Francophone Regionalism or Franco-African Regionalism?

Abstract

The major significance of the regional francophone organisations lies in the close linkages which the former French colonies still maintain with the ex-metropolitan power through cooperation agreements which were signed at independence. During the last thirty years, special relations have on a number of occasions been established between the countries formerly under French rule and those governed by Belgium. In the early 1960s, Zaire, Ruanda and Burundi were drawn towards the regional alliances of the former French colonies. This tendency, reinforced by the shared language and the stand-off policy of the Belgian government, was reinforced by the need for all the francophone countries to present a concerted approach in their relations with the European Community: in accordance with Title IV of the Treaty of Rome, the 18 EAMA (Etats Africains et Malgache Associés) had to renegotiate what became the first and second Yaoundé Conventions.¹ At the same time, the joint efforts of the Côte d’Ivoire (which helped Zaire to join OCAM in 1966) and France (active through its Ministry of Cooperation and prepared to intervene in Shaba in 1977 and 1978) consolidated these closer ties in political terms.