 The concessionary companies forced local people to harvest rubber, coffee, and other commodities without pay and held their families hostage until they met their quotas.Between 1890, a year after the French first arrived, and 1940, the population declined by half due to diseases, famine and exploitation by private companies.In 1920 French Equatorial Africa was established and Ubangi-Shari was administered from Brazzaville.