French West Africa

French West Africa, administrative grouping under French rule from 1895 until 1958 of the former French territories of western Africa, comprising, for some or all of that time, what are now the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal. It had its capital at Saint-Louis (in Senegal) from 1895 to 1902 and at Dakar (also in Senegal) from 1902 on.

French West Africa was established as part of France’s expanding colonial empire in Africa during the late 19th century and served as a major administrative unit through which France governed much of western Africa. The federation’s territorial boundaries influenced the development of several modern West African countries.

Background

The colonial activity of France and other countries followed centuries of maritime exploration and overseas trade by European powers with the peoples of the lands they encountered. European powers soon began to claim territory overseas—in Africa, as early as the 15th century. Colonial acquisitions on the continent were infrequent until the second half of the 19th century, when territorial expansion accelerated across the globe during the period of New Imperialism; this would last until 1914, when World War I began. The frenzied partitioning of the African continent among European powers during that time, regardless of the African states and Indigenous populations already established there, is known as the Scramble for Africa.

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Mali: French West Africa

France’s first settlement in western Africa was in the 17th century, with what is now the Senegalese city of Saint-Louis. The French did not begin to claim territory in earnest until the 19th century, and by 1914 France’s African colonial holdings had expanded to include the territories of French West Africa as well as those in French Equatorial Africa (a federation comprising what are now the countries of the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon) and in what are now the countries of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia in North Africa; Djibouti in East Africa; the islands of Madagascar, Comoros, Mayotte (now a French overseas département), and Réunion (now a French overseas département and overseas région) off the coast of southeastern Africa.

Consolidation into French West Africa

By the late 19th century, France’s holdings in Africa were considerable. They were also, for the most part, governed individually. A decree in June 1895 formed French West Africa, originally with just Senegal, French Guinea, the Ivory Coast (now known by its French name, Côte d’Ivoire), and the French Sudan (now Mali). It was to be administered under one governor-general, stationed in Senegal, who would consolidate the colonies’ administrative expenses, coordinate their policies toward the Indigenous African populations, and settle any arguments between the colonial administrators. A decree in 1904 reorganized it as a federation.

During the life of French West Africa, the member constituents, and their borders, sometimes changed. Dahomey (Benin) was added in 1899 and the French Sudan was split among other colonies; they were grouped together under the name Senegambia and Niger (Sénégambie-Niger; 1902), which was later transformed into Upper Senegal and Niger (Haut-Sénégal-Niger; 1904). At the same time, Mauritania (Maurétanie) was added to French West Africa. Upper Senegal and Niger was renamed the French Sudan in 1920. The colony of Upper Volta (Haute-Volta; now Burkina Faso)—founded in 1919 and later split among the Ivory Coast, Niger, and the French Sudan in 1932—was reestablished as a territory of the federation in 1947.

Decolonization and dissolution

The dissolution of French West Africa was part of the broader wave of decolonization that reshaped Africa and other parts of the globe after World War II (1939–45). This was due in part to rising nationalistic sentiments among people in colonial territories and the postwar circumstances that saw European powers faced with multiple factors favoring decolonization: financial constraints, domestic opposition to maintaining colonies, and increasing anti-colonial pressure in the international arena.

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In September 1958 France held a referendum, there and in all of its colonies, on a proposed new constitution for France’s Fifth Republic. For colonies, voting in favor of it meant that they were choosing to remain with France, with autonomy, within the new French Community; voting against it was effectively choosing immediate independence and the end of all French support. Only Guinea voted no and gained independence days later. The remaining members of French West Africa that voted in favor of the constitution became autonomous within the French Community by the end of the year, though the transition process of creating new government institutions for each state and transferring French West Africa’s administrative powers to them continued into 1959. After further preparation, the remaining former members of French West Africa all declared independence in 1960.

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Western Africa

France

Timeline of European Colonization of Africa

Western Colonialism

Decolonization of Africa

List of African Countries’ Independence Dates