The right to development in Francophone Africa: Post-colonial agreements, sovereign authority and control over natural resources

Abstract

This article critiques the decolonisation process of erstwhile colonised Francophone African states, during which France failed to effectively guarantee these states at independence the kind of sovereignty that empowered them to design their own political, educational and development policies. Consequently, the right to development in Francophone Africa remains a mere aspiration given that decolonisation failed to result in the attainment of self-reliance by the states that assumed independence. Instead, on the eve of independence, France secretly concluded cooperation agreements with the governments poised to ascend to independence and concluded others immediately after independence. Some of the secret agreements contained clauses that prioritised France to buy any natural resources of their choice in these Francophone states. Worse still, through cultural and educational assimilation, the French have colonised the minds of Francophone Africans to the extent that they defend French interests at the expense of theirs. The secret agreements have compromised the ability of the so-called independent states to implement and execute national development plans, and the AU Agenda 2063 on development in these states. Consequently, recommendations have been suggested to enable these states to recover from French exploitation and regain their total sovereignty.