It’s one of the few mainstream publications with significant coverage of that issue available in the US.
They’ve got a bunch of podcasts that largely cover the content of their articles, with the voices of reporters and occasionally primary source recordings mixed in, all available for free. Worth checking out for sure.
Now I’m wondering, does anyone else have good resources for coverage of the Sahel or other international interests outside the US’s 24-hour news cycle?
France sent troops in with UN support in 2013 after a plea for help from the Malinese government (1)
That government was overthrown by the "National Committee for the Salvation of the People" very recently (2) so it's hard to say what the future holds, and if they should remain there. Most of the west (including the US) is not too excited about the new leadership though.
1) https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/35863/the-french-army-...
2) https://www.voanews.com/africa/france-keeping-close-eye-mali...