The Fifa World Cup is not the only event being celebrated in Africa in 2010. This year marks the 50th anniversary of independence for 17 countries in West and equatorial Africa. Of these, 14 were French colonies.
Hong Kong also experienced colonial rule, but will these anniversaries compete with the festival of football for our attention? Maybe they should.
Countries emerging from colonisation develop experiencing successes and failures. To view these nations as a whole is not an easy task, as the picture of political stability and economic development is different in each.
While Cameroon and Senegal have been modernising in a relatively stable manner, deadly internal conflict has wracked the Democratic Republic of Congo in the past decade.
Some countries may have witnessed a shift from colonial economic exploitation to post-colonial military conflict, and constant natural disasters and epidemics.
Nevertheless, the French did bring their culture, language and Christianity to the colonies. So if you know French well, you will find it easy to speak to Africans from former French colonies. If you follow football closely, you will notice the strong presence of immigrants or descendants of immigrants from the colonies in the French national football team.