West Africa: France’s Accidental Colony

by Wesley Kawato

Before 1790 France wasn’t interested in West Africa. The French had a slave export station in St. Louis, a small port in what is now Senegal. But the French weren’t major players in the slave trade. Spain and Portugal were much more active in the ugly business of exporting humans for profit.That attitude of indifference began to change when Britain, France’s archrival, took an interest in West Africa. In 1796, British explorer Mungo Park became the first European to reach the Niger River, located in the heart of West Africa. Britain and France had often competed for colonies all over the world since 1500. France hastily organized an expedition to West Africa after it became clear that Mungo Park’s expedition wasn’t a fluke. British follow-up expeditions made the French realize that the British intended to colonize West Africa. In 1827 René Caille led a French expedition into the interior of West Africa. Caille discovered the legendary city of Timbuktu a year later. His expedition became the basis for French territorial claims to West Africa years later.

In 1830 France gained her first colony in Africa by accident. When the Bey of Algiers insulted a French diplomat, the French launched a retaliatory invasion of that land and quickly conquered it. French settlers soon flocked to Algeria. Unlike their British rivals, however, the French still were not interested in colonial holdings. Not until after 1871 would France try to gain more territory in Africa. It was their other rivals, the Germans, who indirectly pushed the French in that direction.

The Turning Point
In 1871 Germany defeated France in a bloody war, and took some French land. The French people began looking for a way to make up for that act of national humiliation. Philosopher Charles Renouvier suggested that France could regain national pride by spreading the benefits of civilization to less developed lands. Renouvier provided the rationale France needed to acquire colonies all over the world. France became a major player in the scramble for Africa. Her main rival was Britain, though Germany, Italy, Belgium, Portugal and Spain also competed for African colonies. Overlapping territorial claims heightened tensions. In 1885 the Berlin Conference divided Africa into spheres of influence. France became the dominant power in West Africa as a result of the conference. France controlled all of West Africa, except for a few coastal territories granted to Britain, Germany and Spain. With her African lands secured by international treaties, France began the task of “civilizing” her new colonies. The French considered the cultures of the various African people groups inferior, and something to be destroyed through education and indoctrination. French administrators introduced the French language to West Africa as the first step in their plan to remold Africans into good French citizens.

French Catholic missionaries also worked with these administrators, because Christianity was viewed as a means of civilizing Africans. Many people groups acquired a superficial knowledge of the gospel as a result, while continuing to practice animism. In the Sahara Desert regions, Catholic missionaries were even less successful at changing the colonized peoples. They failed to convert the Arab people groups that had converted to Islam centuries earlier.

An attitude of cultural superiority doomed French efforts to civilize West Africa. Only a few collaborators were willing to embrace the French language. Such people became the taskmasters in the French colonial system. The spread of Christianity was broad but shallow. Many peoples in West Africa pretended to become Catholic in order to get rewards from French colonial administrators.

The Beginning of the End of French Colonialism in Africa
During World War I, France depended heavily on colonial troops, many of them from Africa, to fight the German invaders. After the war was won, these troops returned home with combat skills and a heightened sense of nationalism. They became the leaders of the new independence movements that formed all over West Africa. World War II delayed the full development of African nationalism. Both French nationals and colonials realized the menace posed by the German and Italian Fascist invaders. Once again France depended heavily on colonial troops to drive out her invaders.

France emerged from World War II victorious but exhausted. She could ill afford the cost of maintaining her African colonies, but found it difficult to cut her ties to Africa for a number of reasons. One key reason was that French nationals had heavily settled many of these colonies, especially Algeria. Granting independence to such lands would leave the ethnic French population at the mercy of local majorities that wanted to kill or drive all foreigners from their territories.

Secondly, some colonies provided France with vital resources. Niger and Gabon had rich deposits of uranium. Since 1945, the ability to build nuclear weapons had become a crucial measure of military strength. Unlike the United States and the Soviet Union, France had no uranium deposits within her national borders. Without uranium, France could not build such a bomb.

Economic realities won out and France granted independence to most of her African colonies in 1960. For the most part the transfer of power was peaceful. Algeria was one of the few exceptions to the rule. The departure of the French army in 1960 led to a two-year civil war between local Arabs and ethnic French settlers. In 1962 the Arabs won and a series of reprisal killings led to a French exodus from Algeria in the years that followed.

The Ghost of French Colonialism
Independence didn’t end the French presence in West Africa. Trade agreements gave French companies an advantage in doing business in the former colonies. Other treaties gave France the right to intervene militarily in those new nations. France also created a currency for her former colonies. Most of these lands still use the French Franc as their monetary unit.

Another legacy of French colonialism is the dominance of the French language among the governing elites. The small size of this elite is also a legacy of French colonialism. French insensitivity to local culture had caused all but a few to reject the French language and education.

Today France finds itself in a quagmire in Africa, no longer desiring to intervene in local affairs, but forced to continue doing so because of treaty commitments. When France tried to walk away from her African commitments in 1994, the result was disastrous. The Hutu militias she had armed went on a rampage in Rwanda, leading to the deaths of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The world condemned France for her inaction. Memories of this incident colored the French reaction to the unrest in Cote d’Ivoire last year. French troops intervened in that country to prevent the overthrow of a president who had won reelection through massive ballot stuffing. The revolt quickly degenerated into a civil war, with the French army trying to keep the two sides apart. France fears Cote d’Ivoire could become another Rwanda and feels obligated to remain involved, despite a desire to wash her hands of the whole affair.

Today’s Spiritual Challenges of Francophone Africa
Today missionaries face many challenges in the West African lands once ruled by France. Nominalism is a serious problem. The French policy of using financial inducements to win converts had resulted in many tribes pretending to accept Catholicism, while continuing to practice their previous animistic beliefs. Witchcraft is also a serious problem in many of these countries. Benin is a case in point. Christian missionaries have heard reports of witch doctors casting spells that have killed people. The use of magic charms, sold by witch doctors to those without magical powers, has also hindered the spread of the gospel. We need to pray for power encounters to show such people that Jesus is stronger than the spirits they worship.

Islam also poses a problem in many West African lands. Some countries, such as Cote d’Ivoire, have had problems with religious warfare. The recent civil war has religious overtones. The loyalists tend to be Christians and animists from the southern parts of the country, while the rebels tend to be Muslims from the northern provinces. Warfare has made it difficult and dangerous to spread the gospel in lands like Cote d’Ivoire. The Islam practiced in West Africa is usually blended with animism. Senegal’s Mourides sect is a case in point. They mix the music and dance of the Wolof people group into their religious services. Unlike most Muslims, the Mourides don’t pray five times a day. Anyone who wants to go to the peoples of this part of the world with the gospel will have to be aware of their emotional need to make sure their religion is indigenous.

Let’s Pray
Pray that God will send Christian workers strong in the power of the Holy Spirit to this region. Those involved in witchcraft will need to see the power of God before they will accept Jesus as their savior. Pray also for peace. Wars and revolutions have slowed the spread of the gospel in many West African lands. May God provide wisdom and encouragement to missionaries currently serving in West Africa, because some people groups, especially those that practice Islam, have proven resistant to the gospel.