French Investment in Colonial Cameroon: The FIDES Era (1946-1957)

194 Pages·2009·10.967 MB·English

by  Martin Atangana

The FIDES Era
{1946-195'1)
Martin Atangana
French Investment
in Colonial Cameroon
Society and Politics in Africa
Ya kubu Saaka
General Editor
Vol. 20
PETER LANG
New York • \Vashington, D.C./Baltimore • Bern
Frankfurt am !\,fain • Berlin • Brussels • Vienna • Oxford
Martin Atangana
French Investment
in Colonial Cameroon
The FIDES Era
( 1946-1957)
PETER LANG
New York • \Vashington, D.C./Baltimore • Bern
Frankfurt am !\,fain • Berlin • Brussels • Vienna • Oxford
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Atangana, Martin-Rene.
French investment in colonial Cameroon: the FIDES era (1946-1957) /
Martin Atangana.
p. cm. - (Society and politics in Africa; v. 20)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
l. Investments, French--Cameroon-History-20th century. I. Title.
HG5869.A3A83 332.67'344067 I 109045-dc22 2008046410
ISBN 978-1-4331-0464-0
ISSN 1083-3323
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek.
Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the "Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie"; detailed bibliographic data is available
on the Intemet at http://dnb.ddb.de/.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council of Library Resources.
© 2009 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
29 Broadway, I 8th floor, New York, NY I 0006
www.peterlang.com
All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
List of Tables ...................................................................................................... vii
List of Figures. ..................................................................................................... ix
List of Acrony1ns ................................................................................................ xi
Preface ................................................ XIII
u .. , ...•......•......•..............•......•......•...........
I11troductlo11 ........................................................................................................ I
1 Tl1e En1ergence of FIDES ........................................................................... 5
The Political Framework: The Post-War New Order .................................. 5
The Constitution of October 1946 ......................................................... 5
The Trusteeship Agreement ................................................................... 8
The Origins and Birth of FIDES ................................................................... 9
The Sarraut Project ( 1921) ..................................................................... 9
The Colonial Conference (1934-1935) ............................................... 11
The Brazzaville Conference ( 1944) ..................................................... 13
2 Tl1e Orga1tlzatto11 of FIDES ..................................................................... 17
The Implementation and Mechanisms of FIDES ....................................... 17
The Beginnings of FIDES in Ca1neroon .................................................... 23
3 The FIDES First Four-Year Plan (1949-1953) ...................................... 37
The General Situation ................................................................................. 37
The Polarization of Ca1neroonian Politics ........................................... 37
Private Capitalis1n and the General Situation ...................................... 38
Public Capitalism and the General Situation ....................................... 40
Evaluation of Works Undertaken ............................................................... 42
The End of the Artificial "Boo1n" ............................................................... 45
4 The FIDES Second Four-Year Plan (1953-1956) .................................. 53
The Political Situation in Cameroon ........................................................... 53
"Financial Contribution": Ai1ns and Funding of the Second Plan ............. 54
The Capital of the Second Plan: a Compensation for
v1 French lnvestrnent in Colonial Cameroon: The FIDES Era
the Withdrawal of Private Capital and a State Duty ..................... 54
Loans for European Goals .................................................................... 56
The Impact of the Second Plan on Ca1neroon' s Economy ........................ 59
5 Flnanclal Assessments of Public Investtnent .......................................... 65
The Final Cost of Internal Public Financing .............................................. 65
Public Capital of Metropolitan Origin ........................................................ 70
Ca1neroon: a Privileged Country? .............................................................. 77
6 Prt,,ate l11ves1Jl1e11t: a Reality ................................................................... 83
The Problem of Sources .............................................................................. 83
Financial Assess1nent .................................................................................. 84
The Policy of Persuasion or Incentives for Private InvestJnent
and ReinvestJnent ................................................................................. 95
7 Prt,,ate l11vestn1e11t: a 1\ll)'th .................................................................... 101
Failure of the Policy of Persuasion ........................................................... IO I
The Causes of Private Disinvest1nent ....................................................... 105
Financial Causes ................................................................................. I 05
Political Causes .................................................................................. I I 0
8 The Financial and Social ltnpact of FIDES Investment. ..................... 119
The FIDES Program: an Unprofitable and False Gift .............................. 119
The Financial Costs of FIDE S In vestment ............................................... 121
FIDES: a Source of Social Frustration ..................................................... 123
FIDES Achievements ................................................................................ 125
9 Tl1e Economic Impact of FIDES ............................................................ 135
FIDES and the Structural I1nbalance in Ca1neroon's Econo1ny .............. 135
ALUCAM: To Serve the French Economy .............................................. 143
Inequalities in the Se1ni-Industrial, Co1nmercial and
Agricultural Sectors ............................................................................ 147
Conclusio11 ....................................................................................................... 157
Appendix: Colonial Companies in French Ca1neroon by 1956 ..................... 161
Bibliography ..................................................................................................... 165
I11dex ................................................................................................................. 175
Tables
2.1. The develop1nent of the banking network in Ca1neroon
fro1n 1939 to 1955 ......................................................................... 24
2.2. Credit in foreign exchange allocated to Cameroon for its
equipment fro1n January I, 1947 to October 15, 1949 ................. 28
2.3. Pay1nent of annuities, interest and loan pay1nents, and
contributions of Ca1neroon to the functioning of
French organizations and services fro1n 1946 to 1949 ................. 30
2.4. The develop1nent of Ca1neroon's i1nports and exports
fro1n 1946 to 1948 ......................................................................... 32
3.1. New companies and co1npanies increasing their capital
invesunent in Ca1neroon and Black Africa from
1949 to 1953 .................................................................................. 41
3.2. Allocations of Cameroon's budget for debt service and
contributions of the territory to the functioning
of French agencies fro1n 1950 to 1953 .......................................... 42
3.3. Changes in the value of exports and i1nports of Ca1neroon
fro1n 1949 to 1953 ......................................................................... 44
4.1. Allocations of the Ca1neroonian budget for debt service to
FIDES fro1n 1954 to 1956 ............................................................. 59
5.1. Gross capital investlnent fro1n internal financing fro1n
1946 to 1956 .................................................................................. 67
5.2. Ca1neroon's o\vn contribution to FIDES and repay1nents
of CCFOM loans under FIDES fro1n 1946 to 1956 ..................... 67
5.3. Repay1nents of non-FIDES loans fro1n CCFOM by local
public organizations and co1npanies fro1n 1946 to 1956 .............. 68
5.4. lnvesunents of the Ca1neroonian budget fro1n local funds
fro1n 1946 to 1956 ......................................................................... 68
5.5. Pay1nent orders of the Ca1neroonian budget for contributions
to the functioning of French services and organizations,
fro1n 1946 to 1950 ......................................................................... 69
5.6. Final cost of internal public financing or French investments
fro1n Ca1neroonian funds fro1n 1946 to 1956 ............................... 70
v111 French lnvestrnent in Colonial Cameroon: The FIDES Era
5.7. Civilian capital spending in the French national budget for
Ca1neroon fro1n 1946 to 1956 ....................................................... 73
5.8. Pay1nents 1nade by FIDES fro1n 1946 to 1956 .................................... 75
5.9. CCFOM invest1nents from 1946 to 1956 ............................................ 76
5.10. lnvesunent in Black Africa from local public funds ........................... 76
5.11. Ca1neroon's contribution to CCFOM invesunents in Black
Africa fro1n 1947 to 1956 .............................................................. 77
5.12. Ca1neroon's contribution to non nlilitary spending in the French
national budget for Black Africa fro1n 1946 to 1956 ................... 78
5.13. FIDES invest1nents in Black Africa, from 1947 to 1956 .................... 79
5.14. Distribution by territory of the FIDES and CCFOM credits
until the end of 1955 ...................................................................... 80
6.1. Nu1nber of private co1npanies according to their type of
econonlic activity in Ca1neroon in 1950 ....................................... 85
6.2. Geographical distribution of private finns in Ca1neroon in 1950 ....... 86
6.3. Bank loans to co1npanies in Ca1neroon fro1n 1949 to 1956 ................ 86
6.4. Declared profits of the largest finns of Ca1neroon fro1n
1946 to 1950 .................................................................................. 89
6.5. ReinvestJnent in Ca1neroon by the principal finns fro1n
1946 to 1950 .................................................................................. 91
6.6. ReinvestJnent in Ca1neroon by secondary finns fro1n
1946 to 1950 .................................................................................. 92
6.7. Breakdown by sector of private reinvest1nent in Ca1neroon
fro1n 1946 to 1950 ......................................................................... 93
6.8. lnvesunents 1nade in Cameroon in 1951 and 1952 by new
co1npanies or with ne\v capital ...................................................... 94
7.1. Transfers of private capital bet\veen Ca1neroon and the
franc zone from 1949 to 1953 ..................................................... IOI
8.1. The gro\vth of the nu1nber of civil servants by sector in
Ca1neroon fro1n 1947 to 1955 ..................................................... 120
8.2. Principal exports of Ca1neroon fro1n 1946 to 1956 ........................... 126
8.3. Distribution by econonlic sectors and by periods of
FIDES loans in Ca1neroon ........................................................... 130
9.1. Regional distribution of FIDES loans in Cameroon
fro1nl946 to 1956 ........................................................................ 139
9.2. Ca1neroon's contribution to the capital of French public
co1npanies. Situation by Dece1nber 31, 1956 ............................. 143
Figures
5.1. French public investinent in Cameroon from 1946 to 1956 ............... 74
5.2. Distribution by ten-itory of the FIDES and CCFOM Joans
until the end of 1955 ...................................................................... 78
6.1. Nu1nber of private co1npanies according to their type of
economic activity in Cameroon in 1950 ....................................... 87
6.2. Distribution by sector of private reinvesunent in Ca1neroon
fro1n 1946 to 1950 ......................................................................... 93
7. I . Transfers of private capital between Ca1neroon and the
franc zone fro1n 1949 to 1953 ..................................................... 102
8.1 Develop1nent of the quantity of the principal exports of
Ca1neroon fro1n 1946 to 1956 ..................................................... 127
8.2. Distribution by economic sectors and by periods of the
FIDES Joans in Ca1neroon ........................................................... 131
9.1. Distribution by region of FIDES loans in Ca1neroon fro1n
1946 to 1956 ................................................................................ 138
9.2. Develop1nent of Ca1neroon i1nports and exports fro1n
1947 to 1953 ............................................................................... 141
9.3. Develop1nent of the value of the 1nain Ca1neroon
exports fro1n 1946 to 1956 .......................................................... 152