French Neocolonialism in Africa: A History of Electoral Imperialism

‘This book will change everything you thought you knew about democracy. Brilliant and necessary — don’t miss it!’ Jason Hickel, author of Less is More

‘The most important treatise on colonial and neocolonial history of the past few decades’ Peter James Hudson, author of Bankers and Empire

‘A necessary and valuable read for anyone who wants to (re)think the thirst for change in Francophone Africa’ CETRI

For decades, France has exerted a neocolonial grip on its former African empire, known as the Françafrique. Yet a series of electoral breakthroughs and military coups by opponents of this order have put its future into question.

Covering a broad sweep of history from the eighteenth century to the present day, two leading authorities on French neocolonialism, Ndongo Samba Sylla and Fanny Pigeaud, offer a series of sharp political reflections on the French effort to subdue and subvert democracy in its former colonies.

With analysis of recent events in Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali and Senegal, the book offers an eye-opening counter-history of democracy and elections, and how the vote was limited in the first French colonies; the organisation of unequal rights within the new colonies; the spread of one-party regimes; significant historical coups d’etat; and the role of contemporary electoral interference.

Fanny Pigeaud is a French journalist who works with outlets including Mediapart and Le Monde diplomatique . She is author of A Decade of Cameroon . Ndongo Samba Sylla has worked as a technical advisor at the Presidency of the Republic of Senegal, and is the Africa Director of the International Development Economics Associates. He is author of The Fair Trade Scandal . Together, Pigeaud and Sylla are co-authors of Africa’s Last Colonial Currency .