On 23 July 1961, the French daily newspaper Le Monde analyses the implications of the association of African countries with the European Economic Community (EEC), given that more and more African States are gaining political independence and that the association arrangement laid down in the Treaty of Rome expires in 1962.

Map published by the Press and Information Service of the European Communities showing the six Member States of the European Economic Community (EEC) and the associated Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) as on 1 July 1961.

Am 1. Juni 1960 beschreibt die französische Tageszeitung Le Monde, wie Nikita Chruschtschow, Erster Sekretär der Kommunistischen Partei der Sowjetunion, den Besuch des malischen Regierungschefs Modibo Keita zum Anlass nimmt, um die Politik der Zusammenarbeit zwischen der europäischen Sechsergemeinschaft und dem afrikanischen Kontinent anzugreifen.

Im Juli 1960 untersucht die Monatszeitschrift Communauté européenne die möglichen Verbindungen zwischen der Europäischen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft (EWG) und den assoziierten Überseeländern, die an der Schwelle zur Unabhängigkeit stehen.

‘Freedom in the Congo.’ On 16 July 1960, the German cartoonist, Herbert Kolfhaus, takes an ironic look at the direct consequences of the independence granted to the Belgian Congo on 30 June 1960.

‘Siege’. In 1962, the Soviet publication Krokodil criticises Europe’s colonial domination of Africa and supports African countries in their bid for independence.

On 20 July 1963, in Yaoundé, Cameroon, the European Economic Community and the 18 Associated African States and Madagascar (AASM) sign the first convention, valid for a period of five years, confirming the association between Europe and Africa on the basis of free trade and financial aid from the Six.

On 20 July 1963, Walter Hallstein, President of the European Commission, welcomes the signing, in Yaoundé, Cameroon, of the first Convention of Association between the Community, its six Member States and 18 states known collectively as the Associated African States and Madagascar (AASM).

Am 20. Juli 1963 unterzeichnet der Präsident der Europäischen Kommission, Walter Hallstein, in Jaunde (Kamerun) das erste Assoziationsabkommen zwischen der Europäischen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft und achtzehn assoziierten afrikanischen Staaten und Madagaskar (AASM).

Am 20. Juli 1963 unterzeichnen die Sechs und die achtzehn assoziierten afrikanischen Staaten und Madagaskar (AASM) in Jaunde (Kamerun) ein auf fünf Jahre angelegtes Assoziationsabkommen Europa-Afrika auf Grundlage freier Handelsbeziehungen und finanzieller Hilfe der Sechs.

On 20 July 1963, in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Jean-Marie Koné, Minister of State with responsibility for Planning of the Republic of Mali (left), and Mohammed Sidi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (right), sign the first Association Agreement between the European Economic Community (EEC) and 18 Associated African States and Madagascar (AASM).

On 21 July 1963, the day after the signing in Yaoundé, Cameroon, of the first Association Agreement between the European Economic Community (EEC) and 18 states known collectively as the Associated African States and Madagascar (AASM), the French daily newspaper Le Monde describes the main provisions of the agreement.

In April 1969, Mario Pedini, Italian Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, reviews the Yaoundé Conventions, providing details of the use of Community subsidies for the period 1966–68, and speculates on the issues surrounding the new convention due to be concluded.

The European Development Fund (EDF), established by the Treaty of Rome of 25 March 1957, enables the funding of economic and social infrastructures. The photo shows the example of the maternity unit in Ngozi, Burundi.