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The legacy of imperialist European powers in the underdevelopment of modern age Africa

The topic that will be discussed in this body of work is the legacy of imperialist European powers in the underdevelopment of modern age Africa because the Europeans used their power to occupy Africa whether it was through force or manipulation and the legacy of that power is still present.

By Tawana ChabayanzaraPublished 3 years ago 12 min read
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The legacy of imperialist European powers in the underdevelopment of modern age Africa has had a significant impact on the country’s ability to grow and prosper. Africa is currently stuck in continuous destruction, but the true origins of this desolation existed prior to the 21st century and is the result of the arrival and usurpation of African colonies by European empires and powers. Many African colonies were exploited by the imperialist systems set up by European empires and are very much still in this position in the 21st century. One must understand that ‘underdevelopment’ does not refer to poverty alone but rather any blockade in the way of the development of a person or group whether it be mentally, culturally, politically, and economically (Rodney,1972 p.23-24).

The arrival of the Europeans brought on a surge of rushed advancement for Africa, whilst they themselves had time to learn and develop at the appropriate pace; the legacy of this one action is still visible with today’s modern environment. It is firstly important to understand how the concept of underdevelopment began in Africa. The most prevalent way was through exploitation; which occurs with the corruption of one country by another. African countries were developing independently until they were taken over directly or indirectly by capitalist powers, and as the result of the success of the primary exploitation, the expansion was further increased and the export of surplus resources and goods ensued, depriving the societies of the benefit of their natural resources and labour (Rodney,1972:3). Therefore, the ability of some African countries to progress was hampered by the imperialist powers.

Another significant impact of the legacy of imperialist European powers in the underdevelopment of Africa is the transatlantic slave trade which began in the 17th century. Trading ships would set sail from Europe and the Americas with the first group of Africans being taken as slaves in 1619 to Plymouth, Massachusetts as intended servants. The trading ships would be filled with cargo of manufactured goods that were shipped to the west coast of Africa to be used for trading and bribing Africans for the capture of young able-bodied slaves. It has been estimated that by the 1790s, 480,000 people were enslaved in the British Colonies alone (British Library N/D). To successfully run this operation without remonstration many European powers instilled inaccurate ideologies in the minds of the African peoples, these included but were not limited to the use of scripture by the British Empire, which was the leading force in creating the justification behind slavery through scripture. Whilst the Europeans preached about prosperity in their churches the African people, who had Christianity forced upon them, they were taught that their status was below the white man, with the most popular scripture being Ephesians 6:5: " Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ." (Ephesians 6:5) They spoke of them obeying their “human masters” as if they themselves were not human, further shifting the mindset of the African people and making them prisoners of their own mentality (The Mariners' Museum, 2002). A crucial part of this teaching was left out to further support the ideologies of the European powers, that being Ephesians 6:9: " And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favouritism with him." (Ephesians 6:9) This is an important demonstration of how religion can be used to promulgate discriminatory ideologies, it is more so dangerous when the power of religion is used by those who are power hungry (The Mariners' Museum 2002).

Another legacy of Imperialism was that the African population was taught that this messiah whom they were meant to follow was a white man called Jesus. Today, some Africa’s believe any African associated with white people is automatically a success. “Anything associated with white people is a success” (O Chabayanzara 2019, conversation 22 August). This idolisation of white people is also the result of Christianity Jesus was described as a Caucasian man with blue eyes who was perfection and because of this and other teachings taught during slavery and Imperialism it was taken as saying that to be the perfect human one must not only be a good Christian but white as well (Mmari, 2017). Today this legacy is still there if one was to ask an African person to describe Jesus; he would still be the same as the one created using European Ideologies. “Right now, if you go to my mom’s house, she has a picture of Jesus with a shining heart and he is a Caucasian man” (O Chabayanzara 2019, conversation 22 August). Consequently, the impact of Christianity and the act of slavery enacted by imperialist powers, impeded the ability of Africans to maintain their population and economy.

Upon the independence of African colonies, which began with Ghana in March 1957, many of the European powers which had resided in Africa left without leaving a steady government or body of power in the colonies they had previously occupied. As the Belgian and Portuguese governed colonies became independent, they had virtually no trained legal professionals to handle disputes and or governmental disputes in the national court system. In Angola in 1968, prior to the country’s independence, the number of lawyers (assuming a number of them were Portuguese) was the small sum of 87 (Joireman, 2001). Prior to Imperialism Africa had its own developed forms of governance and monarchy, the most popular being the chief/king and his councillors (Palagashvili, L 2018 p.7). But Colonial governors who had previously run and structured these African colonies was a rulership of force and oppression, and this way of government still remains in Africa as some countries had not changed since the colonisers left as the African leaders who took over were left with the blueprints that had first been established by the previously “occupying” European powers (Alemazung, 2010). Corrupt rule and governments have now become the norm in many African countries because it has been present for centuries. An example is Zimbabwe which has seen military coups attacking citizens who speak up against the government (Mahere F, 2019). However, Colonisation was an important steppingstone in history, it provided an overall legal, institutionalised system to Africa at independence, on the other hand, colonial metropoles had nowhere trained a sufficient number of lawyers and judges to take the leadership of the institutionalised system that was needed at the time. Overall, although there existed a political paradox of elites with vested interests in the continuation of the institutional system, there was no real personnel or infrastructure to maintain it (Joireman, 2001). Subsequently, the legacy of the imperialist powers provided inadequate structures to support the governance by the African people in some areas that became independent.

Today 14 African countries are forced to pay a tax to France for the “benefits” of slavery and Imperialism: this is a modern manipulation of power. The French government have kept this taxation viable through fear and this includes using military intervention when people start to protest. Some of these countries include Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Chad, and Gabon and four others (World Bulletin, 2015). Africa’s wealth in terms of resources is undisputable which further explains France’s refusal to fully leave the continent. With reference to this taxation, in March 2008, former French president Jacques Chirac stated, “Without Africa, France will slide down into the rank of a third [world] power” (Lokongo, 2012). Although these countries are already poor the unfair removal of money does not put them in a position where they can try to successfully advance. Today the French Government forces its former colonies, the African Financial Community (CFA) countries, to put 65% of their foreign currency reserves into the French Treasury, plus another 20% for financial liabilities, thus leaving them access to only 15% of their own money (Spangol, 2019). France bleeds about $500 billion from these African nations every year (Parks, N/D). This issue has been noticed in the past by other political leaders, Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Maio has stated: “If today we still have people leaving Africa, it is due to several European countries, first of all, France, that didn't finish colonizing Africa” (Ridgewell, 2019). His statement discussed the 14 countries forced to pay the tax further adding "If France didn't have its African colonies, because that's what they should be called, it would be the 15th largest world economy. Instead, it's among the first, exactly because of what it is doing in Africa" (Spangol, 2019). This statement is very similar to that made by Jacques Chirac. It should be acknowledged that France is a strong force in the impoverishment of African countries, but France has such a stronghold on Africa it would be difficult to remove them. They have occupied these African countries for more than a century now and removing them would require great effort. Protests have been held in the past and people have spoken up, but those who have, have had their lives taken. For example, in 1963 Sylvanus Olympio, the first president of the Republic of Togo, who began to print his country their own currency instead of the colonial currency FCFA (the CFA franc) was ambushed by a militia squad backed by France and was killed by an ex-French Foreign Legionnaire army sergeant named Etienne Gnassingbe who supposedly received a bounty of $612 from the local French embassy for the hitman job (O'Femi, 2016). These coups are a clear demonstration of the manipulation of power by an imperialist country.

Another significant impact of colonial rule in Africa is the displacement of the African economies. Prior to Imperialism Africa had its own developed economic pattern, European nations had the space to develop at their own pace, but Africa was not able to progress at its own pace because the arrival of the Europeans brought on a surge of rushed advancement. It is known that before a local economy entirely assimilates in the world economy/trade, it must have passably developed its interior subtleties and forces of production. The consequences of premature integration are that such an economy will be hijacked by the more advanced ones; the vagaries in international trade will make the country concerned a perpetual debtor (Ocheni, and Nwankwo, 2012 p. 51-52). The European colonies also left Africa poor and downtrodden states, therefore compared to the rest of the world Africans started their economic performance at level zero. Imperialism often pillaged the country of the produce of primary products and cash crops as well as raw materials which have no market value. This, in turn, caused unequal trade transactions (Farah & Mazongo, 2011:3). Thomson states that as a result of the exploitation of necessary resources, the continent has been forced to rely on the importation of foreign products (2010:192). This compelled African states to import very expensive manufactured goods from what they gained from the export of their cheaper primary products, instead of exporting their own manufactured goods from their country, leading to an unequal exchange of market products and trade deficit. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in 2015 (Figure 1) no African country was among the top 30 exporters of goods and services in the world compared to a country like America sat at a firm 9.1% of global exports whilst Africa sat at 2.4% of global exports in 2015 (Nahanga, 2017). One should also keep in mind that America is just one country whereas Africa is a continent with fifty-four countries within. Therefore, from the beginning, Africa was put in an uncompromisable position in the economics of the world which has been holding the continent back from reaching its full potential in World Trade this is yet another legacy of imperialism within the continent.

Figure 1: World merchandise exports (US $ billions, current and share), 1948-2015

Imperialism left many African countries with a long and aversive effect The legacy of imperialist European power will always be present in modern age Africa whether it be positive or negative the shadow of imperialism will always lure over the continent it is up to the people to rid the continent of the shackles of imperialism it just takes time and effort.

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