In the early 1970s, relations between France and its former colonies were characterised by a widespread intolerance towards the cooperation agreements concluded ten years earlier. It was precisely at the beginning of 1972 that several states – spearheaded by Niger, Mauritania and Congo – demanded that the agreements in question be partially or totally revised, or even abolished. In the eyes of the leaders of the African countries, but also of those of their public opinions, the agreements were obsolete and unequal and favoured the former metropole. France was also accused of not honouring its commitments: Paris had only disbursed a fraction of the development aid promised at the time of independence. Moreover, the countries of the franc zone had been forced to bear the 1969 devaluation of the French franc without even having been consulted, contrary to the provisions of the monetary cooperation agreements.

Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa's Last Colonial Curr…, loc. 171