Former French colonies in sub-Saharan Central and West Africa are among the poorest and least developed of African countries. They may be classic cases of how ‘economic dependency’ persists in the former colonies.
Their economies continue to be dominated by the mining of natural resources (oil and gas, iron, bauxite, tin, copper, gold, rare metals) and agricultural production (coffee, cocoa, tea, millet, sorghum, maize, cashew, dairy, horticulture and animal husbandry).
About 60% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa comprise smallholders whose farms are less than five hectares each. Medium-sized farms (five to 100 hectares) are the exception. Plantation agriculture is even rarer.
Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org
Unlike in East and Southeast Asia where we have “import-substitution industrialisation” from the 1960s or earlier, and “export-oriented industrialisation” (electronic components and electrical products, textile and garments) from the 1970s, Africa still imports most manufactured goods.
None of these countries produce their own Proton or Perodua, or their own computers like China and South Korea. At best, the African countries produce consumer non-durables like shoes, processed food and drinks, and clothes.
Any attempt to decolonise their economies and break away from France was threatened by the compulsory payment of so-called ‘colonial debt’. When Guinea under Sekou Toure decided not to pay the debt, France resorted to what could be considered the scorched-earth destruction of the immovable ‘assets’ they were leaving behind – administration buildings, schools, hospitals, medicine, cows. This was done to forewarn the other nations not to follow Sekou Toure’s example of defiance.
Another handicap was the requirement that the former 14 African colonies continue to be part of the CFA francs currency system. Under this arrangement, the local currency is tied to the French and guaranteed by the French treasury at a fixed rate. The French government also lays claim to these countries’ national reserves by requiring them to deposit 50% of CFA franc reserves into the French central bank, effectively giving France control over the country’s resources.
The former French colonies’ struggle towards building strong and independent countries have often been marred by assassination of their revolutionary and nationalist leaders. Among those killed include:
• Patrice Lumumba, the Prime Minister of Congo, who was ousted by the pro-West military and other rivals who had him killed by firing squad in January 1961.
• Sylvanus Olympio of Togo, assassinated in 1963 – as Prime Minister, he had rejected the French demand for 800m francs as compensation for leaving behind the French colonial administration.
• Dr Felix Moumie, regarded as “the Patrice Lumumba of the Cameroons”, apparently poisoned in Geneva by French secret agents.
• Ruben Um Nyobe, likened to Gandhi and to Nelson Mandela, slained by the French army in 1958.
• El Mehdi ben Barka, “Morocco’s Che Guevera”, who organised a tri-continental gathering of Afro-Asian and Latin American socialists, kidnapped in Paris in 1963 and tortured to death subsequently.
Most of these leaders were pan-Africanists and socialist in persuasion.
During the Cold War, African leaders of such orientation were identified as unfriendly to Western interests and conveniently got rid of. About 400,000 African nationalists have been deported, tortured or executed.
Two major books by the great anti-colonial theorist Franz Fanon – The Wretched of the Earth, and Black Skins, White Masks – describe how the colonialists educated and influenced the Africans not only to look down on themselves but also to hate their fellow Africans, instead of uniting and working with one another. (This is why the revolutionary leaders who advocated pan-Africanism, as mentioned above, had to be killed).
Several decades ago, when the French and European economies were growing and in need of cheap labour, these migrants were recruited in large numbers, and rapidly too.
Now, the French (and other European) economies are no longer growing at a rapid pace, fewer jobs are available for the young people.
Perhaps it is time for the French to compensate its former colonies by helping them to develop their economies, build their civil societies and stabilise their politics.
And if one recalls Rostow’s theory of economic development, it is the infrastructure, both physical and social, that must first be developed before other sectors can take off. That is assuming we believe diversity adds colour. And inclusiveness harnesses a nation’s potential, that was the USA.
For us to be an inclusive nation unlike France (or other European economies), we need to reset our mindset on mono-ethnicity, mono-religion and mono-language. Diversity adds colour. We should celebrate our diversity and harness it for our benefit!
Reference:
Why did the ethnic conflict in France break out – a Malaysian perspective, Francis Loh, Aliran, 26 July 2023
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