¹ Quoted by Rosenblum, Mort, Mission to Civilize: the French way (San Diego, 1986), p. 8.Google Scholar

² See Chipman, John, French Power in Africa (Oxford, 1989), pp. 61–84;Google ScholarLiniger-Goumaz, Max, De l'Eurafrique: utopie ou réalité. Les Métamorphoses d'une idée (Yaoundé, 1972);Google Scholar and Martin, Guy, ‘Africa and the Ideology of Eurafrica: neo-colonialism or pan-Africanism?’, in The Journal of Modern African Studies (Cambridge), 20, 2, 06 1982, pp. 221–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

³ Guernier, Eugène, L'Afrique: champs d'expansion de l'Europe (1933), quoted in Chipman, op. cit. pp. 71–2.Google Scholar

⁴ Chaffard, Georges, Les Carnets secrets de la décolonisation (Paris, 1965), Vol. 2, p. 197.Google Scholar See also Chipman, op. cit. pp. 85–110 and McNamara, Francis T., France in Black Africa (Washington, DC, 1989), pp. 67–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar In his recently published memoirs, the then French Governor of Guinea (later to become Prime Minister under de Gaulle), reveals that that country was deliberately made to suffer the consequences of its fateful decision; he personally gave specific orders for the speedy withdrawal of all French personnel (within two months), and the re-routing of two rice cargo shipments and several thousand million newly-printed CFA francs from Conakry to Dakar. Messmer, Pierre, Après tant de batailles (Paris, 1992), pp. 240–2.Google Scholar

⁵ Bourgi, Albert, La Politique française de coopération en Afrique (Paris, 1979);Google Scholar Chipman, op. cit. pp. 102–13; Martin, Guy, ‘The Historical, Economic, and Political Bases of France's African Policy’, in The Journal of Modern African Studies, 23, 2, 06 1985, pp. 189–92;CrossRefGoogle Scholar and McNamara, op. cit. pp. 95–9.

⁶ See Deniau, Xavier, La Francophonie (Paris, 1983);Google ScholarAldrich, Robert and Connell, John, ‘Francophonie: language, culture or politics?’, in Aldrich, and Connell, (eds.), France in World Politics (London and New York, 1989), pp. 170–93;Google Scholar and Guillou, Michel, La Francophonie: nouvel enjeu mondial (Paris, 1993).Google Scholar

⁷ Some serious concerns have recently been expressed in France about alleged ‘American activism’ in francophone Africa, following the appointment of George Moose (former Ambassador to Senegal) as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs; Washington's discreet support of pro-democracy forces in Cameroon, Congo, and Togo; the signature of the Congo-Oxy purchase agreement of 27 April 1993; and the resounding success of the second African/African-American summit in Libreville, 24–28 May 1993, attended by 18 francophone heads of state and government. See ‘France-États-Unis: Moose, George inquiète, in Jeune Afrique (Paris), 13–19 05 1993, p. 19;Google Scholar Geraldine Faes, ‘États-Unis–Afrique: les conseilleurs ne sont pas les payeurs’, in ibid. 10–16 June 1993, pp. 22–6; Triay, Phillippe, ‘Deuxième sommet africain/africain-américain: la consécration d'une idée’, in Jeune Afrique économie (Paris), 109, 07 1993, pp. 17–33;Google Scholar and Wauthier, Claude, ‘Appétits américains et compromissions françaises’, in Le Monde diplomatique (Paris), 10 1994, p. 10.Google Scholar

⁸ Televised interview of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, quoted in Jallaud, T., ‘La Coopération militaire’, in La France contre l'Afrique (Paris, 1981), p. 105. My translation, as for subsequent extracts from sources in French.Google Scholar

⁹ Cot, Jean-Pierre, À l'Épreuve du pouvoir (Paris, 1984), p. 63.Google Scholar See also Médard, Jean-François, ‘La Patrimonialisation des relations franco-africaines’, Brazzaville+50/Francophone Africa Research Group Conference, Boston University, 7–8 10 1994.Google Scholar

¹⁰ Much the same argument was made by Bayart, Jean-François, La Politique africaine de François Mitterrand (Paris, 1984), p. 52, who went so far as to assert that it was, in fact, Mitterrand himself who initiated a new deal for Africa when he became Minister for Overseas France in 1954: ‘The real continuity actually starts with Mr. Mitterrand and was passed on to General de Gaulle and to his successors’.Google Scholar

¹¹ Mytelka, Lynn K., ‘A Genealogy of Francophone West and Equatorial African Regional Organisations’, in The Journal of Modern African Studies, 12, 2, 06 1974, pp. 297–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹² The 17th summit was held in Libreville, Gabon, 5–7 October 1992, with 13 Heads of State and Government in attendance. The same city hosted the interim ministerial conference, 29–30 July 1993, attended by some 30 Ministers of Foreign Affairs. The 18th summit was held in Biarritz, France, 8–9 November 1994.

¹³ See ‘Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, le conseiller’, in Glaser, Antoine and Smith, Stephen, Ces Messieurs Afrique: le Paris-village du continent noir (Paris, 1992), pp. 209–35,Google Scholar and Soudan, François, ‘Le “vrai-faux” départ de Jean-Christophe’, in Jeune Afrique, 28 April 1992, p. 10.Google Scholar

¹⁴ For an interesting overview of the foreign policy of francophonie from the perspective of one of its first Ministers, see Decaux, Alain, Le Tapis rouge (Paris, 1992).Google Scholar

¹⁵ The Presidents of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Zimbabwe, as well as the Vice-President of South Africa, attended the 18th franco-African summit in Biarritz, France, 8–9 November 1994.

¹⁶ See Laidi, Zaki, The Superpowers and Africa: the constraints of rivalry, 1960–1990 (Chicago, 1990);Google ScholarMartin, Guy, ‘France and Africa’, in Aldrich, and Connell, (eds.), op. cit. pp. 115–17,Google Scholar and ‘The Theory and Practice of Non-Alignment: the case of the francophone West and Central African states’, in Jinadu, L. Adele and Mandaza, Ibbo (eds.), African Prespectives on Non-Alignment (Harare, 1986), pp. 20–38.Google Scholar

¹⁷ The classic exposé of this argument is to be found in Marseille, Jacques, Empire colonial et capitalisme français: histoire d'une divorce (Paris, 1984).Google Scholar See also Chipman, op. cit. pp. 186–92. Cartierists (and their contemporary supporters, the neo-Cartierists) are those who, following French journalist Raymond Cartier's series of articles in the early 1950s in the weekly Paris-Match, believe that French economic assistance should be primarily directed within (to underdeveloped French regions) rather than without (overseas), according to the famous motto ‘La Corrèze avant le Zambèze!’

¹⁸ Guiringaud, Louis de, ‘La Politique africaine de la France’, in Politique étrangère (Paris), 2, 06 1982, p. 443.Google Scholar

¹⁹ Statistical data from Adda, Jacques and Smouts, Marie-Claude, La France face au sud: le miroir brisé (Paris, 1989), p. 98, table 10.Google Scholar

²⁰ Lellouche, Pierre, and Moisi, Dominique, ‘French Policy in Africa: a lonely battle against destabilization’, in International Security (Cambridge, MA), 3, 1979, p. 116, fn. 15.Google Scholar

²¹ ‘Rapport Prouteau, 1994: les entreprises françaises et 1'Afrique’, in Jeune Afrique, 27 October–9 November 1994, pp. 19–21. Prouteau, Jean-Pierre is president of the Conseil des investisseurs français en Afrique.Google Scholar

²² On franco-African trade relations, see Assidon, Elsa, Le Commerce captif: les sociétés commerciales françaises de l'Afrique noire (Paris, 1989),Google Scholar and Adda and Smouts, op. cit. pp. 81–103.

²³ Trade statistics are taken from ‘France-Afrique: l'afro-pessimisme ne passera pas’, in Jeune Afrique, 14–27 August 1991, pp. 128–41; François Dorce, Géraldine Faes, and Rémi Godeau, ‘France-Afrique: le temps du réalisme, in ibid. 13–26 August 1992, pp. 130–5; ‘Rapport Prouteau, 1992: les entreprises françaises et l'Afrique’, in ibid. 22–28 October 1992, pp. 47–55; ‘Rapport Prouteau, 1993’, in ibid. 28 October–10 November 1993, pp. 53–98, and ‘Rapport Prouteau, 1994’.

²⁴ On French aid, see Adda and Smouts, op. cit. pp. 27–60. French aid statistics are taken from ‘Rapport Prouteau, 1992’, pp. 13–22 and 37–44; ‘Rapport Prouteau, 1993’, pp. 94–8; OECD, Development Assistance Committee Report, 1991 and 1992 (Paris);Google Scholar and ‘Coopération: le budget de la dévaluation’, in Jeune Afrique, 27 10–9 11 1994, p. 8.Google Scholar

²⁵ See Adda and Smouts, op. cit. pp. 50–60, and Laidi, Zaki, Enquête sur la banque mondiale (Paris, 1989), pp. 313–37.Google Scholar

²⁶ See Ridler, Neil B., ‘Fixed Exchange Rates and Structural Adjustment Programmes: Côte d'Ivoire’, in The Journal of Modern African Studies, 31, 2, 06 1993, pp. 301–8, which analyses ‘an economy which cannot meet an essential S.A.P. condition for success, namely: the devaluation of its currency. The country is Côte d'Ivoire, but the illustration could come from any of the 13 African members of the franc zone where a fixed exchange rate precludes a major policy instrument for ending prolonged recession’ (p. 301).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

²⁷ See Patrick, and Guillaumont, Sylvianne, Zone franc et développement africain (Paris, 1984);Google ScholarMartin, Guy, ‘The Franc Zone: underdevelopment and dependency in francophone Africa’, in Third World Quarterly (London), 8, 1, 01 1986, pp. 205–35;Google ScholarValléee, Olivier, Le Prix de l'argent CFA: heurs et malheurs de la zone franc (Paris, 1989);Google Scholar Adda and Smouts, op. cit. pp. 62–79; and Devarajan, Shantayaran and Melo, Jaime de, ‘Relative Performance of CFA Franc Zone Members and Other Countries’, in Zartman, I. William (ed.), Europe and Africa: the new phase (Boulder and London, 1993), pp. 121–37.Google Scholar On recent developments in franco-African economic relations, see Gaulme, François, ‘France-Afrique: un crise de coopération’, in Études (Paris), 3801, 01 1994, pp. 41–52,Google Scholar and Leymarie, Philippe, ‘Inexorable effritement du “modéle” franco-africain’, in Le Monde diplomatique (Paris), 478, 01 1994, pp. 4–5.Google Scholar

²⁸ African South of the Sahara, 1994 (London, 1994), pp. 258, 276, 325, 336, 390, and 746.Google Scholar

²⁹ On French military presence in Africa, see Lellouche and Moisi, loc. cit. pp. 108–33; Luckham, Robin, ‘French Militarism in Africa’, in Review of African Political Economy (Sheffield), 24, 05–08 1982, pp. 55–84;Google ScholarMoose, George E., ‘French Military Policy in Africa’, in Foltz, William J. and Bienen, Henry S. (eds.), Arms and the African: military influences on Africa's international relations (New Haven and London, 1985), pp. 59–97;Google Scholar and Chipman, John, French Military Policy and African Security (London, 1985),Google ScholarAdelphi Paper No. 201, and French Power in Africa, pp. 114–67. The statistical data are from de la Gorce, P. M., ‘Pourquoi la France est sur tous les fronts’, in Jeune Afrique, 14–20 May 1992, pp. 30–1,Google Scholar and Leymarie, Philippe, ‘Les Voies incertaines de la coopération franco-africaine’, in Le Monde diplomatique, 463, 10 1992, pp. 22–3,Google Scholar and ‘La France et le maintien de l'sordre en Afrique’, in ibid. 483, June 1994, p. 28.

³⁰ Le Parti socialiste et l'Afrique sub-saharienne (Paris, Secrétariat général du Parti socialiste, 1981). French military interventions during the period 1981 to 1994 include Chad (1983, 1986–9), Togo (1986), Comoros (1989), Côte d'Ivoire and Gabon (May 1990), Rwanda (October 1990–December 1993, June–August 1994), and Zaïre (September 1991).Google Scholar

³¹ Leymarie, loc. cit. October 1992.

³² On the concept of the ‘second independence’, see Nzongola-Ntalaja, Georges, Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Africa (London, 1987), p. 92,Google Scholar and on the ‘second liberation’, see Ayittey, George, Africa Betrayed (New York, 1992), pp. 305–34.Google Scholar The term ‘Springtime of Africa’ was coined by Bourgi, Albert and Casteran, Christian in Le Printemps de l'Afrique (Paris, 1991).Google Scholar

³³ Quoted in Casteran, Christian and Sada, Hugo, ‘Sommet de La Baule: l'avertissement’, in Jeune Afrique, 27 06–3 07 1990, p. 15Google Scholar

³⁴ Data from Alaux, Jean-Pierre, ‘Les Contradictions de la coopération française en Afrique’, in Le Monde diplomatique, 456, 03 1992, p. 4.Google Scholar

³⁵ See Fall, Elimane, ‘Le Sommet des désillusions’, in Jeune Afrique, 15–21 10 1992, p. 4,Google Scholar and ‘La Coopération et les processus démocratiques en Afrique’, an interview with the French Minister of Co-operation, Debarge, Marcel, in Le Monde (Paris), 17 02 1993, pp. 1 and 6.Google Scholar

³⁶ This revealing story is chronicled in some detail in Kpatinde, Francis, ‘La Guerre du pétrole’, in Jeune Afrique, 27 May–2 June 1993, pp. 12–15.Google Scholar and Zyad Limam, ‘La Guerre du pétrole est-elle finie?’, in ibid. 9–15 September 1993, pp. 52–5. Apparently under intense French Pressure, President Lissouba later reneged on the April 1993 Congo-Oxy agreement by retroactively recognising, through a special law passed in December 1993, Elf-Aquitaine's exclusive exploitation rights over the new Nkossa off-shore oil fields.See Francis Kpatinde, ‘Lissouba dit tout’, in ibid. 24 February–2 March 1994, pp. 68–9.

³⁷ See, in particular, Alaux, loc. cit.; Béti, Mongo, La France contre l'Afrique (Paris, 1993), pp. 152–98;Google Scholar and Leymarie, loc. cit. June 1994, p. 28.

³⁸ Balladur, Edouard's statements as reported in Le Monde, 23 09 1993,Google Scholar and Le Point (Paris), 16 10 1993.Google Scholar See also Leymarie, ‘Inexorable effritement du “modèle” francoafricain’, p. 5, and Gaulme, loc. cit. pp. 46–7.

³⁹ Interview of Bernard Debré by Soudan, François, in Jeune Afrique, 24–30 November 1994, p. 8.Google Scholar

⁴⁰ Quoted in Bechtold, J. P., Limam, Zyad, and Soudan, François, ‘Balladur: ce que veut la France’, in Jeune Afrique, 23 12 1993–1995 01 1994, p. 55.Google Scholar

⁴¹ Pierre Messmer, ‘Il faut dévaluer le franc CFA’, in ibid. 20–26 May 1993, pp. 26–7. See also Géraldine Faes, ‘Franc CFA: comment éviter l'inevitable’, in ibid. 12–25 August 1993, pp. 47–50; Rémi Godeau, ‘La Dévaluation en douze questions’, in ibid. pp. 50–8; and Dowe, Jones, ‘Du Rififi à CFA city’, in Michailof, Serge (ed.), La France et l'Afrique: vade-mecum pour un nouveau voyage (Paris, 1993), pp. 461–88.Google Scholar

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⁴³ See Noble, Kenneth B., ‘Ivory Coast Buries its Father of Freedom’, in The New York Times, 8 02 1994, pp. A1 and A5,Google Scholar and ‘French Currency Move Provokes Unrest in Africa’, in ibid. 23 February 1994, pp. A1 and A6.

⁴⁴ Bougi, Albert, ‘Dévaluation, émancipation…’, in Jeune Afrique, 20–26 January 1994, pp. 46–7.Google Scholar