INTRODUCTION

Africa has long since been encountered by the presence of Europeans and their
activities on the continent. Before the nineteenth century, European activities in
Africa were restricted along the coast. Trade in slaves and other commodities with the
interior states of Africa was conducted through local middlemen. Upon the abolition
of the slave trade, legitimate trade was seen as the perfect substitute and the
Europeans there scrambled and partitioned Africa for political, social and economic
reasons. This also had economic, political and social consequences on the continent.
This essay is a re-contextualization of the essence of the partition of Africa and it’s
ramification on the continent. It will first deal with the factors that motivated the
scramble for territories in Africa by the Europeans and later look at the effects on the
continent.

The scramble for territories in Africa and the partition of the continent among the
various European powers of late nineteenth century was triggered off mainly by the
activities of one individual: King Leopold II of Belgium in the Congo Basin. King
Leopold hired explorers led by Henry Morton Stanley to explore and navigate the
Congo and arrange trade with the local leaders of the area. Publicly, King Leopold of
a civilizing mission to carry the light “for millions of men still plunged in barbarism
will be dawn of a better era”. Privately, Leopold had the idea of exploitation and
profit making at the expense of the Africans. Other European countries such as
Britain, France and Portugal became alarmed and as conflict over the Congo Basin
seemed eminent, Otto Von Bismarck, the then German chancellor who was a pacifist
called for conference in Berlin to discuss issue regarding the annexation of territories
in Africa and other issues such as the slave trade in December 1884-1885(January).
This conference is famously known as the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885. The
causes for the scramble and partition of Africa as discussed below.

CAUSES OF THE PARTITION OF AFRICA

Economically, it was the time whereby the industrial revolution in Europe,

particularly England had reached its peak. The Europeans therefore wanted a place to
serve as a market for their manufactured goods. This would help boost the economy
of the European nations and the surplus goods also would have a ready market in
Africa. The Europeans therefore saw the need to acquire territories outside Europe to
serve as a market for their surplus goods and Africa was their answer since it was a
newly found continent by the Europeans. In the Gold Coast for example, the
Europeans supplied manufactured products such as gin, tobacco, hardware, gun, gun
powder, iron, glassware, European blankets and cotton and silk products. These goods
found a ready market since they were new and comfortable for the large African
population. The British with Gold Coast as their occupied territory benefitted from
this trade as they also obtained products such as gold, ivory, animal skin etc. This new
economic enterprise therefore boosted the economy of Britain and they were therefore
ready to do whatever is possible to prevent any other European country from
benefiting from this trade in the Gold Coast.
Again the European territories in Africa served as a place where raw materials could
be easily obtained at relatively low prices to feed European manufacturing industries.
Raw materials that were in abundance and obtained by the Europeans in the Gold
Coast are gold, ivory, timber, cotton etc. These products which were in great demand
in Europe were converted into finished goods and were sold to both Europeans and
Africans. This helped in the accumulation of more capital to establish other industries
in Europe. So to the Europeans, Africa was very valuable at that time and no
European country would allow another European country to establish trade links in
the “occupied” territories for trade.

In addition, unemployment and in Europe played important roles in motivating the

partition of the continent by the Europeans. During the industrial revolution, machines
replaced human energy and this led to unemployment as the labor force required in
the industries was reduced. This new situation displaced a lot of people in cities and
there was high rate of unemployment in Europe. The European powers therefore
started looking for territories where they can establish industries and employ their
citizens to curb the issue of high unemployment rate in Europe. In the Gold Coast and
other African countries all the European industries employed mostly Europeans while
the local employees were few.

Also, as the economy of the various European countries particularly Britain expanded
and as more capital was accumulated as a result of the profit from trade with the
Africans, there was the need for the investment of surplus capital. Africa served as the
suitable place to invest in the exploitation of natural resources of the continent. In the
Gold Coast for example, European mining companies and timber firms were
established by the Europeans to exploit the natural resources of the area to serve
European interest.

Politically, in Europe of the nineteenth century, a country was considered powerful

and great when that country has a lot of territories both in Europe and outside Europe.
This motivated the European powers to scramble for territories in Africa because of
the prestige that come with it. Acquiring more territories also served as a form of
national pride and superiority over others. In the Gold Coast for instance where the
Bristish had already establish their “control” over the Southern States, they (The
British) felt threatened when the French annexed the territory of Lome in 1883. The
British therefore quickly moved to annexed Asante and the northern territories of the
Gold Coast as British colonies. Such were the tensions between the various European
countries over territories in Africa and called for the Berlin Conference.

Another political reason for the scramble and the partition of Africa is some African
ethnic groups were hostile to the early European explorers, merchants and traders.
The European nations therefore saw the need to annex those territories where they
have their explorers and merchants to protect their citizens.

Socially, the Europeans wanted to spread Christianity into Africa in order to check the
spread of Islam on the continent especially North Africa and some parts of West
Africa. The Europeans saw the growing influence of Islam in North Africa and other
parts of West Africa as a threat to the spread of Christianity on the continent and must
therefore be stopped with urgency. Even the African religion was considered as pagan
so Africans must therefore be introduced to the light of Christianity. A good example
is the Gold Coast whereby the Europeans (missionaries) established the Salem
system[1] for the African converts.

Another social reason for the scramble and partition of Africa is that the Europeans
wanted to extend western civilization, culture and education to Africa. The Europeans
considered the Africans as backward and illiterate and saw it as their responsibility to
educate and civilize these “backward” people. In fact, this was the intention that King
Leopold II of Belgium publicly declared that his main aim of entering the Congo
Basin is to spread the light of European culture into Africa. Upon the annexation of
African territories, the European established schools to enlighten these “barbaric”
people.

Lastly, the issue of overpopulation in certain parts of Europe contributed to the

scramble and the partition of Africa. The Europeans therefore wanted a place to
resettle “surplus” citizens. This is evident when the British occupied South Africa and
some parts of Kenya where the climate and weather was favorable for European
settlement. There was therefore mass European settlement in those areas as compared
to Gold Coast where the economy was less conducive for Europeans.

EFFECTS OF THE PARTITION OF AFRICA

The effects of the partition on the continent are many. They range from social,
political and to some extent economic effects. In is important to note that the effects
are felt strongly in the social and political sectors.

First of all, the partition of Africa laid the foundation for the Europeans to colonize
the continent. After the partition of the continent among the various European
countries trading in Africa, any territory where a European country had spheres of
influence “legally” became a colony for that European country. They therefore started
to send their people as governors and officers to govern “their” new colonies in
Africa. This meant that any other European country could not trade in that colony
without the permission of the governor of that colony. Africans therefore lost their
sovereignty in the own land and had to fight for their independence. For instance, the
Gold Coast which became a British colony in 1901 had to fight for their independence
till 6th March, 1957 when she became independent.

Another political effect of the partition of the continent is that it crippled the
indigenous political institutions of the people. After the partition the European
countries trading in Africa used subtle means and sometimes force to establish their
political control over their newly “acquired” territories. In some cases the Africans
resisted. Even those states who were persuaded by the Europeans were deceived to
accept European protection and support against their neighboring “aggressive” states.
The Asantes for instance had to fight and resist the British for about 50 years until
their final defeat in the famous “YaaAsantewaa war” in 1900-1901.

Again, the poor demarcation of the territories in Africa by the Europeans is a

contributing factor to the various border disputes between African states which can
sometimes degenerate into wars. The conflict between Mali and Burkina Faso over
the Agacher strip, where the Bobo resides illustrates the problems caused by the poor
demarcation of boarders. Another instance is the conflict between Nigeria and
Cameroon over the Bakassi peninsular. All these are proofs of conflicts as a result of
the poor demarcation of boarders among the African countries by the Europeans.

Moreover, the bringing together of different ethnic groups to form countries with no
sense of national unity is another effect of the partition of Africa. This has led to inter-
ethnic wars in many African countries over the years.Cases of inter-ethnic wars
among Africans of the same nation such as the war between the Hutus and the Tutsis
in Rwanda where thousands of people died and the conflict between the Kokomba’s
and the Nanumba’s of the northern part of Ghana serves as evidence. There also
another conflict in Ghana between the Alavanyo and the Nkonya of the Volta region
of Ghana over lands. All these inter-ethnic wars could have been avoided if Africans
were allowed to develop their social and political structures of their own and form
nation-states on their own without any external influence from Europe.

Lastly, as the partition of Africa laid the foundation for colonization, colonization
further led to the exploitation of the natural resources of Africans. The Europeans at
the time of colonization had no interest in developing the colonies but continued to
exploit the people’s natural resources to serve as raw materials for European
industries whilst the people had little or no benefits from their own natural resources.
In the Gold Coast, timber, cocoa, cotton, oil palm and minerals were sent to feed
European industries at lower prices and yielded very high prices when converted to
finished products and brought to Africa.

In conclusion, the above points clearly demonstrates the causes and the effects of the
scramble and the partition of the continent. It further proves that Africa would have
reach her own higher level of development naturally had the Europeans not
intervened in the affairs of the continent.