As a person of Arab origin and identity, I always found it fascinating how every arabic-speaking country has its own dialect, and even more so, the fact that some of these dialects sound like completely different languages to me. One of these is the North African Arabic dialect, specifically Tunisian, Moroccan, and Algerian dialects which sound very French to me. There is a significant amount of French influence in these dialects of Arabic, mainly due to French colonialism in the region.

In the 19th century and before the “Scramble for Africa”, many European countries sought to obtain a bigger slice of the pie by colonising African countries and implementing policies that benefited themselves. European states pursued policies of exploitation in many realms, including economy, labor, and agriculture(citation). Seeing as the French had been present in North Africa for over a century, I begin to wonder in what other ways, besides language, have they affected life in the region. Thus, my research question is: in what ways has French colonialism affected the development of North African Arab countries? My thesis will support the argument that French colonisation has significantly slowed the economic capabilities of these countries, fostered a lack of identity, consequently leading to political instability.

It is in the nature of colonialism to not allow the native people much say in how their economy, or anything for that matter, is conducted. While under French colonisation, the French set up the native class structure in a way that benefited them, but disadvantaged the native people (Kamara 110). A middle class in the French colonies, which is essential to many successful economies today, was almost non-existent. There was an enormous gap between the small group of elites (white colonists) who controlled all resources and working class which comprised of illiterate natives (Kamara 110). It is hard to believe that the French were innocent in forging this reality; as a colonising power, th