How did European companies exploit people in the French colonies of Central Africa?

To avoid the costs of direct administration, the French government leased vast tracts of land in its Central African colonies to private European companies, granting them significant autonomy to exploit the region's resources. This system of exploitation had devastating consequences for the local population:12

• Forced Labor and Extraction: Companies compelled both men and women to gather wild rubber, hunt for ivory, and work on plantations. This labor was often coerced, and the French also conscripted Central Africans to build infrastructure, such as the Congo-Ocean Railway.21
• Economic Disruption: Because the labor demands of these companies prevented Africans from cultivating their own fields, the region suffered from widespread food shortages and famine.2
• Health Crisis: The forced relocation of people into new environments and labor camps exposed them to sleeping sickness, malaria, and other diseases, leading to a substantial increase in the death rate.2
• Suppression of Resistance: When Africans resisted these conditions—such as during the Kongo-Wara rebellion—the French colonial administration used military force to crush opposition, executing leaders and forcibly relocating populations to supervised villages.2