Four African independence leaders who stayed in bed with former colonial masters

Félix Houphouët-Boigny

Ivory Coast’s first president was one of the purveyors of the so-called Françafrique philosophy that spoke to the maintenance of ties between former French colonies in Africa and France.

Houphouët-Boigny and like-minded Africans made the argument that France’s sphere and depth of influence in the cultures the Europeans colonized, could not be undone.

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Houphouët-Boigny personally coined the term Françafrique in 1955 when he was talking about the relationship between France and the Ivory Coast.