COLONIAL EMPIRES

COLONIAL SCARS:
France used to have presence in Africa during the late years of the 19th century and the beggining of the 20th. This presence resulted in a huge amount of natural resources and, as a consequence, wealth. But this relationship was not only Africa-France, but also France-Africa. What I mean is that not only France got advantage of this situation, but the African countries too. It is an evidence that the European countries which colonized the African continent only wanted the land to develop agriculture and get enough resources for the growing population and, as a result, Africa got devastated. Nevertheless, France and other European countries, brought civilization to some areas of the continent: the railroad system, the steamboat, the light bulb, and also schools and Universities. This technical and cultural advantages were introduced in Africa by the hand with the language.
French would became the national language of countries like Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Chad, and also Argelia and Morocco. Colonialism was to have important consequences in a future.
After the independence of the French-African colonies, many francophone-Africans abandoned their countries and went to France in order to get a better life. They established, mainly, in Marseille, Lyon and Paris.
A perfect example of this massive migration can be found in French sport.
Not many years ago, in the 80s, Platini´s France had almost no presence of African players. But nowadays, the French National Football team is composed by more than a 60% of players with an African heritage.

French National Football team (1980)

French National Football Team (2017)