EX-CFAO

The historic Compagnie française de l'Afrique de l'Ouest held a major concession in Bassam. Installed from 1898 to 1909, its headquarters was for a time transformed into a mat factory. Only the four letters of the sign remain today, while the empty interior reveals an abstract painting of disembowelled materials, metal wefts and trimmed stones. Turning its back to the sea from which imported goods arrived, the building faces the lagoon, through which steamboats transported their goods to the interior of the colony.