The African Regroupment Party (french: Parti du Regroupement Africain, PRA) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

in the

French African colonies From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over , the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire. During the 19th and 20th centuri ...

Formation

The PRA came into being at a meeting in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

on March 26, 1958, months before the

French Community The French Community (1958–1960; french: Communauté française) was the constitutional organization set up in 1958 between France and its remaining African colonies, then in the process of decolonization. It replaced the French Union, which ...

would replace the

French Union The French Union () was a political entity created by the French Fourth Republic to replace the old French colonial empire system, colloquially known as the " French Empire" (). It was the formal end of the "indigenous" () status of French subje ...

. The main founding organizations were the

African Convention African Convention (french: Convention Africaine, CA) was a political party in French West Africa, originally formed at a meeting in Dakar on 11 January 1957. The CA consisted of the Senegalese Popular Bloc (BPS) of Léopold Sédar Senghor, the Afr ...

and the

African Socialist Movement African Socialist Movement (french: Mouvement Socialiste Africain, MSA) was a political party in French West Africa. The MSA was formed following a meeting of the Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière (SFIO) federations of Cameroon, Ch ...

. Other parties that assisted the Paris meeting included the African Bloc of Guinea, Social Party of the Masses (

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

), Republican Union of Côte des Somalis (

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...

Dahomeyan Democratic Rally The Dahomeyan Democratic Rally (french: Rassemblement Démocratique Dahoméen, RDD) was a political party in French Dahomey led by Hubert Maga. History The party was established in August 1957 by a merger of the Dahomeyan Democratic Movement led ...

and the

Voltaic Democratic Movement The Voltaic Democratic Movement (in French: ''Mouvement Démocratique Voltaïque'') was a political party in Upper Volta, led by Gérard Kango Ouédraogo. MDV was founded in 1955. In the 1957 territorial assembly elections MDV came second with ...

. Initially there was hope that the

African Democratic Rally African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

(RDA) would join the project and

Sékou Touré Sekou, also spelled Sékou or Seku, is a given name from the Fula language. It is equivalent to the Arabic ''Sheikh''. People with this name include: Given name * Seku Amadu (1776–1845), also known as Sékou Amadou or Sheikh Amadu, founder of th ...

had signed the appeal on behalf of RDA calling for the formation of the party, but

Félix Houphouët-Boigny Félix Houphouët-Boigny (; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was the first president of Ivory Coast, serving from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he wo ...

intervened to keep his party outside. The

African Independence Party African Independence Party (in French: ''Parti Africain de l'Indépendance'') was a communist party in French West Africa (AOF). PAI was founded in Thiès, Senegal in 1957. Later as AOF was dissolved into independent countries the local PAI sectio ...

(PAI) attended the Paris meeting, but declined to merge into PRA. PAI advocated full independence, a demand that PRA at that point was not willing to raise. PRA held its constitutive congress in

Cotonou Cotonou (; fon, Kútɔ̀nú) is a city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The ci ...

July 25–27 1958. PRA strove to create an independent federation out of the French colonies in Africa.

1958 Referendum and after

During the referendum of 1958 PRA advocated full independence. This led to a collision course between PRA and its

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

ese section, the

Senegalese Progressive Union The Socialist Party of Senegal (french: Parti Socialiste du Sénégal, PS) is a political party in Senegal. It was the ruling party in Senegal from independence in 1960 until 2000. In the 2000 presidential election, the party's candidate and previ ...

(UPS). The result was a split in UPS, and the formation of

African Regroupment Party-Senegal African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

(PRA-Sénégal). In

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

the party came into conflict with the

Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

(PDCI), and the PRA leadership was exiled to

Conakry Conakry (; ; sus, Kɔnakiri; N’ko: ߞߐߣߊߞߙߌ߫, Fula: ''Konaakiri'' 𞤑𞤮𞤲𞤢𞥄𞤳𞤭𞤪𞤭) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its p ...

. There it became the nucleus of Ivorian opposition, such as the

National Liberation Committee of Côte d'Ivoire The National Liberation Committee of Ivory Coast (french: Comité National de Libération de la Côte d'Ivoire, CNLCI) was an Ivorian opposition group, with its political origins in the Party of the African Rally (PRA). CNLCI was founded in Con ...

(CNLCI). In Upper Volta the

Voltaic Solidarity Voltaic Solidarity (in French: ''Solidarité Voltaïque'') was a political alliance in Upper Volta formed after the territorial elections in . SV was constituted by the Social Party for the Emancipation of the African Masses (PSEMA), African Popu ...

group ( PSEMA, MDV and

MPA MPA or mPa may refer to: Academia Academic degrees * Master of Performing Arts * Master of Professional Accountancy * Master of Public Administration * Master of Public Affairs Schools * Mesa Preparatory Academy * Morgan Park Academy * Mound ...

) joined PRA. The PRA section disappeared as the country became a single-party state in 1960, but the African Regroupment Party of Upper Volta, a group claiming to be the inheritors of PRA, emerged following the coup in 1966.

References

*Gbagbo, Laurent: ''Côte d'Ivoire, Pour une alternative démocratique''. Paris: L'Harmattan, 1983. *Englebert, Pierre. ''La Revolution Burkinabè''. Paris: L'Harmattan, 1986. *Zuccarelli, François. ''La vie politique sénégalaise (1940-1988)''. Paris: CHEAM, 1988. 1958 establishments in French West Africa African and Black nationalist parties in Africa Pan-African organizations Pan-Africanist political parties in Africa Political parties established in 1958 Political parties in French West Africa Political parties with year of disestablishment missing Transnational political parties {{France-party-stub