The Collapse of
Imperialism in Africa
© Student Handouts, Inc.
www.studenthandouts.com
AFRICA’S NATURAL RESOURCES
Why were the colonial powers there?
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Majority of world’s diamonds
Vast oil reserves
75% of world’s cobalt
25% of world’s copper
50% of world’s gold
33% of world’s manganese and uranium
OTHER AFRICAN EXPORTS
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Cocoa
Coffee
Cotton
Lumber
Palm products
Peanuts
Wine
Results of World War II
Defeat of dictatorships.
Unparalleled destruction.
The decline of colonial powers.
The rise of the superpowers
and the Cold War.
The Impact of Globalization
Process of Decolonization and NationBuilding
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Surge of anti-colonial nationalism after 1945.
Leaders used lessons in mass politicization
and mass mobilization of 1920’s and 1930’s.
• Three patterns:
1. Civil war (China)
2. Negotiated independence (India and much
of Africa)
3. Incomplete de-colonization (Palestine,
Algeria and Southern Africa, Vietnam)
The Decline of the
Colonial Powers
Decolonization of Asia & Africa
Changed the Makeup of the UN
Africa Produced Many NewlyIndependent Nations in a Very
Short Time
who often found themselves
caught in a battle between the
two superpowers
AFRICAN NATIONALISM
• Movement took off following World War II
• Africa under imperial rule
– Harsh treatment of African peoples
– Artificial borders
• Divided cultural groups
• United long-standing enemies
African Nationalist Movements
• European colonization had a negative
effect on Africa.
• Colonial rule disrupted social systems and
governments, and robbed Africa of resources
• Many Africans objected, but they did not have
enough power to act.
• During the 1920s and 1930s colonial rulers
sent a few Africans to study in Europe and the
United States.
African Nationalist
Movements
• These educated young people
started to dream of independence
and worked to increase nationalism.
• Nationalist movements are
movements that seek independence
for the people living in a country that
is controlled by another power.
Pan-Africanism
• Began in the early 1900s
• Slogan: “Africa for the Africans”
–Called for a sense of unity among
African nations and their people
–Recognized that independence from
colonial rule could come only if diverse
tribes could unite for a common cause.
Pan - Africanism
• Pan – Africanism movement which sought
to unify native Africans
and those of African
heritage into a "global
African community".
• Pan-African Congress - a
series of five meetings in
1919, 1921, 1923, 1927,
and 1945 that were
intended to address the
issues facing Africa due to
European colonization of
much of the continent.
Negritude Movement
• Encouraged Africans to celebrate
their heritage
• Rejected the view held by colonial
powers of African cultures
– “White Man’s Burden”, R.Kipling
• Greatest leader of the PanAfricanism and the Negritude
movement is Leopold Sedar
Senghor—a poet and politician
[President of Senegal for 20 years]
Leopold Sedar Senghor
• Western educated
Francophone
intellectual from
Senegal
• Poet who became
first president of
Senegal.
• Advocated
democratic socialism
and negritude.
• Negritude: validation
of African culture
and the African past
by the Negritude
poets.
• Recognized
attributes of French
culture but were not
willing to be
assimilated into
Europe.
Africa for Africans
• Nationalists
composed of exservicemen, urban
unemployed &
under-employed,
and the educated.
• Pan-Africanism and
Negritude
• Senghor (Senegal)
and Dubois (AfricanAmerican)
New Nations Emerge
• WWI & WWII takes its toll on the Colonial Powers
• Cold War helped African Nationalists
– 1st world and 2nd world countries compete for
new governments
– 1950 there were only four independent nations
• Liberia, Ethiopia, Egypt, and South Africa
– Most African Nations become independent
around 1960
– Southern region of Africa is still emerging
INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS
• Imperialist nations diverted and weakened by
World War II
• Cold War – Soviet Union encouraged anticolonial settlement
• Growing literacy and education among
Africans
• Africans had increased contacts with one
another and with non-African world
Steps to African Independence
Nationalism grew in the
different African countries
after WWII.
Most Europeans were
reluctant to fight to hold onto
overseas colonies.
African leaders began to use
the cry of “Africa for Africans”.
Steps to African Independence
African leaders organized
political parties and staged
strikes & boycotts.
Organization of African Unity Formed in 1963 to promote
peace and independence
Pan-Africanism – calls for the
unifying of all of Africa
Nelson Mandela
I dream of the realization of the unity
of Africa, whereby its leaders
combine in their efforts to solve
the problems of this continent. I
dream of our vast deserts, of our
forests, of all our great
wildernesses.”
According to this quote,
what does Africa need to
solve its problems?
Aim: What are the challenges that
Africa faces today?
Do Now: What problems do you face
Robert Mugabe
The land is ours. It's not
European and we have taken it,
we have given it to the rightful
people... Those of white
extraction who happen to be in
the country and are farming are
welcome to do so, but they
must do so on the basis of
equality.
What is Mugabe angry about?
Aim: What are the challenges that
Africa faces today?
Do Now: What problems do you face
Phases of Decolonization
• Phase One: roughly 19571973 (most of West and
East Africa)
• Phase Two: roughly 19741994 (mostly
Southern/Central Africa)
Phase One---The 1960s: Optimism and
Compromise
• The first phase of decolonization was by no
means without violence, but it included many
examples of peaceful, smooth transfer of
power
• Colonial powers maintain some control over
the terms of decolonization
• Decolonization was grounded in the rhetoric of
democracy and classical liberalism
• Newly independent states looked to Japan and
Germany as models of a post-occupation boom
Phase Two of Decolonization
• Violence was far more ubiquitous
than in the first phase of
decolonization
• Decolonization tended to be
grounded in the rhetoric of
liberation and social transformation
• Deeply enmeshed with the Cold War
Beginnings of Decolonization
•At the end of WWII only a few nations were
independent:
–Liberia: founded in 1822 as a haven for
freed slaves
–S. Africa: granted self-government in
1910, controlled by white minority
–Egypt: 1922
–Ethiopia: taken in 1936 by Italy, Freed in
1945 (acquired Eritrea, later won its
freedom)
•After these, the Arab and Berber nations of
N. Africa gained their freedom (Libya, Sudan,
Morocco, and Tunisia)
•One by one, Britain gave independence to its
colonies, ending with Zimbabwe in 1980.
•Other European nations gradually gave up
their colonies
British Colonies Were Some of the
First to Seek Independence
Britain felt hypocritical
becauseabout colonialism.
War left her weak and unable to afford
colonies.
A New African educated middle class began
to emerge in the cities.
British Africa
•Independence in British Africa
was more complex.
•Colonies were handled on an
individual basis, not as a unified
group like French Africa.
•Britain formed committee in 1947
to deal with colonies.
•Recommended independence for
Africa, which they saw as
inevitable.
•London opted to gradually grant
independence.
North Africa
• North African states led the way during
independence era.
• Libya achieved independence in 1951.
• Egypt became independent in 1922.
• Morocco, Tunisia, and Sudan became independence
in 1956.[Atlas Mts. in Morocco above.]
BRITISH EMPIRE IN AFRICA
Area/Country
Independence
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
1922
British Cameroon → split between Nigeria & Republic of Cameroon
1961
Egypt
1922
Gambia
1965
Gold Coast → Ghana
1957
Kenya
1963
Nigeria
1957
Nyasaland → Malawi
1964
Sierra Leone
1961
Somaliland → joined Italian Somaliland as Republic of Somalia
1960
Southern Rhodesia → independence under white minority rule
1965
Tanganyika → joined Zanzibar as Tanzania
1964
Togoland → joined Ghana (independent in 1957)
1956
De-colonization in Africa
• 1957, Gold Coast
(renamed Ghana)
independence, led by
western- educated,
Kwame Nkrumah.
• By 1963, all of British
ruled Africa, except
Southern Rhodesia,
was independent.
Ghana and Nkrumah
• Kwame Nkrumah – the leader of Ghana
and its predecessor state, the Gold Coast,
from 1952 to 1966. (President/PM)
• Studied abroad for about 15 years (USA)
• Nkrumah organized a "People's Assembly” –proposing
government reforms which were rejected.
• Led campaign for change which included civil disobedience.
• Arrested, but released shortly afterwards and asked to form and
lead government of Ghana.
• Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African country to gain its
independence in 1957.
• Military coup (with possible assistance from USA) overthrew
Nkrumah in 1966.
• Today is considered one of the most respected leaders in African
history
Ghana
• 1964: Ghana declared a one-party state with
Nkrumah as Life President
• Nkrumah insisted that the development of
the country as a whole (which he saw as
synonymous with industrialization) must
supersede individual prosperity
• One major project was the Akosombo dam,
which put Ghana into serious debt
Ghana: First African State
to Gain Independence
Kwame Nkrumah Led the Former Gold
Coast
to Independence
Educated abroad.
Schoolteacher.
Preached nonviolence.
Used boycotts and
strikes.
Ultimately successful
1957.
Nkrumah and Ghana
• Increased debt
meant higher taxes
on cocoa farmers,
the basis of the
economy
• While Nkrumah
was on a state visit
to Vietnam in 1966,
he was overthrown
in a military coup
Ghana today still needs to
modernize
Market in Kumasi.
Sells shoes crafted from old automobile tires.
Sprawls across 25 dusty acres in ancient
Ashanti capital.
One of the largest marketplaces in West Africa.
Nigeria
• Britain given control during Belgium
Conference
• Nigeria divided into two colonies – north
and south
• Britain treated ethnic groups differently.
• British spent more money on roads and
schools in south than in north.
• By 1940, Nigerians started fighting for
freedom by forming political parties.
• 1957, Nigerians were allowed to elect
their Prime Minister – the first head of the
government.
• Nigeria did not have to fight for its
independence from Britain.
• Abubakar was overthrown and murdered
in a military coup by primarily junior
officers of Igbo extraction on January 15,
1966.
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
(Ah-boo-bah-kahr Tah-fah-wahBhah-lay-wah)
1st Prime minister of Nigeria
British Central Africa
• Southern Rhodesia: sizeable settler
population (150,000 in 1950, 200,000 by
1960), Northern Rhodesia: mineral resources,
Nyasaland: labor resources
• S. Rhodesian settlers began demanding
federation following WWII
• Federation strongly resisted by Africans, incl.
Dr. Hastings Banda
• Federation pushed through in 1953
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British Central Africa
African protest intensified over the 1950s,
leading to the declaration of a state of
emergency in Nyasaland 1959
Prime Minister Harold Macmillan’s “winds
of change” speech in Cape Town, 1960
South Africa severed all ties with Britain
Zambia and Malawi moved towards
independence in 1964
Southern Rhodesian settlers under Ian
Smith issued unilateral declaration of
independence (UDI) in 1965
Kenya
• Kenyans thought
the British had
taken land
unfairly.
• Mau Mau – secret
society that used
force to fight for
independence
from 1952 to
1960.
• Thousands of
people were
killed. (~100
Europeans)
Kikuyu Tribesmen (Mau Maus) 1950s
• Kenyans supported the Mau Mau
and their nationalist ideas.
• Convinced the British to help
Kenyans hold democratic elections.
• Jomo Kenyatta was elected President
in 1963.
Kenya and Kenyatta
• Jomo Kenyatta - considered the
founding father of the Kenyan
nation.
• Lived and studied abroad for
almost 15 years (England)
• Arrested in October 1952 and
indicted with five others on the
charges of "managing and being a
member" of the Mau Mau Society
(violent organization). The
accused were known as the
"Kapenguria Six".
• Imprisoned for 9 years.
• Died in office in 1978.
Kenya
Kenya Fights for Independence
• In Kenya, white settlers had moved in and
displaced African farmers, mostly of the
Kikuyu tribe.
• Jomo Kenyatta was a spokesman for the
Kikuyu and led the movement to get
Europeans off their land.
• Kenyatta supported nonviolent methods, but
others turned to guerrilla warfare.
• By 1952, they began to attack European
settlers.
Kenya
• Presence of settlers
prevented smooth
transition of power.
• Kenya (20,000 Europeans
only) led to violent
revolt.
• Mau-Mau Revolt, 1952,
led by Kikuyus
suppressed by British.
• 1963 independence
granted to black
majority, led by
Kenyatta.
Kenya Fights for Independence
• The British called the guerrillas Mau Mau and
pictured them as savages.
• The British imprisoned Kenyatta and threw
thousands of Kikuyu into concentration camps.
• The British went on to bomb the Mau Mau
fighters, armed only with swords.
• The rebels were crushed, but not the freedom
movement.
• When the British released Kenyatta in 1963, he
became the first prime minister of an
independent Kenya.
Kenyan Independence: 1963
London educated Jomo Kenyatta provided
strong nationalist leadership.
Mau Mau Rebellions made up of Kikuyu
farmers weaken British settlers opposition.
Today famous athlete
opened school for orphans
Kip Keino, famed distance runner.
Opened school for grades 1-8.
Down road from his Baraka ("Blessing") farm.
He and his wife, adopted more than 100
orphaned and abandoned children in past 30 years.
Senegal: Home of the
Negritude Movement
The Solitary Baobob Tree
The national symbol of Senegal, baobab
trees often mark burial sites and inspire the
poetry of de-colonization…
I heard a grave voice answer,
Rash son, this strong young tree
This splendid tree
Apart from the white and faded flowers
Is Africa, your Africa
Patiently stubbornly growing again
And its fruits are carefully learning
The sharp sweet taste of liberty.
David Diop 1956
COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS
• British Commonwealth formed following the
dismantling of the British empire
• Today known as the Commonwealth of
Nations
• Voluntary organization of 53 member states
(as of 2009), including many in Africa
• Organization works toward common goals
• Interests include economic development,
education, and shared history
De-colonization in French-ruled Africa
• Initially more resistant
than the British.
• Encouraged closer
French ties- assimilation,
not autonomy.
• Not willing to go far
enough in granting
rights.
• With exception of
Algeria, by 1960 had
granted independence.
French West and Equatorial Africa
• After 1946, French West and Equatorial
Africa were permitted to send ten
delegates to the French National
Assembly
• Many of these delegates returned to
Africa and became nationalist leaders
• By 1956, internal self-government had
been achieved throughout French West
and Equatorial Africa
1958 “Oui” or “Non” Vote
• Instituted by Charles de Gaulle
• Aimed at forestalling African demands
for independence
• All colonies but Guinea voted “oui,”
agreeing to continued French
sovereignty
• All French ties to Guinea immediately
withdrawn
• Departing French officials destroyed
government records and buildings
1958 “Oui” or “Non” Vote
• Despite “oui” vote, colonies still
demanded further concessions in
terms of independence
• French government agreed to
formal independence for many
colonies in 1960, with the proviso
that economic ties to France be
maintained
FRENCH EMPIRE IN AFRICA
• 1945-1958 – French Union – organization of French
colonial possessions
• 1956 – Morocco and Tunisia independent
• 1958-1960 – French Community succeeded French
Union – ended in 1960 with most French colonial
possessions independent
• 1962 – Algeria independent
• Circa 115,000,000 French speakers in Africa (2009)
FRENCH AFRICA
• In Algeria, warfare raged from 1954 through 1962 as the “Front de la
Liberation Nationale” (FLN). Algerian independence was proclaimed
in 1962. [Algerian Square above.]
• In 1958, Guinea became the first French colony to achieve
independence without violence.
• French President Charles de Gaulle granted independence to 14
French African colonies in 1960 as dissatisfaction with imperialism
grew.
Algeria
French settlers fought
fiercely to keep Algeria a
French colony.
DeGaulle realized after
the war that France could
not hold onto Algeria by
force.
Independence came in
1962.
Algeria
• Appeal of Arab
nationalism
• Large French settler
population
• 1954- 1962 war between
FLN (nationalist party)
and French troops
• “part of France”
• 300,000 lives
FORMER BELGIAN POSSESSIONS
• 1960 – Congo declared free by Belgium
– Democratic Republic of the Congo
– Province of Katanga attempted to secede – civil
war
– United Nations troops kept peace for four years
– Former president of Katanga, Moise Tshombe,
became prime minister in 1964
• Burundi and Ruanda (Rwanda)
– Belgian mandate ended in 1962
FORMER BELGIAN
POSSESSIONS
• Belgium – 3 territories: Rwanda,
Burundi, Belgium Congo
• Granted independence in 1960.
• Belgium Congo – Civil war after
independence.
• United Nations intervened
• Murder of 1st prime minister, Patrice
Lumumba. Thousands died.
Patrice Lumumba
• Became the leader of the
Mouvement National
Congolais .
• Arrested for inciting anticolonial violence.
• Lumumba and the MNC
were elected in 1960.
• On June 23, 1960 34-yearold Lumumba became
Congo's first prime minister.
•Ten weeks later, Lumumba's
government was deposed in a
coup during the Congo Crisis.
• He was subsequently
imprisoned and murdered in
circumstances suggesting the
support and complicity of the
governments of Belgium and the
United States
The Belgian Congo
• Extremely limited opportunities for education
and political organization
• 1956: “middle class” elections for municipal
governments
• Most political organizations were regionally
based
• Leopoldville/Kinshasa a key center of anticolonial agitation
The old Belgian Congo, Formerly
Zaire,
Faces Many Challenges Today!
Mobutu Sese Seko
Ruled 1965-1997.
Supported by U.S. as Cold
War ally.
Changed name to Zaire.
Left “a house that had
been eaten by termites”
NYTimes.
Reign described in 2002
documentary as an “African
Tragedy.”
Mobutu
• Rapid movement towards decolonization in
1959-60—insufficient preparation?
• Patrice Lumumba’s Mouvement Nationale
Congolais gained power but was unable to
gain sufficient support throughout the
country, lost control of both Katanga and the
army
• General Joseph Mobutu backed by US
• Even before Mobutu’s formal seizure of
power in a 1965 coup, the government
became rife with corruption
• Mobutu’s rise to power associated with a cult
of personality as well as outside backing
Congo Makes Up for a Lack
of Roads & Highways
Congo River barge carries hundreds of passengers on its
1000 mile journey from Kinshasa to Kisangani.
Many people travel on barges without shelter for as
long as a month, crowded together with their
belongings, livestock, furniture and wares for sale.
Today the Congo Is
Experiencing Punishing War!
Michael Kamber for The New York Times
About 5,000 people fleeing the ethnic warfare in and
around Bunia, Congo, sought safety at a camp on Monday.
Death in the Congo!
The Allure
Rich Mineral
Resources:
Gold
Diamonds
Copper
Have Often
Drawn Foreign
Exploitation.
Young Soldiers & a Victim
Child Rebels
A child fighter in a rebel group stands watch
with a U.N. armored vehicle in Bunia, Congo,
where there have been reports of rape and
cannibalism.
FORMER ITALIAN POSSESSIONS
• Ethiopia
– Independent during World War II
• Libya
– Independent in 1951
• Italian Somaliland
– Joined British Somaliland in 1960 as Somalia
FORMER PORTUGUESE
POSSESSIONS
• Angola
– Independent in 1975
• Mozambique
– Independent in 1975
Portuguese Africa
• Metropolitan government viewed colonies
(Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Angola and
Mozambique) as absolutely essential, were
willing to exert force to retain them
• Pattern of “liberation movements” was set by
Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau
• By 1974, all Portuguese colonies in some state of
open hostility
• 1974 coup in Portugal predicated on military
withdrawal from Africa
Angola
400 years:
Portuguese
are the first
the arrive
and the last
to leave in
1975.
Civil War
• Withdrawal of Portuguese troops in 1975
left both Angola and Mozambique in a
state of civil war
• MPLA in Angola and FRELIMO in
Mozambique were strongly socialist in
perspective, received support from USSR
and Cuba (incl. 13,000 Cuban troops in
Angola)
• UNITA in Angola and RENAMO in
Mozambique received support from
South Africa, Southern Rhodesia and the
United States
Civil War
• Both MPLA and FRELIMO
constituted official governments,
but their legitimacy and ability to
govern were severely limited by
opposing groups
• Despite outside intervention,
opposition groups also played on
dissent within the populace at
large
Angola Left
With Bitter Civil War
Mateus Chitangenda, Fernando Chitala and Enoke
Chisingi and their families have been displaced by war
to the town of Kunhinga, in central Angola.
Going to School
A father walks his daughter to school in
Kuito, Angola. All students in the town bring
their own small benches to class.
Southern Rhodesia/Zimbabwe
• Violence against Smith government began
immediately following UDI
• Following Portuguese withdrawal, Smith
government found itself more isolated
• A compromise government was installed in
1978, but this was unable to stop guerilla
fighting and was discredited
• Full free elections held in 1979, resulting in
the 1980 creation of independent Zimbabwe
Africa: 2000
Factors that Impacted the Economic and Political
Success of Newly Liberated Nations:
• Did the nation fight to become free?
• How enlightened had the colonizing power been? Had it
educated a native elite, leaving behind politicians,
economists, and trained personnel with practical skills?
• Were there serious ethnic, cultural, or religious divisions?
• Did a country have natural resources to exploit? Did the
government exploit them efficiently or were they unable
to diversify its economy?
• Did a newly liberated country take sides in the Cold War,
i.e. the United States or the Soviet Union? Superpowers
often intervened in the affairs of decolonized nations.
Problems in the African Nations
• Unity
– inherited borders drawn up by imperial powers, split
ethnic groups and tribes
• Finding Professionals
– before independence Europeans dominated
professions
– few Africans had training as educators, doctors,
scientists, engineers, etc…
• Maintaining Government:
– When independence came, Africans had little
experience running a government
Patterns of Government
in Africa
Post-Colonial Regimes
• Post Settler Regimes: Home Rule
Zimbabwe
Namibia
South Africa
Post-Colonial Regimes and the Impact of
Colonialism
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Ethnic Identification
Overseas Language
Metropolitan Values
Administrative Process
Political Shell
Economic/ Trade links- primary products
and markets
Traditional REGIMES
• Traditional Elements: Ethiopia- 1960s,
Swaziland, Somalia,
• Neo-Traditional: Botswana, Buganda,
Northern Nigeria, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho
• Patrimonialism: Strong Presidential Models
and Neo-traditionalsim
Independence and One Party States
• Attempts at Intra-Party democracy: Ghana,
Tanzania, Zambia- 1970s to 1980s.
• Grass roots and periphery: Soft States
• Elections within the party
• Question: contained political systems?
Afro-Marxist Vanguard Parties and Leninism
• Angola, Mozambique in 1980s
• Ethiopia under the Dergue, 1969-1991
• Benin and Congo Brazzaville, 1970s-1980s
"No" Party Administrative States
• One Party States where the party is a shell
• Kenya, Ivory Coast in 1970s
• Uganda in the 1990s; Eritrea, Rwanda (Claim
non-party)
GOVERNANCE ISSUES
• Nature of the Administrative State-the Bureaucracy
evolved over time but political institutions tacked on a
few years before independence
• Causes of Institutional Weakness: Too strong a
bureaucracy weakens institutions and decline of political
party (ies)
• Result: Patronage and nepotism
Bureaucratic Interests• Organizational Bourgeoisie
• No private sector, few interest groups
• Public sector economic strategy
• Little or No civil society
Political “Realities” of Contemporary Africa:
Regime Types Today: Africa’s Second
Revolution/Independence
Democratic (17)
Partially Democratic (15)
Undemocratic (16)
Benin
Botswana
Cape Verde
Gambia
Ghana
Kenya
Malawi
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Nigeria
Sao Tome
Senegal
Seychelles
South Africa
Tunisia
Zambia
Chad
Camoros
Congo (Brazzaville)
Gabon
Egypt
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Lesotho
Madagascar
Morocco
Rwanda
Sierra Leone
Swaziland
Tanzania
Uganda
Algeria
Angola
Burundi
Cameroon
Congo (Democratic Republic) ?
Cote D’Ivoire
Djibouti
Equatorial Guinea
Guinea
Libya
Mauritania
Niger
Somalia
Sudan
Togo
Zimbabwe
Understanding Contemporary Africa: Impact of the
Cold War
Impact of Cold War?
• Instability caused by assassinations,
coups, and civil strife within and
between key African “client” states.
• Wars directly linked to Cold War
machinations: Angola civil war
(invasion by South Africa, Cuban
troops); Congo (including recent
“First African World War;”
Ethiopia/Somalia; Liberia,
Mozambique; Sudan
• “Failed States:” Congo, Liberia,
Somalia, Sudan.
• Economic devastation: Case of
Congo rich in natural and human
resources
• Human suffering: millions killed
(over a million in Angolan civil war);
Angola second largest number of
land-mine amputees (after
Cambodia) Africa second largest
refugee population in the world
Results for Africa of aid from U.S. and the West
during the Cold War
• US gave at least $1.5 bill weapons to Africa
during Cold War (1950-89)
– - incl $400 mill to dictator Mobutu in Congo
– $250 mill to Jonas Savimbi’s UNITA movement
Angola
– Half the US aid went to governments with known
human rights abuses including Congo, Rwanda,
Uganda atrocities (perhaps 3 million)
Militarization Across Africa: Curse of landmines
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Angola: more than 70,000 amputees and more than 16,000 killed.
– Estimates of total number of land mines = 10-20 million
– Angola is the one most heavily impacted by 1-2 land mines per person
– Whatever you want to do, whether it's plant a field or rehabilitate a school or open a
road, you've first got to clear away the mines. The threat of mines has paralyzed the
country
More than 70 types of mines - manufactured in at least 22 countries - have been planted
in Angola during recent decades.
– Mines were installed by the government military, the South Africans, the Cubans, the
Russians, UNITA, the police, by neighboring governments, and several other Angolan
armed groups.
The numbers of mine layers makes demining - which includes understanding the strategy
and patterns of mine laying - even more complicated.
– Mine clearance experts say only the Cubans made accurate maps of their mine fields.
Tens of thousands of one-legged Angolans hobbling around their country on crutches
provide graphic evidence that most of the mines laid here are small anti-personnel mines
designed to maim rather than kill.
Yet the explosives are often targeted at civilians, most often women and children, rather
than soldiers.
Planted near water sources and under shade trees in the savannah, they are designed to
terrorize, often with the goal of depopulating the countryside.
Militarization Across Africa
Portuguese
soldiers
planting and
unearthing
land mines in
Angola, 1970s
Militarization in Africa—The Cost
• An average of $22 billion is being spent each
year by the nations of Africa, Asia, Middle
East, and Latin America on arms.
• If this were redirected, it would be enough to
reach the UN targets of Universal Primary
Education
• And reducing infant and maternal mortality.
• And Meeting all of the Millennium
Development Goals
Militarization of Africa –Arms Sales
Out of Control
• The U.S., France, Russia, China and the UK together
account for 88% of all the world’s conventional arms
exports.
• There are 639 MILLION small arms and light weapons in
the world
• Today, eight million more are produced every year.
• From 1996-2001, the USA, UK, and France earned more
income from arms sales to developing countries than
they gave in all kinds of emergency, disaster, and
economic assistance aid.
The costs of the new wars to Africa’s
children
Up to 20,000 children are fighting in Africa’s conflicts
today…..
Africa – Civil Unrest
• Somalia
–Warlord Mohamed Aidid throws
Somalia into civil war
–Keeps UN food from people,
starving them
Africa – Civil Unrest
• Rwanda
–Belgium grants independence in
1962
• Hutus are resentful of Tutsi rule
and take over government
Africa – Civil Unrest
• Tutsi refugees form Rwandan
Patriotic Front
• 1994: Hutus slaughter close to
a million Tutsis
• RPF fights back and takes over
government
Tutsi Refugee Camp
Tutsi Refugee Camp
Darfur, Sudan
• Ethnic and religious conflict began
in 2003
• Between Arab-speaking, Islamic
nomads and militants from the
north and non-Arabic farmers to
the south.
Darfur, Sudan
• Violence, genocide, and ethnic
cleansing has killed an estimated
200,000 people and displaced over
two million
Other Problems Facing Africa Today
• Structural Legacies
--Economies based on raw material exports
--Aid/dependency
--Migrant labor/labor compounds
• Cultural Legacies
--Public Health/concern with African bodies
--Education/educational diaspora
--Tension between “tradition” and “modernity”
Debt and Structural Adjustment
Origins of African Debt
• For some countries (Ghana, for example),
debt began with ambitious development
projects in the 1960s
• In most cases, however, serious
indebtedness began in the early 1970s
• Oil crisis dramatically increased the price
of imports
• Worldwide recession decreased the
willingness of the US and former colonial
powers to distribute aid in grants
Origins of African Debt
• World prices for exports (especially
agricultural exports) fell
• The public sector grew, especially
with increased bureaucracy (in
Ghana, for example, by 150 percent
between 1957 and 1979)
• Between 1970 and 1976, Africa’s
public debt quadrupled
State Contraction in the 1980s:
Trying to Pay Off Debt
• Debt servicing began to take a
substantial portion of many
countries’ GDPs
• Ambitious development plans were
largely scrapped
• Governments tended to focus on
maintaining power and preserving
order
Structural Adjustment: Trying to
Pay Off Debt
• Implemented by the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank
beginning in roughly 1981
• Required substantial cuts in state
services
• Tended to promote industrialization as a
path to economic growth
• Often involved the devaluation of
currency
Debt, Structural Adjustment
and Legitimacy
• The demands of debt and structural
adjustment often rendered
governments less able to supply the
needs of their people and less able
to claim grassroots legitimacy
• Debt seen as attached to a country,
not to a particular government—
transferred even when a government
was deemed illegitimate
International Aid to Help African
Debt
• Since the 1970s, the general trend has been a
decrease in aid to Africa—monetary aid fell by
almost half in the 1990s
• A large proportion of what is counted as aid by
donor countries is known “phantom aid”—for
example, some 50% of all technical assistance is
said to be wasted because of inappropriate usage
on expensive consultants, their living expenses,
and training
• Aid frequently carries restrictions with regard to
its use
Aid Donors to Africa
• Most donor countries use aid as part of a broader
foreign policy focused on “national interests”
• The US has directed aid to regions where it has
concerns related to its national security, e.g.
Middle East
• Sweden has targeted aid to “progressive
societies”
• France has sought to promote maintenance or
preserve and spread of French culture, language,
and influence, especially in West Africa, while
disproportionately giving aid to those that have
extensive commercial ties with France
African Trade Imbalance
• Many aid packages require receiving countries to
purchase goods from the donor country, often in a way
that disadvantages the economy of the recipient
• Reports have suggested that aid tied with conditions cut
the value of aid to recipient countries by some 25-40
percent, because it obliges them to purchase imports
from the richer nations at uncompetitive prices
• As of 2000, over two-thirds of United States aid was tied
to requirements to purchase goods and services from the
US
• Aid generally fails to increase the export side of receiving
countries’ economies
Economic Realities of Contemporary Africa
• The Combined Gross Domestic Product for all of Sub-Saharan Africa
in 2000 was US$322.73 Billion—less than the GDP for the
Netherlands (and considerably smaller than the GDP for the state of
California)
• Between 1990 and 2000 GNP per capita declined .7 per cent in SubSaharan Africa
• However, since 2000 a number of African countries have
experienced a annual growth rate of around 5%
• Nearly 40% of Africa’s GNP is from agriculture, less than 15% from
manufacturing: lowest of any region in the world.
• Africa counts for less than 2% of global trade
• In 1960 average service debt of an African country was 2% of
exports; in 2000 239% of exports
Economic Realities of Contemporary Africa: Poverty
(Numbers and Percent of People living on $1 or less a day)
World
Region
1990
1999
#*
%
2015
#
%
#
%
S-S Afr
241
47
315
49
404
46
L. Amer
48
11
57
11
47
7.5
S. Asia
506
45
488
37
264
16
5
2
6
2
8
2
M East & N
Afr
Economic Realities of Contemporary Africa: Poverty
(Numbers and Percent of People living on $2 or less a day)
World
Region
1990
1999
#*
%
2015
#
%
#
%
S-S Afr
386
76
480
75
618
70
L. Amer
121
28
132
26
117
19
S. Asia
1010
90
1128
85
1139
68
50
21
68
23
62
16
M East &
N Afr
Economic Realities: Congo
Congo:
• Mineral Rich: Copper, Cobalt, Coltan, Diamonds,
Tin
• Agriculture: wide variety of food and cash crops
including coffee, tea, rubber and commercial
lumber.
• Industry: very little manufacturing, mineral
processing
• Yet: GDP per Capita is $88 compared to an average
of $541 in Sub-Saharan Africa; Per Capita Income
$110 per capita compared to $600 for Sub-Saharan
Africa
But . . .
AFRICA’S GROWTH RATES
ARE CATCHING UP TO
OTHER DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES
African per capita income is now increasing
in tandem with other developing countries …
Annual Change in Real per capita GDP %
Forecast
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
-1 1990
-2
-3
-4
Source: World Bank
Developing Countries
Developing excluding China and India
Sub-Saharan Africa
High-Income Countries
1995
2000
2005
2008
… growth has improved since the
1980’s
7
6
5
4
East Asia
Europe
3
LAC
2
MENA
1
South Asia
Africa
0
-1
-2
-3
80s
90s
2001-05
Problems Facing Independent Africa
• Dictatorship (Uganda 1971-1979) and Zaire (1965-1977)
• Corruption: Many African regimes tended to function under
unlawful systems.
• Failure to modernize and diversify economies.
• The Cold War: Many nations became pawns in the “global
chess game between the United States and USSR.”
• Rapid population growth and food shortages (Somalia and
Ethiopia)
• The HIV/AIDS pandemic
• Lack of cultural or linguistic unity: Most borders were drawn
by European colonizers for their own benefit and convenience,
leaving behind confusing varieties of ethnicities, languages,
cultural practices and religions in each country.
Health Realities of Contemporary Africa
The Scourge of HIV-AIDS
• HIV-AIDS: Out of approximately 40 million HIV-AIDS victims in the
world 29.4 victims reside in Sub-Saharan African countries.
• Nearly three million children under the age of 15 are HIV positive
• Four countries in southern Africa have HIV infection rates of 25% or
higher of adult population
• In the last decade 12 million people died of AIDS in Africa
• Life expectancy in southern Africa increased throughout the region
to nearly 60 years of age in 1990 (from 44 years in 1950); life
expectancy expected to drop to 40-45 years of age by 2005.
• Rays of hope: decline in infection rate in a number of countries,
stabilization in South Africa; reduction in the price of antiretrovirals.
AIDS in Africa
• Data suggests AIDS began in Africa in the late
1970s, spreading south from equatorial areas
over the 1980s
• Southern Africa has been hit particularly hard
by the AIDS epidemic—Botswana has approx.
38% of the adult population infected
• Uganda is often cited as a model for the
control of AIDS—percentage of the population
infected has dropped to 5% from a high of
14%
The Paradox of Botswana: Stable
Government and Economy, but AIDS
Rampant
• Botswana has maintained a stable, democratic government
since 1965
• The country’s diamond resources and strong beef industry
have produced a middle-class standard of living for many
residents
• Even as Botswana thrives, however, it has the second
highest rate of HIV infection in Africa (after Swaziland)—
over 1/3 of people between the ages of 15 and 49 are
infected
Health Realities of Contemporary Africa
Diseases of Poverty:
• Malaria kills over 1 million people in Africa each
year with an estimated cost to African
economies of over $2 billion
• Sleeping Sickness (trypanosomasis) threat to 60
million, infects 300,000 each year
• River Blindness (onchocerciasis) 17.5 million in
Africa (99%) of world total
• Biharziasis impacts estimated 80 million in
Africa
Malaria has not received adequate
attention and is a major cause of
death of children
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Angola
Benin
Burkina
Faso
Eritrea
Gambia,
The
Ghana
GuineaBissau
Kenya
Nigeria
Tanzania
Uganda
Percentage of children under five sleeping under insecticide-treated bednets 2000-2004
Percentage of children under five with fever accessing effective antimalarial drugs 1997-2004
Zambia
Social Realities of Contemporary Africa
Severe Social Dislocation:
• Male (productive age) labor migration: short term and
long term
• Urbanization:
– unplanned, minimal social services (health,
education, housing, sanitation)
• Gender/family relations:
– change in social relations of production and
reproduction (male migration, “male cash crops,”)
– absence of fathers/husbands;
– rural poverty (women & children most severely
impacted);
– survival strategies (prostitution, beer-making).
Additional Social Problems Facing Independent Africa
• Intertribal and interethnic conflict: Nearly all African
wars have been fought within national borders, not
between different countries.
• Uncontrolled flow of small arms and light weapons:
Thousands of children have been forcibly drafted into
militias and paramilitaries.
• Treatment of women: In African’s more developed
countries and especially in cities, women have attained
a certain degree of economic and social equality.
• However, progress has been slow and women are still
dominated by men, especially in rural areas.
Education Realities of Contemporary
Africa
Education:
Colonial Heritage:
• Education for a very few (at independence, no colony had more than 60% of the
elementary school age population in school, most less than 30%; even lower for
high school and tertiary education
• Portuguese had most restrictive educational program. In rural Mozambique less
than 20% of school age cohort had full seven years of elementary education at
independence in 1975
• At independence in 1960 the D.R. Congo had an extensive primary school system
(70% enrollment) but less than 10% went to secondary school and only 50
university graduates!
• French followed policy of “assimilation”—targeted 10-20% of population with
relatively good education system, but vast majority little or no schooling.
• British generally most “progressive” but great differences between
“protectorates” (Nigeria, Ghana) where in-direct rule was practiced, and settler
colonies (Rhodesias, Kenya) where educational expenditure was very limited.
• Curriculum heavily biased to humanities—limited opportunities in science, math,
technology
Education Realities of Contemporary Africa
Education: Post-Independence Example of
Zimbabwe:
• 1980: 60% of primary school age cohort in
school, less than 40% finished primary
education
• 1995: 100% of primary school age cohort in
school, over 90% finished seven years of
primary school
• 1980: only 64,000 students in secondary
school; 1995 over 800,000 in secondary
school
More Problems in African Nations
•Living Standards
–most in poverty, lack capital for
development
–Foreign investors deterred by
political instability
•African Unity
–Haile Selassie believed that the
differences (linguistic, racial,
economic, and political) too vast
and recommended a loose
organization of nations
–OAU (Organization of African
Unity)
Goals of OAU: African Unity
•Loose Confederation
–Heads of state meet once a year
–Council meets every 6 months
–Commission of Mediation and Conciliation to settle
inter-African disputes
•African Cooperation
–Foreign policy, defense, economics, education
•Liberation of all African territories still under foreign rule
–Worked to end white rule in S. Africa