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Evacuation par fleuve. |
| © 1999 by Jim Jones, Ph.D. |
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This is the document from the agreement that created the Société Fermière. Among the signers, Gouverneur du Soudan Française Alfassa, Governeur Général de l'AOF Brévie, Inspecteur Général des Finances du Chassin and the representative of the Société des Messageries Africaines Johanes Volle.
This was the schedule for the vapeurs couriers Mage, Galliéni and Bonnier on the Middle Niger River in July and August. The rest of the year, postal pirogues and passenger barges maintained the service. Postal pirogues operated all year round between Gao and Ansongo, and weekly on the Upper Niger.
This was a detailed plan for the use of the ships of the Société des Messageries Africaines to move the harvest to Koulikoro. It planned for the movement of 15,000 tons of goods downstream from Koulikoro (out of a total 18,120 tons downstream freight) and 25,446 tons of freight upstream from above Mopti to Koulikoro (out of 38,441 tons upstream freight). The upstream freight broke down like this:
| Departure point | Tons | Item(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Tamani | 340 | millet, peanuts |
| Ségou | 14,371 | various produce |
| Markala | 650 | bricks, tiles, etc. |
| Niono | 900 | rice |
| Kolongo | 6,000 | rice |
| Dioro | 1,000 | rice |
| Sama | 600 | millet |
| Diafarabé | 25 | millet, rice |
| Mopti | 8,000 | rice millet etc |
| San | 2,865 | millet peanuts kapock karité |
| Niafunké | 400 | various items |
| Diré | 380 | cotton, gum |
| Gao | 350 | various items |
All of this was scheduled to take place between June 15 and December. 22,300 tons would move during June-July-August, another 23,100 tons in September-October, and 9,000 tons in December.
The Société des Méssageries Africaine had the following ships in service for the 1947 season:
Until September 1947, prisoners were used to load and unload boats and railcars at Koulikoro. After the government took them away, they offered forced labor from the 2ième portion in exchange. However, forced laborers were much less productive than the prisoners (average 1.131 tons per man-day vs. 2.775 tons per man-day for prisoners).
There were 12,550 tons to be hauled from Koulikoro downstream, and 25,970 tons to haul upstream. Of those, 21,010 came from the region of Ségou and 11,670 of those were grain.
As soon as the railroad raised its rates on October 1, 1947, the Société des Messageries Africaines wanted to follow suit in order to offset the increased price of fuel, lubricants, building materials, and cost of living.
The director of the river service explained his case for raising river rates. He claimed that the railroad strike settlement affected wages on the river as well. "J'ai fait ressortir que si les Messageries Africaines, conscients de l'intéret qu'il y avait pour l'économie du pays à maintenir des tarifs de transport le plus bas possible, ne demandient pas à suivre la hausse de 50% appliquée aux tarifs ferroviaires, il était à craindre que pour 1948, il nous soit nécessaires de demander un relèvement des tarifs fluviales." ("It is obvious that if the Messageries Africaines, who recognize the benefit of low transport rates for the local economy, do not respond to the increase in railroad transportation rates, they will have to ask for an increase next year.")
In 1946, the deficit of the Société des Messageries Africaines was 1,319,640 francs and their costs went up in 1947. For example, the price of fuel wood increased from 64 to 100 francs/stère and they were no longer allowed to cut wood between Kabara and Gao. The price of diesel fuel went up from 1,368 to 1,875 francs for 200 liters.
The cost of living went up as well, and African salaries needed to increase 30% to keep up. The total of all these increases required that river rates increase by 33%.
The administration calculated the demand for upstream freight shipments (towards Bamako) from each of the following towns in the Middle Niger Valley:
| Origin | Estimated tons |
|---|---|
| Ségou | 21,010 |
| Mopti | 300 |
| San | 3,420 |
| Niafunké | 100 |
| Diré | 353 |
| Kabara | 290 |
| Gao | 500 |
| total | 25,973 |
The administration also calculated the demand for downstream freight shipments (from Bamako) to each of the following towns in the Middle Niger Valley:
| Destination | Estimated tons | Item |
|---|---|---|
| Gao | 1,700 | fuel |
| beyond Mopti | 70 | fuel |
| Mopti | 500 | fuel |
| San | 200 | fuel |
| Ségou and Office du Niger | 1,000 | fuel |
| Various locations | 5,000 | cement and construction materials |
| Various locations | 680 | sugar |
| Various locations | 2,000 | salt |
| Office du Niger | 400 | fertilizer |
| Various locations | 1,000 | various |
| All locations | 12,550 | Total |
Despite the railroad strike, the port at Koulikoro still moved 32,600 tons upstream (38,400 planned) and 10,700 tons downstream (18,100 planned). They also received three new 150- ton barges and three new 85-ton barges.
The completion of the dam at Sansanding reduced the river level downstream and caused problems for freight pirogues. This affected trade.
Due to the 1947-1948 railroad strike, the Société des Messageries Africaines lost revenue because they couldn't ship export freight, and the strike settlement raised railroad rates. The devaluation of the French franc aggravated the problem.
This letter mentions the Société Fermière that was created in 1936 out of the Société Messageries Africaines and the Service de la Navigation. Each held 2/3 and 1/3 of the shares respectively. Deficits were charged to the Budget Local. (In other words, a private and public corporation joined together into a "private" company that was underwritten by the government.)
This letter discussed the seasonal problems associated with river navigation, but concluded that the alternatives were unattractive. Constructing a railroad to Ségou would not be profitable as long as it only carried export traffic, and increased reliance on road transport did not eliminate the bottleneck that occurred when goods were transshipped (to the railroad for transport to the coast).