Air Afrique came into being in 1961 as a joint venture between Air France, Union Aéromaritime de Transport (UAT), and eleven former French-speaking colonies in Western and Central Africa, namely Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Dahomey, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Upper Volta. Initially, the company inaugurated its services flying routes within those countries, and linking them as well. On 5 January 1962, the carrier inaugurated its first intercontinental flights with Boeing 707s leased from Air France serving the Paris–Dakar–Abidjan and Paris–Douala–Brazzaville routes.