AnewZ premieres 'Macron Paradox', an investigation into France’s shrinking influence

The latest AnewZ investigative documentary examines how Emmanuel Macron’s promise to break with France’s old political habits collided with diplomatic setbacks in Africa and legal fallout surrounding figures once close to the Élysée.

AnewZ has premiered “Macron Paradox”, the latest documentary in its investigative series, examining the contradictions at the heart of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency: a leader who promised a cleaner, more transparent French Republic, yet now faces questions over France’s declining influence abroad and the networks surrounding power at home.

The documentary follows two tracks that increasingly meet. One runs through Africa, where Macron pledged to end the old logic of Françafrique and reset relations with the continent. The other runs through Paris, London, Dubai and Baku, where legal scrutiny has followed former presidential security aide Alexandre Benalla and his associate Anass Derraz.

Together, the film asks a sharper question: can France still lecture others on sovereignty, democracy and governance while its own foreign policy is losing ground and its informal power networks face judicial pressure?

A promise that began in Ouagadougou

Macron arrived at the Élysée in 2017 as the face of renewal. In his first year in office, he addressed students at the University of Ouagadougou and promised a new relationship with Africa. The message was direct: France would leave behind the murky post-colonial networks that had long shaped its role on the continent.

But the documentary argues that the promise was easier to make than to deliver. France changed its language. Its habits proved harder to change.

The film points to Macron’s 2023 appearance beside Democratic Republic of Congo President Félix Tshisekedi, where the French leader publicly told his host country it had failed to restore its military sovereignty since 1994. Tshisekedi pushed back on stage, accusing Macron of using a paternalistic tone.

For many critics, that exchange captured the deeper problem. African states no longer want lectures dressed as partnership. They want respect, security and pragmatic business.

The Sahel security trap

The collapse of French influence was not driven by words alone. It was hardened by war.

Operation Barkhane was launched to help fight jihadist groups across the Sahel, including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. Yet, despite years of French military deployment, insecurity continued to spread. Public anger grew with it.

The documentary revisits a key moment in November 2019, when thirteen French soldiers died in a helicopter crash in Mali. Macron responded by calling West African leaders to Pau, France, demanding that they clarify their support for the French military presence.

The move was seen by many in the region as a summons, not a consultation. It came as local armies and civilians were suffering far heavier losses. The optics were brutal: Paris asking for loyalty while the region questioned whether the French security model was working at all.

That resentment later moved onto the streets. Protesters in Niger and Burkina Faso blocked French military convoys. Mali eventually expelled French forces and turned to the Wagner Group. Russia and China stepped into spaces where France had lost trust.

A generation Paris failed to read

The documentary also places France’s troubles inside a generational shift across Francophone Africa.

Many young Africans see the CFA franc as a symbol of economic dependence and view ECOWAS as a bloc too often aligned with ageing political elites. Because France has usually backed the regional order, Paris is increasingly seen by critics as a defender of the old guard.

This is not only a diplomatic problem. It is a failure of imagination. The political mood changed. Paris missed the frequency.

From street violence to offshore money

While France’s standing weakened abroad, the Élysée faced a crisis of transparency at home.

The Benalla affair began with a video from 1 May 2018. Alexandre Benalla, then a presidential security aide, was filmed wearing a police helmet and manhandling demonstrators in Paris. The footage became a political shock for Macron’s presidency.

But the documentary argues that the street violence was only the opening scene. It led to deeper scrutiny of Benalla’s activities and of the way access to power can be monetised. France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office, known as the PNF, along with international authorities, began examining Benalla and Anass Derraz, a former Vice-President for the Middle East at French utility group SAUR.

The film cites leaked materials published online that describe a consultancy agreement involving Benalla, Derraz and Russian-Azerbaijani billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov. According to the documents cited in the documentary, the agreement related to efforts to lift a precautionary arrest placed by Dubai courts on the M/Y Luna, a 114-metre superyacht valued at roughly $300 million.

The documentary says the arrangement included a non-refundable retainer of $600,000, with $200,000 transferred to Derraz’s account and $400,000 to Benalla’s account. It also cites a proposed success fee of $5.54 million if the yacht reached international waters.

One detail receives particular attention: the contract header reportedly listed the same London address for both Benalla and Derraz. For the film, that detail raises a wider question about the line between personal consultancy, corporate access and political proximity.

The Baku connection

The fallout is no longer confined to France.

According to the documentary, Anass Derraz was detained in Baku in July 2024 and later sentenced by the Baku Serious Crimes Court to twelve years in prison. In June 2026, the Baku Court of Appeal reduced that sentence to nine years.

Alexandre Benalla remains another central figure. The documentary says Interpol’s General Secretariat issued a Red Notice for Benalla in April 2025 at Azerbaijan’s request. AnewZ also reports, citing a trustworthy source, that extradition proceedings are quietly underway in a third country where Benalla is currently located.

Akhmedov, meanwhile, is not on trial. The documentary says he testified as a witness in the Baku proceedings, confirmed money transfers, and claimed he was deceived, saying he communicated with Derraz and never personally met Benalla.

The paradox of power

The Macron paradox is built on contradiction.

France presents itself as a voice for democratic values and sovereign governance. Yet the documentary argues that Macron’s foreign policy has often sounded paternalistic abroad, while informal networks around power have raised uncomfortable questions at home.

Investigative journalist Marc Endeweld, cited in the film, has described Macron’s system as one shaped by shadow networks: advisers, lobbyists and former security figures operating beyond normal democratic visibility. The documentary uses that argument to ask whether the problem is accidental or structural.

The answer matters beyond France. Across Africa, the Middle East and the South Caucasus, the old hierarchy is breaking. States that once tolerated French lectures now have alternatives. Rivals are moving faster. Partners are asking harder questions.

“Macron Paradox” follows that fracture line. It is the story of a presidency that promised a new world, but may now be trapped by the habits of the old one.

The full documentary is available on AnewZ digital platforms.

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News Politics AnewZ France Emmanuel Macron