However, one mistake of French colonization was to have sent, as officials, technicians who were certainly devoted to the local populations but had an 'administrative' view of development, whereas the latter should preferably be driven by the private sector.

This 'administrative' view was shared by most of the French elites, and it still persists today. This resulted in the establishment of an administration with the flaws of the French system, notably the idea that it is the administration, and not the private sector, that is the source of economic progress. (Yves Montenay, Le mythe de l’horreur coloniale française au sud du Sahara)