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The Economic Origins of the Association of Some African States with the European Economic Community

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Wilfred A. Ndongko
Wilfred A. Ndongko*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Extract

It is now more than twenty years since the Rome Treaty (1958) creating the European Economic Community (EEC) was signed. Eighteen African States were also associated with EEC at the signing of the Treaty. However, during that period numerous views have been expressed either for or against the special preferential treatment that was arranged for these eighteen African nations. Some of the arguments have been made without a proper understanding of the background leading to the association of these African States with the EEC. As a result, these viewpoints have been misleading to those people who are interested in African development problems and to observers in general.

In view of this unsatisfactory situation and the author's concern, this paper will be devoted to examining the economic background to the association, with respect to French economic and financial policies in Africa. It is hoped that this exercise will help create a better understanding of the position in which French African states found themselves at the time the Rome Treaty was signed and, therefore, the rationale for their association with the EEC.

Indeed, the African countries were justifiably concerned with their world trade position, because for all of them international trade had been very important as a source of foreign exchange and capital, which are essential for their economic development and also for raising the living standards of the masses of the people.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , September 1973 , pp. 219 - 232
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1973

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References

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