FRENCH AFRICA: Easy Birth

“You have only to ask for independence,” said Charles de Gaulle two years ago as he sought to abate the fever of African nationalism by organizing France’s African empire into a Community of autonomous states. De Gaulle frankly hoped and expected that most of the colonies would prefer to settle for autonomy within the French Community. But twelve members have disconcertingly taken him at his word, and France has accepted the situation with grace. Last April, the Malagasy Republic on the island of Madagascar and the Mali Federation, a union of the former French West African colonies of Senegal and Sudan, sought and were granted their complete sovereignty. In the next two weeks, eight other Community members will become independent nations: Dahomey, Ivory Coast, Upper Volta, and Niger, which are loosely grouped into the Council of the Entente; Chad, French Congo, and the Central African Republic, which make up the Union of Central African Republics; and Gabon. Last week the last member of the Community, the desolate Islamic Republic of Mauritania, formally obtained from De Gaulle an agreement granting full independence in November.

All twelve of the new nations eased into independence without the convulsive birth spasms that racked the infant Belgian Congo Republic. Premier Debre promised to sponsor them in their candidacy for the United Nations. Echoing the leaders of the other states, all of whom will remain “associated” with the Community to reap its economic and political advantages, Gabon’s Premier Leon M’Ba said: “You can count on Gabon’s remaining with France for better or worse.”

Apparently, France learned a hard lesson from its disastrous experience in Indo-China. Unlike Belgium, which never even allowed an election in the Congo until two and a half years ago, France has been systematically preparing her African territories for independence. Since the end of World War II, French African states have had elected assemblies responsible for the machinery of local government. In addition, the territories elected deputies to the National Assembly in Paris, where they picked up considerable political experience on an international scale—and let a little French culture rub off on them. African army officers were schooled at Saint-Cyr, received commissions in the French Army; apprentice diplomats were trained at the Quai d’Orsay, served as counselors and secretaries in French em bassies around the world.

A year ago, there were only 15 Congolese with university degrees. In contrast, 15,000 Africans from the French colonies have received degrees from French universities in the past ten years, form a vital cadre of teachers, doctors, engineers and bankers necessary to the development of the new republics. Said a French government official with pride: “There can be no comparison between French and Belgian policies in Africa. They were diametrically opposed. Compared to the Belgian Congo, French Africa is overdeveloped.”