Franco-Senegalese Relations Through the Lens of Development Aid (1895-2012)
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W&M ScholarWorks Undergraduate Honors Theses Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 7-2012 Franco-Senegalese Relations through the Lens of Development Aid (1895-2012) Bridget Marie Carr College of William and Mary Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses Part of the French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons, and the History Commons Recommended Citation Carr, Bridget Marie, "Franco-Senegalese Relations through the Lens of Development Aid (1895-2012)" (2012). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 505. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/505 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Acknowledgements I would first of all like to thank Professor Nicolas Médevielle, my fearless advisor, without whom this project would certainly not have been possible. Through his tireless dedication, encouragement, and vast expertise, Professor Médevielle shaped my thesis into a work of which I can truly be proud. I am thankful for all the late nights he spent editing, the time that he patiently diverted away from his own projects, and most of all his kind reassurance of his faith in my abilities. He challenged me like I have never been challenged before and for this, above all, I am profoundly grateful. I would also like to thank the other members of my committee, Professors Michael Leruth and Dennis Smith. I am grateful especially for their patience and their dedication. It was an honor to have these two distinguished faculty members associated with my project. I am greatly indebted as well to Professor Maryse Fauvel. With her support, I embarked upon my first long-term research project as part of my study abroad program in Paris. She inspired me to apply for the McCormack Reboussin scholarship and to test my boundaries once again by travelling to Senegal. Professor Fauvel made me fall in love with the French language and also encouraged me to think more critically and keep an open mind. I am extremely thankful also to the French and Francophone Studies department, headed by Professor Giulia Pacini, for selecting me as the recipient of McCormack Reboussin scholarship. I am grateful especially to our donor Mrs. Leslie McCormack Gathy. Without her generous support, I could have never completed this project, nor could I have explored a completely unfamiliar and exciting corner of the world. I would also like to thank the Charles Center for their additional support for my project. I would like to give an extra special huge thank you to Professor Mike Tierney and Professor Sue Peterson at the Institute for the Theory and Practice of IR for their flexibility, their patience, and their encouragement. I simply could not have completed this project without your understanding and kindness. Thank you also to Ania Baltes who spent many a long night at the Institute providing invaluable moral support and insightful commentary, and listening to my endless lists of worries about the project – as if she wasn’t busy enough with her own work. Ania, it’s been a pleasure to work with you this semester and I value your friendship more than you know. To my dear friends in Dakar, Senegal, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful country with me. I would like to thank the West African Research Association, its director Dr. Ousmane Sene, and WARC’s amazing staff members, especially Mme Mariane Sonko for all of her cheerful help and patience. I would also like to thank my interviewees Ambassador Cissé and M. Jacques Batut for their time, their enlightening conversation, their patience with my less than perfect French, and especially the warm welcomes into their fields of expertise. I send my love and thanks to my host family, especially Tata Aby who generously opened her home to me. Although all of my friends were extremely supportive of my work, I would like to thank especially Lindsay Hundley and Sandi Wetzel. Without Lindsay, at times, I am not sure that I would have been able to maintain my sanity. Her constant willingness to listen to my complaints, critique my very rough drafts, and guide me in the writing process, all while writing her own honors thesis, has left me veritably amazed at her abilities and perseverance. I am truly lucky to have such a friend and role model. Sandi, though she holds a very demanding and stressful job and probably had little time to listen to the trials and tribulations of an undergraduate, helped me with my project immeasurably. Whether I needed guidance in using Excel or to discuss (what I 1 considered to be) “deep economic theory,” Sandi was always there to lend her expertise. Most importantly, Sandi helped me have confidence in my own ideas and opinions, which is something that I know will stay with me long after the completion of this project. Lastly I want to thank my loving and supportive family, which does include my three wonderful roommates Victoria Chung, Kelsey Newell, and Mary Ellen Riffle. Whether I was in Baltimore or Williamsburg, I always had an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, and a friend to forgive me for being cranky and stressed at times. I would like to thank my Mom and Dad especially for taking my phone calls at 4 am as I walked home alone from the library. I would also like to thank my sister Tricia for offering to do the same even though sleep for her is an extremely precious commodity. I would like to dedicate the hard work and tears that went into this work to my late grandmother Olga Carr, who passed away during the writing of my thesis, because in this way I can consider it a labor of love. Each time I became frustrated or worried I thought of the strength and perseverance with which she lived her life. Although she would eventually lose her battle with cancer, I drew inspiration from the grace and faith that she exhibited when faced with fear, stress, and adversity. 2 Table of Contents Introduction page 5-9 Chapter 1: The “Civilizing” Mission? page 10-37 The Birth of a Colonial Federation page 11-14 Republican Identity and the “Civilizing Mission” page 14-35 1895 – 1914: The Golden Age of Colonialism page 14-20 1915 – 1943: Interwar Fluctuations page 20-28 1944 – 1960: The Transition to Modern Development Assistance page 28-35 Conclusion page 35-37 Chapter 2: The “Exploitative” Mission? page 38-62 1960-1990: The Golden Age of French Neo-Colonialism page 43-47 French Development Aid: Facilitator of Françafrique page 47-51 Léopold Senghor: A Symbol of Post-Colonial Franco-Senegalese Relations page 51-58 Senegal as Part of the French “Kingdom” page 58-61 Conclusion page 62 Chapter 3: The “Humanitarian” Mission? page 63-94 French Aid: “Towards a New Agenda?” page 65-67 1990-2000: A Lag in Progress page 67-76 2001-2010: Emphasis on Reform page 76-85 Towards a Greater Autonomy page 85-90 New Donors, New Partnerships page 90-93 Conclusion page 93-94 Conclusion page 95-98 Works Cited page 99-110 Appendix page 111-121 3 Appendix Table 1: Total Public Investments in the Overseas Territories of Africa page 111 Figure 1: FIDES Programs in Dakar (1948-1958) page 112 Table 2: Tying Status of Bilateral Assistance of Selected DAC Donors page 113 Table 3: Percentage of French Development Aid Disbursed through page 114 Multilateral Channels (1960-1990) Table 4: ODA Disbursement to Senegal 1960-1990 page 115 Table 5: Top 10 Largest Recipients of French ODA (1960-1990) page 116 Figure 2: French Multilateral versus Bilateral ODA Disbursement page 117 Table 6: Top 10 Largest Recipients of French ODA (1991-2010) page 118 Table 7: French ODA Disbursed to Senegal in 1990s page 119 Table 8: Percentage of French Development Aid Disbursed through page 120 Multilateral Channels (1991-2010) Table 9: French ODA Disbursed to Senegal in 2000s page 121 4 Introduction Like many of its peers in Western Europe, France established trading relationships with kingdoms along the coasts of Africa for the purpose of economic enrichment and fulfillment of exploratory ambitions. In 1659, French traders created their first African settlement, the trading post of Saint-Louis, on a small island in the middle of the river Senegal in a territory now known as the country of Senegal. From this initial outpost, and that of Gorée, a small island off the coast of where the city of Dakar was eventually created, the French progressively dominated the lower Senegal River Valley and some coastal areas. By the third quarter of the 19th century, France controlled most of what became Senegal. The area of conquest was closed when, by including Senegal as a part of French West Africa in 1895, French governmental leaders sought to galvanize France’s international power through the establishment of an overseas empire capable of fostering the growth and development of her new colonies. The French desire for primary commodities trade in support of a neo-mercantilist economic system coupled with a paternalistic call for a “civilizing mission” helped shape these colonial objectives. The Franco-Senegalese relationship, however, has always been more complex and multifaceted than the typical colonial connection. Senegal was the political epicenter of the West African colonies -- with Dakar as the capital of Afrique Occidentale Française and Saint-Louis the capital of the Senegalese territory -- and this distinction begot certain unique characteristics that continued to distinguish Senegal from other former colonies well after the declaration of independence in June 1960.