In the year 1960, France tried to play an active role in the Third world to affirm itself vis-a-vis the two large powers that clashed during the Cold war. Deprived of the major part of its colonial empire, it has assets which will enable it to bond well with the recently decolonized countries.
This includes the old French Africa and the Maghreb countries of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, the Occidental Africa, Guinea, Ivory Coast, French Sudan (Mali), Dahomey (Benign), Upper Volta (Burkina Faso), Mauritania, Niger, Senegal), Equatorial Africa (AEF - Chad, Means-Congo, Gabon, Central African Republic), the French-speaking Cameroon, Madagascar, Mayotte and Djibouti. General de Gaulle speaks about the ‘moral duty' and the ‘responsibility' of France.
Thus, while consolidating its own relations apart from the American-Soviet condominium, France will be able to exert its influence on all its old colonies in Africa. These bonds were reinforced in the years which followed and one can say that today, the French influence had always existed in Africa in varied fields.
Indeed, France helps its old colonies financially, economically, technically and culturally, so this enabled it to affirm its presence and perhaps to some extent, its seizure on Africa in particular. Inaugurated in 1973, the Franco-African Summits specify and redefine the fields of action of France in Africa and the nature of this bilateral cooperation.
How does this influence appear and continue today? Has it evolved with the years or have France and Africa taken pleasure in this situation? While the old French Africa preserves and adapts a good number of qualities of life inherited from colonization, and consequently integrates the French influence in its companies, it is noticed that the policy of Franco-African co-operation is a double edged sword with regard to supporting the dependency of Africa and the influence of France on the African companies.
After decolonization, in the construction of new independent states, African countries have retained the colonial legacy in many areas. France created a framework for preserving cultural heritage, it bore by the use of the French language, establishing the International Organization of Francophonie (OIF).
The member countries of the OIF are many in Africa, where French remains the official language after decolonization (in contrast, in the Maghreb, the Arabic language returned in force after decolonization).Francophonie thereby creates a linguistic and a political bloc that allow France to assert its influence in countries recognizing the French language as the national language.
On the one hand, it exerts a certain influence in the training of local elites. It contributes to developing schools and francophone universities and training centers where instructors have themselves been trained in France by the French. The maintenance of French influence is so mainly through education.
Thus, the school develops the use of the Latin alphabet, teaching the history of France, the Enlightenment, French literature, etc.. It should be mentioned that at the time of decolonization, there was an effort to "Africanization" of school education, but the bases and methods of instruction remained very French.
Indeed, the multiplicity of dialects and local customs made it impossible to set up an education totally "Africanized" and political elites have adopted the idea of redeveloping the school system while preserving the legacy of French colonialism.
Tags: French influence in Africa; the aftermath; post decolonization of Africa; Franco-African co-operation; influence of France on the African companies;
[...] In this case, it is actually the finances of the republic were made available; including the Imperial coronation in 1977, and the authorities turned a blind eye to the massacres in the country . French foreign policy in Africa, however, supports dictators. It remains influential in many countries and intervenes, which may in some cases be thought of as a new form of imperialism. Thus, France retains strong economic and cultural ties with the Arab countries, including Morocco and for reasons largely strategic relations. [...]
[...] This allows the spread of trends, fashion trends and of French society in Africa. It also helps to strengthen the idea that France is a paradise for African populations. Thus, even if the French are not really physically present in Africa, the image of France continues to be distributed, and it is strengthening its socio-cultural influence - Continuities and changes in religious During the colonial era, the teaching of reading and writing was inseparable from religious education .It was taught by Catholic and Protestant missionaries, responsible for evangelizing the African people and converting them to Christianity. [...]
[...] The French influence therefore remains in Africa, including in its most negative aspects. Bibliography Ageron, Robert, The French decolonization, Paris, Armand Colin, coll. Curriculum ALMEIDA-TOPOR Helena, Africa in the twentieth century, Paris, Armand Colin, coll.U-1999 (1993) BERSTEIN, Serge, MILZA, Pierre, History of France in the twentieth century from 1974 to the present day, Paris, Complex DROZ, Bernard, Decolonization, Paris, Seuil, coll. History Ferro, Marc, The Black Book of colonialism, XVI - XXI centuries: the extermination of repentance, Paris, Hachette Pluriel Hugon, Anne, Introduction to the history of contemporary Africa, Paris, Armand Colin, coll. [...]
[...] Africa is very dependent and the economies of these countries are in fact under surveillance. Regarding the policy of France in this respect, one can almost speak of a neo-colonial economy since the main exchanges with the former metropolis are always done under pressure Because of their poor economic situation in a world increasingly dominated by financial flows, African countries fail not to impose politically on the international scene. However, this situation allows France to retain an influential role in Africa and strengthen its position as interlocutor with African countries. [...]
[...] This is why we can say that in this area, the French influence is still relevant. Found particularly in the constitutions of the former French colonies of explicit references to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Citizen, but also the French Constitution of 1958. Indeed, many countries have opted for the choice of a republican regime with a strong executive power and the establishment of a "rationalized parliamentarism" . Then gradually as time passed, it made the choice of a presidential regime that now prevails in many countries, including Cameroon, Mali, but also in Madagascar. [...]
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