Trouble in Africa - Essay Example

Trouble in Africa This paper discusses the evolution of the problems faced by post-colonial African governments. Past and recent trends are likewisediscussed and theories offered to explain these developments. Africa was colonized by the European powers Germany, Britain, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain and Belgium after the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 in what is called the "Scramble for Africa" (Pakenham 5). The Conference aimed to rationalize the power play among these European nations by reaching agreement on how to best carry out their respective national ambitions. Europe by the 19th century was also in a process of social, political, and economic transition brought about by the collapse of monarchies, the rise of republican governments, and the newfound economic benefits of the industrial revolution. The respective governments had to find new sources of raw materials and labor to fuel the economic growth that supported the related political ambitions of their rulers, and Africa was the continent of choice because of its size, its wealth of natural resources, and the strategic advantage of force that European nations enjoyed. Encouraged by the findings of European explorers Livingstone, Pinto, Burton, and Grant in the early 19th century, hordes of Europeans backed by their armies sailed south of Europe and began the work of colonization. It was to avoid the infighting and conflict that the Berlin Conference was organized. The colonization efforts were ruthless and resulted in the near-total destruction of African culture. Africa at the time was a land of more than a thousand tribal kingdoms, each with its specific culture and forms of government, and as is common with peoples the world over, likewise engaged in their own intergenerational and inter-tribal wars involving territory and natural resources. Ravaged by diseases and harsh living conditions, the populations of these African kingdoms were expanding slowly, limited only by their ability to tame nature. This was the continent which the Europeans invaded with "guns, germs, and steel" (Diamond 4) and set quickly to work in ravishing. Another strong influence of the colonists was their belief that Africans were promiscuous savages that needed to be converted to Christianity. Thus, aside from ambitious explorers, businessmen, and soldiers, the European nations sent Christian missionaries to teach Africans the European ways that the latter deemed more superior. How the combined efforts of material and spiritual colonization affected African culture explains much of what happened after their colonial masters left by the end of the 20th century. The decision that probably caused the most damage was the territorial boundaries established by the European powers in complete disregard for natural boundaries formed by the language, religion, or ethnicity of the Africans. Almost overnight, tribes were split, dividing families and societies. Until 1914, the Europeans divided Africa into fifty states, putting together warring tribes and dividing friendly tribes. This explains the incidents of ethnic violence that continue to explode in recent times in countries like Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, and Somalia. In each of these countries, different warring tribes were forcibly put together, continuing the tribal conflicts whenever people from each tribe assumed political power (Shillington 115; Pakenham 174). It is this tribal conflict that is also a prime cause of so much government corruption, because the tribal links are stronger than the artificial sense of nation that decades of colonization failed to achieve. Aside from the forced union of tribes, colonization had as a major objective that of spreading cultural influence through the language, religion, and customs. This is what the French did, and explains why former French colonies like Algeria have better infrastructure such as a functioning education system, government bureaucracy, and are better assimilated with European culture. It also had better telecommunications and transport systems. Former British colonies like Kenya and Egypt also advanced similarly. The British were able to establish a functioning administrative system and good educational systems. Thus, when the French and British left, most of the colonies they left behind were able to function better than the others (Shillington 187). In contrast, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany neither built schools or roads because these nations saw Africa as just a raw material and labor source. They ruled harshly, making use of the existing leadership structure that had tribal characteristics, thus allowing these nations to save on expenditures by not having to send over thousands of relatively highly-paid Europeans to run the African colony. The effect of this policy was disastrous and could be considered another prime cause for the sickness that characterizes African politics today (Shillington 248). Making use of tribal structures to heap abuse on other tribes only made the old conflicts even worse. The practice of patronage politics, where tribes sympathetic to the interests of the ruling powers were given greater favor, continues to this day because colonization reinforced it by making African rulers even more aware that unless they exercised force and pillaged the government's resources, they would lose power and would end up on the receiving end of abuse from other tribes. Thus, ruling tribes hold on to power as long as possible, earn as much as they could when in power, and favor their own people and abuse other tribes. This seems to be the root of dictatorships and corruption, and why "transitions in power usually take the form of armed revolutions by the military or by militant rebels" (Yansane 293-295). After Liberia in 1847 and Egypt in 1922 gained their independence, most of the thousands of African nations that were artificially carved into 50 "states" have followed suit, but the results have been in general disastrous because of the reasons already discussed. Even in Somalia, where the people shared the same culture and language during colonization, there are border conflicts because portions of the tribe remain inside Kenya and Ethiopia. Another factor that played an important role in keeping Africa backward was the influence of communist ideologies during the Cold War, when Soviet Russia saw the burning desire for independence as a tool to start revolutions. They supported rebel groups in countries like Angola and Sudan, fuelling the inter-tribal conflict that had been going on for thousands of years. Together with the lack of educational infrastructure, the absence of economic opportunities, and the damages that have been done on the environment, many African nations are rebuilding with severe handicaps. What also makes the situation worse is the absence of competent political leaders and government administrators. Several leaders are Western-educated and ignorant of the tribal leadership structures and cultural practices. Others are products of old government policies that were designed to create division and tension among different ethnic groups by awarding sectors of government to different tribes, making it difficult if not impossible to build the nation. Perhaps another damaging effect of colonization was to the role of women in African society. Years since women in European nations gained their rightful status it is only now that African women are regaining their place in society that they enjoyed before colonization. The different peoples of Africa, after several decades of independence, are realizing that their continent is being left behind by the resurgent economies of Asia and Latin America. Most of the lands are still rich, and the Africans know that if they could only get their acts together and forget their tribal differences, they could emerge as a fast-growing region that need not be stuck in the ancient tribal wars that have caused them so much misery. Africa needs great leaders who could balance the need for modernization without losing the unique identities that are their special contribution to human civilization and to the world. Works Cited Pakenham, Thomas. The Scramble for Africa. New York: Random House, 1991. Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005. Shillington, Kevin. History of Africa, Revised 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan, 2005. Yansane, Aguibou Y. Development Strategies in Africa: Current Economic, Socio-Political, and Institutional Trends and Issues. New York: Greenwood Press, 1996. Read More