Because French comes (mainly) from Latin. (In Latin there's neuter as well!)
French nouns have gender based on their ending, which reflects historical and phonetic reasons. The distinction between masculine and feminine nouns in French helps to show agreement with other parts of speech, such as adjectives and articles. This gender distinction is a feature of many Romance languages and is deeply ingrained in the language's grammar.
The French word for African is "Africain" when used for masculine and "Africaine" when used for feminine.
Roughly 60% of French words are masculine, while the remaining 40% are feminine.
masculine
Douce is feminine. The masculine is 'doux'.
La salade is feminine
The French word for African is "Africain" when used for masculine and "Africaine" when used for feminine.
Bicyclette is feminine. In words ending in "ette" in French, are feminine.
Feminine
une dent is a feminine noun in French.
Words ending '-ion' are always feminine.
In French, adjectives and articles must agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the noun they modify. This means that the ending of the word may change to match the noun's gender. For example, "petit" becomes "petite" for feminine nouns. Verbs may also change according to the gender of the subject in some tenses.
masculine
The French word "la" is a feminine article used before feminine nouns.
feminine
masculine
Feminine
balle is feminine in french / ballon is masculine