How did private European companies exploit people in French colonial Ubangi-Shari?

To avoid the costs of developing its Central African possessions, the French government leased vast tracts of land in Ubangi-Shari to private European companies, granting them significant autonomy and minimal oversight.1

These companies exploited the local population through several brutal methods:

• Forced Labor: Overseers compelled both men and women to gather wild rubber, hunt for ivory and animal skins, and work on plantations. This labor was often enforced through military pressure.12
• Economic Disruption: Because the companies demanded so much labor, the local people were unable to cultivate their own fields, which led to widespread food shortages and famine.1
• Health and Mortality: The forced movement of people into new environments exposed them to sleeping sickness, malaria, and other diseases, causing the death rate to rise substantially.1
• Administrative Brutality: Following the model established by other colonial powers in the region, these companies operated with little regard for human rights, often using forced labour to extract profits while the French administration turned a blind eye.21

This system of exploitation was central to the colonial economy, prioritizing corporate profit over the lives and well-being of the indigenous population.21