Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland

The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation (CAF), was a semi-independent federation of three southern African territories – the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia and the British protectorates of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland – between 1953 and 1963.

The Federation was established on 1 August 1953. The Federation was established with a Governor-General as the Queen's Representative at the centre. An interesting and novel feature was the African Affairs Board, set up to safeguard the interests of Africans and endowed with statutory powers for that purpose, particularly in regard to discriminatory legislation. The constitutional status of the three territories - a self-governing Colony and two Protectorates- was not affected, though certain enactments applied to the Federation as a whole as if it were part of Her Majesty's dominions and a Colony. The economic advantages to the Federation were never seriously called into question and the causes of the Federation's failure were purely political: the strong and growing oppositing of the African inhabitants.