For African leaders who boldly stood up to the unending imperialist tendencies of the former colonial powers, this has generally been met with death. And France has never been hesitant to eliminate presidents who posed a threat to its imperialist plans. France has consistently connived and been in collaboration with other Western powers to assassinate African presidents they deem a threat to their interests.

These three French intelligent services, The External Documentation and Anti-Espionage Service (SDECE), DGSE, and DST have been very active in doing the dirty work that encompasses coups and assassinations. French crimes in Africa have been made up of misinformation campaigns, "controlling black-skinned governors" (puppet presidents), and military propaganda. 

France has always ensured that former colonies remain under its tight hand. This explains the existence of the CFA Franc, a colonial currency that keeps former colonies from fully attaining economic independence. 

Presidents like Thomas Sankara who denied being under France's influence were eliminated from the planet, with France playing a big role in that grisly assassination.

Below is a list of African presidents assassinated by France since 1963:

1963: SYLVANUS OLYMPIO, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF TOGO 

1966: JOHN-AGUIYI IRONSI, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF NIGERIA

1969: ABDIRACHID-ALI SHERMAKE, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF SOMALIA

1972: ABEID-AMANI KARUMÉ, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. FROM ZANZIBAR

1975: RICHARD RATSIMANDRAVA, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF MADAGASCAR

1975: FRANÇOIS-NGARTA TOMBALBAYE, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF CHAD

1976: MURTALA-RAMAT MOHAMMED, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. FROM NIGERIA

1977: MARIEN NGOUABI, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE

1977: TEFERI BANTE, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. ETHIOPIA

1981: ANOUAR EL-SADATE, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. FROM EGYPT

1981: WILLIAM-RICHARD TOLBERT, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF LIBERIA

1987: THOMAS SANKARA, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF BURKINA-FASO

1989: AHMED ABDALLAH, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. COMOROS

1989: SAMUEL-KANYON DOE, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF LIBERIA

1992: MOHAMMED BOUDIAF, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. ALGERIA

1993: MELCHIOR NDADAYÉ, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. FROM BURUNDI

1994: CYPRIEN NTARYAMIRA, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF BURUNDI

1994: JUVENAL HABYARIMANA, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF RWANDA

1999: IBRAHIM BARRÉ-MAINASSARA, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. OF NIGER

2001: LAURENT-DESIRED KABILA, PRESIDENT OF THE REP. CONGO-KINSHASA

2009 JOÃO BERNARDO VIEIRA, PRESIDENT OF GUINEA-BISSAU

2011: MUAMMAR GADDAFI, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBYA