Colonial Gabon
Eventually, the French set up public educational institutions in Gabon, increasing the number of educated Gabonese from all ethnic groups. This is largely responsible for the ethnic diversity of educated Gabonese today. French Colonialism The French colonial era is arguably the most influential era in the history of Gabon. While other Europeans were present as traders from the 15th century onward, French traders did not arrive until the 1840s. At this time, France began consolidating power by employing traditional authority figures, such as clan leaders, to help control the country. Capitalizing on treaties signed with indigenous chiefs earlier in the century, France occupied Gabon in 1885 during the European scramble for Africa. However, it did not begin to administer it until 1903. Although the clan leaders resisted, France’s superior military power eventually prevailed, and by the 1920s France controlled the entire region. Initially, French rule was accompanied by several concessionary companies that had been granted exclusive trading rights in the region, enabling them to force Africans to collect rubber, ivory, and other products for their benefit. However, these companies ruled with brutal force and were economically unsuccessful.
In 1910, Gabon became one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa, a federation that survived until 1959. The territories became independent in 1960--forming the independent nations of the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), and Gabon.
With its abundance of natural resources, Gabon became a vital French colony. The French developed Gabon’s economy to depend on trade, particularly trade with France. Gabon exported raw materials and imported manufactured goods. Thus, Gabon became dependent on France to purchase its natural resources and failed to develop an internal manufacturing industry. France profited greatly from the sales of Gabonese oil and timber. The French-owned energy company Total (then known as Elf) played a key role in the development of these economic and trade relationships.
In the 1970s, France remained particularly interested in Gabon’s abundant supplies of petroleum and established preferential agreements with Gabonese leaders to maintain France’s unparalleled access to Gabon’s petroleum in the post-independence era. The French colonial era also had a profound social and cultural impact on Gabon. Political and power structures were altered as France began to establish a centralized state structure in Gabon. Rural Gabonese were encouraged to alter their livelihoods from those based on local, small-scale agriculture to plantation agriculture, extraction of natural resources, and wage labor. The colonial government relocated and grouped many rural villages closer to roads. These efforts were made to increase the profitability of larger scale agriculture and encourage employment in mining and timber camps.
Many rural Gabonese still resent these forced relocations and blame French policies for the hardships they endured in the process. Urban residents, meanwhile, were encouraged to adopt European language and customs. Colonial administrators encouraged elites to learn French and undertake a European-style education. Fluency in French became an important element of assimilation and advancement. A network of elite Gabonese developed with strong cultural and political ties to France and French interests.
As the colonial presence became entrenched in Gabon, particularly in Libreville, new forms of employment became popular. Mission- educated Gabonese found well-paying jobs with European commercial firms. Employment opportunities were also available within government administrations in Gabon as well as throughout colonial Africa. Libreville became a center for employment and was known for producing highly sought-after African colonial administrators and clerks. Positions as clerks and administrators helped educated Gabonese earn money and prestige. This type of employment also provided an avenue toward becoming politically active and helped create the elite Gabonese political class that dominates the country today.
Christian missionaries arrived in Gabon along with European traders. Catholic and Protestant mission schools were founded in Libreville in the mid-1800s. By the 1900s, French mission schools began instructing the growing Gabonese elite. These schools gave select Gabonese a European-style education, enabling them to achieve professional advancement in the colony. Most missionary schools were located along the coast and in the northern regions, and thus, at least initially, the Myene and Fang groups had the greatest access to them. Over the years, mission schools were set up throughout Gabon, giving a larger portion of the population access to education. The education provided by mission schools enabled men like Leon Mba, the first president of Gabon, to achieve social and political advantage over traditional elders.
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