In 1944, Charles de Gaulle, leader of France organised a conference of all-senior French colonial governors and administrators at Brazzaville.

Participants resolved to reform colonialism by abolishing forced labour, unfair arrests and the like. This inspired Africans in French colonies to demand for even greater rights including the right of self-government.

This con`ference was a turning point in the history of decolonisation of French black Africa. It declared that the natives should be brought step by step to take charge of their own affairs.

It decentralised French imperialism and abstained itself from overprotecting African colonies. It reformed French colonialism in Africa. For example, before the outbreak of World War II, only citizens of the four communes of Senegal possessed political rights. They were the only people who were allowed to elect one member for the French Parliament based in Paris.

However, this conference recommended the representation of the colonised peoples in the French Assembly. Hence in 1945, following the holding of this conference in 1944. each of the French territories was ordered to elect two African Representatives to the Constituent Assembly based in Paris. This enabled Africans to gain greater political participation in the French Parliament more than it had been before 1944. The idea of making African colonies to continue sending their representatives to the French Parliament was included in the constitution of the fourth French Republic.

France moved a step ahead and established Territorial Parliaments. These native Parliaments were meant to review problems created by colonialism and issues associated with the employment of the natives in Public Service.

The establishment of Territorial Assembly in French colonies led to political elections, at some agreed intervals, of Africans to these Parliaments. In the process of carrying out these elections, Africans gained so much in the field of politics. This encouraged a very easy spread of nationalistic messages and ideas to the local people. And moreover, several modern political movements such as "Rassemblement Democratique Africains" (RDA) and Independents d'outre Mer" (IOM) were formed to compete for elections to the French Parliament and to the Territorial Assemblies. This helped to increased political activity of Africans.

Furthermore, the African Representatives in the French Parliament in Paris entered into the mainstream of the French political life. They forged harmonious relations with French socialist or communist organisations which were critical of French imperialism around the world. They allied with these groups to build up pressure on France to decolonise Africa.

The conference abolished terms like 'union' and 'overseas territories' they were replaced with new ones like 'empire' and 'colonies'. It also abolished inferior status of subjects in French Africa. Everyone was turned into a French man with equal rights.

The practice of forced labour was officially ended. Also the arrest and imprisonment of the subject people without trial was stopped forthwith. Hence, this conference can be said to have laid the cornerstone for colonial emancipation in French Africa.

The Brazzaville conference recommended the extension of Western Civilisation to French Africa but through French language. It promised development of French Africa with financial help from Paris. Hence in 1946, following the resolutions passed at the conference, France formed "the Fund for investments and social and Economic Development of the Overseas Territories' (FIDES). By 1957, France had invested USA dollars 42.5 million in West Africa in the fields of road construction, education and health.

On the contrary, this conference had some Negative effects which are analyzed below:

It was a racist conference. Except Felix Eboue from French Guyana, no African was invited to it. The conservative De-Gaulle thought that the black people under French rule in Africa were not capable to speak for themselves; hence, their exclusion from the meeting.

It ruled out self-government 'now' or in the near future. France still tithed to regain its role as an African colonial power after the end of World War II. Therefore, instead of France i.e. the conference, discarding French imperialism, it maintained and only exploited these reforms to re-entrench her control of Africa.

The Territorial Assemblies in French colonies set up by the conference were suffering from many weaknesses. First, it had extremely little political power. Much of the authority was still welded by the colonial governors. The assemblies only concerned itself more with the local French resistance. Second, the Territorial Assemblies were dominated by the white settlers. They elected their own parliamentarians to these local assemblies. Therefore, the conference, did very little to Africanize colonial administration in French Africa.

Although many political restricts had been set aside, still very few Africans were allowed to vote. Out of about 16 million people then living in French black Africa, the conference only empowered 1 million people to vote. Hence, the blacks still remained a politically marginalised group.

The story was similar in the French Parliament based in parish. Out of 622 seats available in France, representatives from West Africa were allocated only 13 seats. Hence, even where African representatives claimed to be representing their colonies, they were a minority group and could not influence any major decision when it came to passing it through voting.

It was true that several political parties did emerge as a consequent of the Brazzaville conference of 1944. The moat notable one was the "Rassemblement Democratique Africain" (RDA) formed in 1946 by Felix Boigny of Ivory Coast. But France continued to mete out ruthless measures against this party. For instance, France arrested and shot party leaders; persecuted party supporters and well-wishers; falsified elections results in 1951, and encouraged the formation of rival parties such as IOM to cholkie the RDA. Therefore, French colonial ruler in French black Africa appeared as autocratic, authoritarian and as dictatorial as ever.

The conference did abolish forced labour. But France continued with the practice of forced labour on the youth who were not serving in the French army. Hence, the Brazzaville conference of 1944 only reformed French colonialism on the surface in order to avert the tide of African nationalism. But to a big extent, the ideals, practices, the arms and the core of French imperialism in French black Africa remained intact.