France’s colonial governors in West Africa came from elite technical-administrative training

Evidence

Ernest Nestor Roume, a native of Marseille, was appointed governor general of French West Africa at the relatively young age of forty-four. He had entered government service through France’s most prestigious school of public administration, the Ecole Polytechnique; his training as an engineer showed from the outset-as governor general, he was interested in building railroads. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 140