General Information

This report presents basic data on the West African States of the French Community as of December 1959 (formerly, French West Africa).1

This report supersedes Basic Data on the Economy of French West Africa, World Trade Information Service, part 1, No. 55-82, August 1955.

The political structure of the former Federation of French West Africa was greatly altered by the French constitutional referendum of September 28, 1958, which resulted in the establishment of the French Community. With the establishment of the French Community, seven of the eight Territories formerly comprising the Federation of French West Africa elected to become member states of the French Community. These seven Territories-Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Dahomey, Niger, Upper Volta, French Soudan,2 and Senegal2-became, respectively, the Republic of Ivory Coast, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Republic of Dahomey, Republic of Niger, Republic of Upper Volta, the Soudanese Republic, and the Republic of Senegal. The eighth territory, French Guinea, voted itself out of the then proposed French Community and became a fully independent state known as the Republic of Guinea by its negative vote in the September 28th constitutional referendum and does not belong to the French Community.

Geography

The West African States are situated in the great bulge of the African continent that extends westward into the Atlantic Ocean. French, Spanish, British, and Portuguese territories in various stages of political and economic advancement, as well as some independent countries, form the borders of these States. They are as follows: In the northwest, Spanish West Africa; in

1 For convenience, hereafter in this report the seven republics in the West African States of the French Community will be referred to as the West African States or the States.

2 The Republic of Senegal and the Soudanese Republic formed the Mali Federation on January 17, 1959.

the north, Algeria and the independent Kingdom of Libya; in the east, the Equatorial African States of the French Community (formerly known as French Equatorial Africa).

Indenting the Atlantic coast of the States in the south and southeast are Nigeria, the British Cameroons (United Nations Trust Territory), the French and British United Nations trust territories of Togo, Ghana (formerly Gold Coast), Liberia, Sierra Leone, Portuguese Guinea, and Gambia.

These States comprise an area of 1,694,358 square miles. The area extends from the Atlantic Ocean eastward 2,100 miles to Lake Chad and from the northwestern Sahara almost 1,400 miles south to the Gulf of Guinea.

From the south a gently rising coastal plain covered with dense vegetation reaches a height of about 2,000

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Frederick H. Mueller, Secretary

Loring K. Macy, Director

feet in the interior before sloping toward the plains of the Sudan which, in turn, give way to the Sahara. From the southwest coast (Republic of Guinea) the land rises more sharply and reaches heights of more than 4,000 feet in the Fouta-Djallon region before again descending to the plains of Sudan in the interior. Drainage south and southwest of the mountain ridges is afforded by numerous small rivers and streams.

North of the ridges the waters from the FoutaDjallon form two long meandering rivers which are the principal waterways of the West African States. The Senegal River turns north and northwest from the mountains and eventually finds its way to the Atlantic Ocean at St. Louis. The Niger River flows northeast to the vicinity of the famous city of Timbuktu (Tombouctou), then turns directly east and southeast to flow through western Niger and along the northern border of Dahomey to enter Nigeria and empty into the Gulf of Guinea. These two great rivers, while not fully navigable because of seasonal fluctuations and natural barriers, are the natural gateways to the interior of the West African States.

Vegetation zones form a series of belts from north to south. In the north is the tropical desert virtually devoid of vegetation, sometimes referred to as the Saharan zone. To the south of this lies the Sahelian zone, a region of subdesert steppes in which grow scattered palm and thorn trees. Next comes the Sudanese zone, a savannah country of tall grasses and bands of forest. The last belt, the Guinea zone, is characterized by the tropical forest, an unbroken, heavy, and luxuriant forest cover. Of these zones, the Sudanese is the major belt of agricultural activity.

But for the excellent port of Dakar, Senegal, and the modest ports of St. Louis and Port Etienne, Mauritania, the States have no good, natural harbors. Along the southern coast, on the Gulf of Guinea, the coast is either unbroken beach or the mainland is isolated from the sea by a lagoon and sandbar. At Abidjan, Ivory Coast, an excellent port has been created by cutting through the sandbar.

Cities are few and are situated mostly in the southern and southwestern parts of the States, chiefly along the coast.

The most populous urban center in Mauritania is St. Louis (39,000). Other principal cities are Kaedi (8,525), Tidjikja (6,006), Atar (4,150), and Akjoujt (2,150), former capital of Mauritania. The new capital is Nouakchott, a small tent village, which is being built up to house the Mauritanian Government.

Dakar, Senegal, formerly the capital of the Federation of French West Africa, is now the capital of both Senegal and the Mali Federation. It acts as the main port of import and export for Senegal, Soudan, and Mauritania.

St. Louis was the capital of Senegal until 1958, when the seat of government was moved to Dakar. Mauritania still maintains its government administration in St. Louis, but has already started construction in Nouakchott, its capital. The population of St. Louis is now estimated at not more than 50,000.

Kaolack, with a population of about 50,000. Rufisque with about 38,000, Thies with approximately 43,000, and Ziguinchor with some 23,000-all in Senegal-are important centers of the peanut trade.

Cotonou with its population estimated at 58,000 is the commercial center of Dahomey, and Porto-Novo with a population of 31,000 is the official capital.

Abidjan, Ivory Coast, with a population of about 128,

000 is becoming a thriving commercial center and its port traffic exceeded 1 million metric tons for the first time in 1958.

The capital of Niger is Niamey, whose population is estimated at close to 19,000.

Bamako, with a population of about 70,000, is both the administrative and commercial capital of Soudan. It is connected by rail with Dakar. Kayes, also in the Soudan, has a population of close to 20,000.

Bobo-Dioulasso is the largest commercial center of Upper Volta and has a population estimated at 45,000. Ouagadougou, the State's capital, has a population of about 33,000.

Climate

The climate of the States varies extremely, particularly from north to south. In the far north the climate is that of the rainless continental desert. To the south, as far as Guinea (about latitude 8°S.), the year is divided into a dry and a rainy season. The dry season shortens and the rainy season lengthens to the south. In Dakar, the northeast trade winds blow for 7 to 8 months from November to June (the dry season), and the moist southwest winds prevail for only 4 to 5 months. To the south, the dry season is reduced to 4 or 5 months, December to April, while the rainy season lasts for 7 to 8 months. Dakar has 15 inches of rain per year, all between June and October. Maximum temperatures are in September along the coasts of Senegal and Mauritania; in June in the interior of these two States and northern Sudan; and in May in southern Senegal and Sudan. Minimum temperatures occur in the months of December and January.

South of latitude 8°S. there are two rainy seasons separated by a short dry season. In lower Dahomey and the Ivory Coast, the rainy season extends from March to July, is interrupted briefly in August, and begins again in September continuing through December. Rainfall at Abidjan, Ivory Coast, averages about 80 inches per year and in Cotonou, Dahomey, about 55 inches. Maximum temperatures along this southern coast occur in March at the end of the dry season. Minimum temperatures are associated with the months of greatest rainfall, July and August. Average annual temperatures for most of the States range from 77° to 88°F.

Population

According to estimates that were made by the Statistics Section of the French High Commission General and that were based on studies extending from 1956 to 1958, the total population (table 1) of the seven States on January 1, 1959, was 19,553,356, including 19,475,000 Africans and 78,356 non-Africans (mostly Europeans). The number of non-Africans was derived from the final results of the census of December 12, 1956.

The non-African population is concentrated in the major ports and administrative centers. The Africans are widely scattered, with only about one-fourth of them living within 200 miles of the coast. Customs, religion, and social development differ widely. A small part of the population is Christian, the larger part is roughly divided between animism and Islam.

The official language of the States is French. While most of the Africans speak only one of the more than 100 indigenous languages, an increasing number, especially

Considerable efforts to expand educational facilities and to increase the number of children of school age attending classes have been made in the past 10 years. The number of students in the States increased from 126,083 in 1948 to 401,083 as of January 1, 1958. Most of the pupils (385,100) are in primary schools. There are 15,983 in secondary schools. The number of primary schools increased from 810 in 1948 to 2,607 in 1958. In the same period, the number of secondary schools increased from 22 to 80. Enrollment in primary schools more than tripled, rising from 110,100 in 1948 to 385,100 in 1958. Secondary school enrollment more than quadrupled, rising from 3,624 in 1948 to 15,983 in 1958.

Enrollment in trade and technical schools is very low compared with that in primary and secondary schools. As of January 1, 1958, 4,300 students were enrolled in the technical schools of the eight areas that formerly comprised French West Africa.3

Form of Government

As a result of the referendum of September 28, 1958, and the new Constitution which went into effect at the beginning of October 1958, the former territories of French West Africa, except Guinea, became member States of the French Community with almost complete internal autonomy. Each State elected an Assembly and approved a new Constitution in the first half of 1959. Certain powers were reserved, however, to the Community. These powers are: Foreign affairs, defense, currency, foreign economic and financial policy, strategic raw materials, higher education, foreign transportation, and telecommunications. In addition, the Community has jurisdiction, except in the case of specific agreements, over the supervision of the tribunals and transportation within the Community.4

Cohesion among the members of the Community is maintained by: (1) The Executive Council, headed by the President of the Community, whose membership includes all the Premiers of the Community States as well as certain French Ministers whose functions include responsibilities connected with the member States;

3 No breakdown by State available.

4 French Constitution of October 1958, article 78.

and (2) the Senate of the Community, which includes delegates from all the States of the Community (including France) with a total membership of 284. Of these, Dahomey has 6 seats, Ivory Coast 11, Mauritania 3, Niger 9, Senegal 8, Soudan 13, and Upper Volta 12a total of 62. The Community is represented in each State by a High Commissioner. Each State Government is now administered by a Prime Minister and his Cabinet. The legislative assemblies have extensive powers, including that of taxation.

While some Europeans can be found among members of the State cabinets, assemblies, and the West African States' delegates to the Community Senate, the majority by far is composed of Africans.

The indigenous inhabitants of the seven States are citizens of the French Community and the official language is French.

The French Constitution of October 1958 provided, under article 78, that the members of the then proposed French Community could form federations among themselves by February 1959. The Senegal and Soudanese Republics exercised this option and formed on January 17, 1959, a federation known as the Mali Federation.

The Mali Federation has a Federal assembly of 40 members (20 each for Senegal and Soudan) and a Cabinet. The Federation's President now is the Prime Minister of the Soudanese Republic while its Vice President is the Prime Minister of the Senegal Republic.

At the French Community's Executive Council meeting in September 1959, the States expressed a desire to the President of the French Community to become fully independent States and to be known as the Mali Federation, as provided for in article 865 of the French Constitution of October 1958. This request was approved at the Executive Council meeting of December 1959. Negotiations between France and the two Republics for the transfer of sovereign power from the Community to the Mali Federation began in mid-January 1960.

Structure of Economy

The States have predominantly an agricultural and pastoral economy characterized by (1) cultivation of crops for export and (2) production of food crops for domestic consumption. Principal export crops, by descending order of importance, based on 1958 figures, were peanuts and their byproducts, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels and palm oil, lumber, and bananas. Crops cultivated for domestic consumption include millet and sorghum, cassava, yams, rice, and corn. Products of pastoral activities are limited mainly to domestic markets.

Mineral wealth of the States is considerable and includes gold, diamonds, iron ore, bauxite, manganese, tin, copper, phosphates, titanium, zirconium, and a few other minerals. Mining is still at an early stage of development, and most of the minerals are exported in unprocessed form. In the past, the French Government encouraged the exploitation of West Africa's mineral

5 Article 86: "A change of status of a member State of the Community may be requested, either by the Republic, or by a resolution of the legislative assembly of the State concerned confirmed by a local referendum, the organization and supervision of which shall be ensured by the institutions of the Community. The procedures governing this change shall be determined by an agreement approved by the Parliament of the Republic and the legislative assembly concerned. Under the same conditions, a member State of the Community may become independent. It shall thereby cease to belong to the Community."

resources with a view to diversifying the economies of the Republics, and some French companies are currently studying the possibilities of developing both mining and metal processing. However, the inadequacy of the transportation system, lack of electric power, and shortage of skilled labor present real problems in many localities.

Industry is almost entirely limited to food processing and the production of a limited range of consumer goods and building materials.

Following introduction of postwar economic development plans by France in its oversea territories after World War II (see section, "Program for Economic Development"), the Government and Government capital have played an important part in the economic activities of the States. In some cases, Government participation takes the form of a direct control of the projects; in others, the Government reserves to itself the functions of planning and general direction; and in still others, it provides loans or subsidies or participates in the management. Hence, mixed companies with private and public investments are quite common.

Agriculture

The States have a wide variety of crops, ranging from peanuts cultivated under semiarid conditions in Senegal to coffee and cocoa grown in the high-rainfall tropical regions along the Gulf of Guinea. Some of these crops are cultivated wholly or largely for export; others, for local consumption.

Export Crops

Peanuts. The most important export products of the States are peanuts and peanut oil. The center of the production area is Senegal, although the belt of cultivation extends to southern Soudan and the northern part of the Ivory Coast into the Upper Volta and Niger. In 1958, the States exported 692,785 metric tons of peanuts and their byproducts, valued at 29,730 million CFA francs. They represented 42.2 percent of the total export tonnage, 1,639,000 tons, and 43.3 percent of the total export value, 68,623 million CFA francs. A sizable peanut-crushing industry has grown up in Senegal (see section on "Industry"), and about 100,000 tons of peanut oil, largely crude oil, are exported from Senegal annually. Exports of peanut products for 1958

Cocoa exports in 1958 amounted to 46,333 tons valued at 6,415 million CFA francs. The volume of cocoa grown annually is determined largely by the weather conditions during the flowering and fruiting seasons. Cocoa production, which, like coffee, varies greatly from year to year depending on the weather conditions, is not increasing on account of the large percentage of overage trees in the plantations of the Ivory Coast. While a sizable Government program has been under way for some time to replace overage trees, it is expected that production will barely maintain its present level and may even decline for the next several years. Most of the coffee and cocoa produced is exported to France. Ivory Coast coffee "normally" cannot compete on the world market because of poor quality. To assure the States a market, France limits its importation of coffee from other sources.

Palm kernels and palm oil. The production center for palm kernels and palm oil is in Dahomey where they are the leading products. Substantial quantities are also produced in the Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Soudan. In the Ivory Coast, however, the harvesting of palm nuts is forced to compete with the cultivation of the more lucrative coffee and cocoa. Production of palm kernels has fallen off in recent years with the decline of world prices of vegetable oils.

Exports in 1958 amounted to 79,595 tons of palm kernels valued at 2,112 million CFA francs and 13,006 tons of palm oil valued at 650 million CFA francs. The share of each of the four States in those exports was as follows:

Bananas. Among the States, the Ivory Coast is the only producer of bananas, which are practically all exported to France. The Ivory Coast exported 46,129 tons of bananas valued at 1,274 million CFA francs in 1958. With production on the increase, producers are concerned about future outlets in the likely event that Metropolitan France cannot continue to absorb the increasing output.

Other commodities.-While other agricultural commodities are produced, they play but a minor role individually in the economy. The exports of the more important of these minor crops in 1958 were as follows, in tons and in value: Gum arabic, 5,840 at 466,137,000 CFA francs; ginned cotton, 1,823 at 225 million CFA francs; shea nuts, 5,251 at 81,600,000 CFA francs; shea butter, 18,181 at 123,203,000 CFA francs; and kapok, 357 at 41,204,000 CFA francs.