Effects of Colonial Rule on Africa - Research Paper Example

Table of Contents Section Page Introduction.......…………………………………………........3 Colonial era in Africa.............…………....……………..…......3 Colonial rule and its effect on Africa.........................................4 Positive effects............................................................................4 Negative effects...........................................................................6 Conclusion & Suggestions..........................................................9 Works Cited...............................................................................11 The colonial rule originated from renaissance spirit, geographical discoveries, and the European need to find out new markets. Within this scenario, the European colonization of African continent and the spread of imperialistic ideas resulted in positive and negative influence on Africa as a whole. To be specific, colonial rule helped the European colonizers to exploit human resources and natural resources of the colonized nations. On the other side, colonial rule affected the African nations because the same resulted in inequality and poverty. The main purpose of this research work is to unearth the effects of colonial rule on Africa. Besides, the related issues under discussion include: the factors that led the African nations to be under colonization and the evaluation of the positive and negative influence of colonial rule on Africa. Thesis statement: The research work proves that the positive effects of colonial rule on Africa include: development of infrastructure, administrative reform, and introduction of modern education, the negative effects include: destruction of traditional culture, racial oppression, and poverty and related problems, but the colonial rule affected the development of the African continent as a whole. Colonial era in Africa The origin of colonial era in Africa is interconnected with the influence of industrialization among the European nations. To be specific, industrialization forced the European nations to find out new markets and to expand their influence among the world nations in general. The end result of this development in Europe was the colonization of the nations in African continent by some powerful and influential nations in Europe, like France and England. Besides, other European nations like Germany and Belgium followed the path of France and England. So, one can see that commercial interest is an important factor that attracted the European nations toward Africa, not the mission to lead the ‘dark continent’ towards development. The African nations under colonization were required to produce certain mono-crops for the European nations. At the same time, these nations were expected to consume the products from Europe. So, colonization benefited the European nations, but affected the African nations. The colonizers did not provide importance to the development of their colonies. To be specific, the colonial outlook of Africa was different because their aim was to lead Europe towards development. Still, most of the African nations face the after-effects of colonization because the same destroyed the economic backbones of these nations. But the infrastructure and administrative machine (say, developed by the colonizers) are still used by the African nations, and this can be regarded as the positive effect of colonial rule. In short, the unexploited condition of natural resources and cheap labour attracted the European colonizers towards Africa. Colonial rule and its effect on Africa This section is broadly divided into: positive effects (economic, political, and educational) and negative effects (cultural, racial and social). Positive effects: Economic: infrastructure One among the positive effects of colonial rule on the nations in Africa is the development of infrastructure. To be specific, the European colonial rule helped the African nations to develop their infrastructure. But one need not misunderstand that the colonizers decided to develop the African nations without any particular benefit. Instead, the colonizers made use of the infrastructure to maintain their monopoly on trade. Ambe Njoh states that, “A significant portion of investments in transportation during the colonial era went to the development of seaports” (50). They developed the infrastructure because the same is crucial for the development of import and export. For instance, the British colonizers developed the infrastructure in Uganda. But the motivation behind this initiative was related to the British interests in Africa. At the same time, infrastructure development during colonial era was helpful for Uganda during post-colonial age. The colonizers knew that development of transportation facilities is utmost important for colonial trade. In Nigeria, the British colonial rule resulted in the development of infrastructure and other sort of services. One can see that the initiative undertaken by the British authorities in Nigeria indirectly benefited the native population. To be specific, the motive behind the British initiative in Nigeria was the easy export of raw materials to Europe. Still, this indirectly helped Nigeria to gain access to modernity to an extent. So, infrastructure development during colonial era is a positive effect that helped the African nations to use the same effectively during post-colonial days. Political: administration Basically, the colonial administration aimed to develop their own political interests within their colonies in Africa. Still, this initiative indirectly helped the African nations to gain certain characteristics related to modern form of governance. To be specific, the European colonizers knew that inculcation of modern governance (say, centralized and decentralized) can help them to gain monopoly over the political scenario of Africa. The initiatives of the European colonizers, especially by Britain and France, resulted in the development of central/local administration in Africa. For instance, the French colonial government provided certain political rights to the people in Africa. Besides, this helped the Africans to realize the importance of representation in national politics. But the British government did not provide this much political rights to the Africans, but they were forced to provide the same during the end of colonial era. From a different angle of view, the British government provided importance to the concept of self-sufficiency within their colonies in Africa. Leigh A. Gardner states that, “The adoption of a policy of colonial self-sufficiency in itself says much about the British government’s goals in colonizing Africa” (3). So, the colonial rule indirectly helped the Africans to realize the importance of the modern form of governance within national politics. Educational: modern education The colonial education basically depended upon educational institutions-strictly limited to the idea of the promotion of the education-to prepare the natives according to the needs of the colonial powers. To be specific, the colonizers knew that the educated natives can act as a link between the native population and them. Earlier, educational facilities in the colonies were provided by the religious groups from Europe. For instance, the colonizers (say, religious groups) introduced modern method of education in Ghana. George Jerry Sefa Dei states that, “Historically, colonial religious institutions assisted in the delivery of education in Ghana” (162). Besides, the modern method of education displaced the conventional mode of education in the colonies. To be specific, the introduction to modern education helped the natives to realize the problems faced by them. The evangelical groups provided basic lessons on developing different skills related to education. In addition, the upper class people in the colonies were able to have access to the colonial educational facilities. This resulted in the origin of an enlightened group of natives within the scenario of African society. The current development in African education is indirectly indebted to the educational facilities/infrastructure provided by the colonizers. For instance, the current mode of inspection, certification, and examination in African schools and universities follow the educational characteristics of the colonizers. So, one can see that the colonizers introduced modern schooling in Africa and same benefited the people to an extent. Negative effects Cultural: Destruction of traditional culture The traditional African life is interconnected with their customs, rituals, beliefs, and other characteristics related to their unique culture. Besides, these cultural characteristics originated from their way of life, linked with nature. To be specific, the essence of African culture is linked with the ethnic/racial diversity of the mainland of Africa. When the colonizers tried to civilize the natives, their cultural aspects underwent transformation. For instance, the French colonizers forced the African natives to accept French way of life and culture. One must not misunderstand that the French colonizers assimilated their cultural characteristics to African culture. Instead, they forced the natives to neglect their culture and to accept French idea of assimilation. The colonizers considered the native culture as primitive and uncivilized. Within this context, African languages faced threat from the colonizers because they considered that language can be used to civilize the so called ‘uncivilized’ natives. Walter Rodney states that, “As seen earlier in the case of Portugal and Spain, the spread of the language of the European colonizing power was considered of major importance” (256). Besides, the colonial pedagogy, based on cultural imperialism, insisted the natives to neglect their cultural characteristics. When the colonizers tried to implement their culture on the natives, the native culture underwent rapid degradation. Besides, this resulted in the origin of a mono-culture, based on the culture of the colonizers. The current cultural problems within the context of African society can be regarded as the after-effect of colonial rule. So, one can see that colonial rule affected the development of native culture, especially their tradition. Racial: Racial oppression One among the negative effects of colonization on Africa is racial oppression based on racial identity. For instance, the South African inhuman system of racial segregation, know as apartheid, originated from colonial rule. Besides, the European presence in Africa accelerated racial oppression and related issues within African scenario. When racial segregation was linked with the legal systems in different African nations under the colonizers, the native population was forced to be under segregation. One can see that alienation within one’s motherland is most cruel and embarrassing. Ronald Aminzade states that, “Racist attitudes and behaviors ranged from a paternalistic racism concerned with civilizing and protecting primitive natives and saving pagan souls to a genocidal racism of military conquest that justified the extermination of inferior races “destined” for extinction” (42). On the other side, the dominant race was allowed to gain monopoly over the social benefits provided by the colonial governments. From a different angle of view, majority of the people were under the direct influence of the colonizers. Still, the racially oppressed people in Africa were not aware of that they were under the influence of colonization. In Kenya, the native population was forced to live in settlements, away from the mainstream society under the British colonizers. On the other side, the native population in Senegal and Guinea, under the French colonizers, were not forced to face problems related to segregation. But the Portuguese approach on segregation based on racism was a mixture of British and French approaches. They cultivated the image of racial toleration among the people and exploited them. To be specific, the Portuguese colonizers made use of the concept of racial toleration to exploit the native population in Africa. In short, colonial rule resulted in racial oppression within the context of African continent. Social: Poverty and related issues The colonial rule resulted in poverty and related issues among the nations in Africa. To be specific, the society was under the direct control of the dominant race and most of the natives were forced to face poverty. John Iliffe opines that, “During the one long lifetime which elapsed between the partition of tropical Africa and its liberation, immensely complicated changes took place in the nature of rural poverty” (143). Besides, the traditional mode of farming was totally destroyed by the colonizers because they provided importance to mono-crops and mining. One can see that this eventually led the African nations towards poverty and related issues. From a different angle of view, corruption related to colonial rule is the main reason behind poverty and related issues in Africa. For instance, poverty in Nigeria during colonial rule is one among the examples for the connection between corruption and poverty. The colonizers exploited the natural resources of the African nations like Burundi and Liberia. Still, the natives were in poverty and related problems because revenue from natural resources was not used for the welfare of the people. On the other side, Portuguese colonizers supported slave trade in their colonies like Guinea and Mozambique. This helped the colonizers to be wealthy and influential, but the natives were forced to undergo forced labour, economic problems, and poverty. So, colonial rule resulted in poverty and related issues within African context. Conclusion The main purpose of this research work was to unearth the most important effects of colonization and colonial rule on the different nations in Africa. It discussed the main features of colonial era in African scenario, and the positive/ negative effects of colonization on the African society, especially on the native population. Based on the important findings, it is evident that colonization is with a few positive effects and a number of negative effects. To be specific, colonization helped African nations to develop infrastructure, to have innovative administrative methods, and to get introduced to educational facilities. On the other side, colonial rule destroyed the traditional culture, resulted in oppression, poverty and related problems. Suggestions It is suggested that the African nations must realize the fact that their dependency on their past, especially on the European nations, must be discarded. This initiative can help the African nations to hinder the problems like tribal wars, internal insurgencies, autocracy, and military despotism. In addition, the African nations must try to regulate the influence of religion fundamentalism on national politics. So, these measures can help the African nations to discard the negative effects of colonial rule and to move towards modernity with hope. Works Cited Aminzade, Ronald. Race, Nation, and Citizenship in Post-Colonial Africa: The Case of Tanzania. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Print. Dei, George Jerry Sefa. Schooling and Education in Africa: The Case of Ghana. Trenton: Africa World Press, 2004. Print. Gardner, Leigh A. Taxing Colonial Africa: The Political Economy of British Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print. Iliffe, John. The African Poor: A History. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Print. Njoh, Ambe. Planning Power: Town Planning and Social Control in Colonial Africa. Oxon: Routledge, 2007. Print. Rodney, Walter. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Dakar: Fahamu/PambazukA, 2012. Print. Read More