African and Malagasy Union
organization
The African and Malagasy Union (AMU) (French: Union Africaine et Malgache (UAM)) was an intergovernmental organization created to promote cooperation among newly independent states in Francophone Africa. The organization derives its name from the name of the continent of Africa and from the former Malagasy Republic, now Madagascar. Created in 1961, the scope and form of the organization changed significantly from 1963-1966, and ultimately disbanded in 1985.
Background
At a meeting held in Brazzaville in December 1960, twelve French-Speaking States agreed to maintain close relationships but also a special relationship with the former colonial power, France. This group became known as the Brazzaville Group, comprising the countries of Chad, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Dahomey, Gabon, Upper Volta, Mauritania, Niger, the Malagasy Republic, the Central African Republic, Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.
In response to the meeting, seven African states led by left-wing leaders met in 1961 as the Casablanca Group, united by a belief in the need for African political unification or federation. That same year, the Brazzaville Group expanded to include non-francophone countries as the Monrovia Group, expressing opposition to federation, instead stressing the importance of Africa's newly independent states retaining their autonomy and strengthening their own bureaucracies, militaries and economies. The Monrovia Group's ideas ultimately prevailed. In 1963, states from both groups joined to create the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), requiring regional political blocs to disband.
History
The UAM was founded on 12 September 1961 in Antananarivo by members of the Brazzaville Group.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “African and Malagasy Union” as organization. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as organization. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q388001. VIAF identifies the subject as 157721254. The Library of Congress control number is n83054295. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1961, 1963, 1966 and 1985.
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This entry incorporates text from “African and Malagasy Union” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.