Postage stamps and postal history of French Sudan issue of December 1958. It was followed by a Stamp Day issue on March 21, 1959, which omitted the federation's name and was inscribed "CF" along with "Dakar-Abidjan" for use in Ivory Coast and Senegal. French Sudan joined in a short-lived federation with Senegal in 1959, but ties to both countries quickly weakened. In 1960, the French Sudan formally became the Republic of Mali. Postage stamps and postal history of French Sudan French Sudan (Soudan Francais) was established in the late nineteenth century and occupied roughly the same territory as modern Mali. From 1894 to 1902, the colony of French
French Sudan of growing Egyptian cotton in West Africa during World War I, Émile Bélime began to campaign for the construction of a large irrigation system along the Niger river. Starting in 1921, significant irrigation projects around Koulikoro and later at Baguinéda-Camp and the Ségou Cercle began to bring water. The French believed this project could rival the major cotton growing centers of Egypt and the United States. Unlike other agricultural projects in French West Africa, the French Sudan irrigation project initially relied on families voluntarily resettling along lines established by the colonial authority. Unable to attract enough volunteers, the colonial authorities