Introduction

The colonization of Africa changed into part of a worldwide European method reaching all of the
continents of the area. European colonization and domination changed the arena dramatically.
Historians argue that the rushed imperial conquest of the African continent by the European powers
commenced with King Leopold II of Belgium when he involved European powers to benefit recognition
in Belgium. The Scramble for Africa came about throughout the New Imperialism between 1881 and
1914. Africa earlier than European Colonization Due to international insufficiency of worldwide
knowledge, the scale and capabilities of Africa as a continent changed into majorly undermined and
oversimplified. Before colonization, Africa changed into characterized by using sizeable flexibility in
terms of movement, governance, and every day lifestyles. The continent consisted not of closed
reproducing entities, prepared with particular unchanging cultures, but of more fluid units that would
readily include outsiders into the network with the circumstance that they regular its customs, and in
which the sense of duty and solidarity went past that of the nuclear family. Pre- colonial societies were
highly varied, wherein they had been either stateless, run via the nation or run via kingdoms. The
perception of communalism became popular and practiced widely; land changed into held commonly
and couldn't be sold or sold, although different things, such as cattle, were owned individually. In the
ones societies that had been now not stateless, the chiefs ran the daily affairs of the tribe collectively
with one or greater councils. The colonization of Africa via Europe brought approximately many styles
of authorities that are still visible these days. Before colonization, however, there were many sorts of
government in Africa, ranging from powerful empires to decentralized companies of pastoralists and
hunters. Colonization of Africa emerged among the 1870s and 1900, Africa confronted European
imperialist aggression, diplomatic pressures, army invasions, and eventual conquest and colonization. At
the same time, African societies positioned up various forms of resistance towards the try to colonize
their international locations and impose foreign domination. By the early 20th century, however, lots of
Africa, except Ethiopia and Liberia, were colonized through European powers. The Impact The European
imperialist push into Africa was motivated by three main factors, economic, political, and social. It
developed in the 19th century following the fall apart of the profitability of the slave change, its
abolition and suppression, in addition to the expansion of the European capitalist Industrial Revolution.
The imperatives of capitalist industrialization—consisting of the call for for assured assets of raw
materials, the search for guaranteed markets and profitable funding outlets—spurred the European
scramble and the partition and eventual conquest of Africa. Thus the primary motivation for European
intrusion changed into economic. However, the colonization of Africa via European powers become
necessitated by means of different several elements. Notable, among the elements turned into the
emergence of the economic revolution which introduced about a rapid change inside the socio-
monetary transformation and generation of the European countries. The industrial revolution caused
growth in production. The development in the enterprise went faster than the development in
agriculture. It became becoming increasingly more hard or difficult for the agriculture to meet the call
for for raw materials required in the industries. There changed into consequently, the want for the
European powers, for example, the British to move outside the u . S . A . to look for additional raw
materials. Furthermore, because of the decline in agricultural manufacturing, there was the hassle of a
way to produce sufficient or good enough food to feed the fast developing urban population. In
different words, the rural areas in Britain for example, had been finding it increasingly difficult to
produce enough food to feed the growing urban populace. Similarly, there has been also want for
marketplace, now not most effective for the production of raw materials but for meals to maintain the
increasing population. As a end result of fast increase in generation, new products have been produced
at a quicker rate than the populations may want to dispose of. Africa with her massive population
constituted a prepared marketplace for such products. Furthermore, as result of low wages paid to
workers, there has been accumulation of earnings via the industrialists at a faster price than they may
invest lower back. There was under-usage of capital in Europe at this time, and a need to find where
these capitals can be transported and invested for the creation of latest products. It changed into
throughout this process of funding of the surplus capital that imperialism emerged. Chinweizu (1978, p.
35) even as discussing the European conquest of Africa referred to that “when Europe pioneered
business capitalism, her demands upon the assets of the arena improved tremendously. In addition to
acquiring spices for her tables and manpower for her mines and plantations within the Americas,
Europe set out to seize for her factories the mineral and agricultural resources of all the world. Her
want to take African manpower to the Americas declined. She wanted as a substitute to place African
labour to work in Africa, digging up for her the riches of African mines; the trading businesses that had
for hundreds of years sold and bought on Africa’s coast have been located marketplace and global
financial system. The African economic system earlier than colonization became primitive and based
totally on barter device. Since one of the goals of colonialism become to fi nd market for the European
synthetic goods and raw substances for the industries, there was need for an organic linkage among
the African financial system and market with that of the international machine managed and directed
by way of the colonizers. Through direct manage of African economy and political management made
possible colonialism. Africa was pressured or forced to accept the international department of labour
which assigned her the compulsory function of production of agricultural raw substances required by
using the industries in Europe. This explains why up until nowadays, the position of Africa economy and
states in the world market or global alternate is the production of number one goods and agricultural
products. The superior international locations of Europe controlled the manufacturing of
manufactured items. As we know, one of the reasons for the colonization of Africa changed into the
want for a appropriate market wherein the severa European manufactured items may be easily
disposed of at an affordable profit. Since the African financial system became essentially based on
barter machine, there has been the want to monetize the economic system to be in step with the
European market and the international trade standard. This money became brought as the handiest
official applicable medium of alternate and to put in force this, there has been want for the colonialist
to take direct manipulate of the administration of the African colonies. Furthermore, there has been
additionally the want for the colonialist to take full manage of the African economy and management
to ensure that Africa was made a consumer nation for European synthetic items. If this example
changed into not guaranteed, it would have an effect on the improvement and progress of the new
industrialization in Europe, due to the fact maximum of the industries might be pressured to shut down
if there are not prepared marketplace and clients for his or her products. Also direct control of the
African financial system and political administration enabled the colonialist to make certain that African
colonies or states did not take to manufacturing. It helped to restrict Africans and their generation to
the confines or role of producing handiest primary goods or agricultural raw materials wished through
the industries in Europe. This is the main purpose why nowadays African states find it very difficult to
industrialize and to move into full manufacturing. This additionally explains why Africa is a consumer
state for overseas manufactured items. The situation similarly debts for the prevailing
underdevelopment of the African states and their era. The colonialist had to take direct control of
African financial system and administration as a method of defensive the capitals that they had
transported from Europe to be invested in Africa. We are conscious that one of the motives for
colonization of Africa was because the colonialists were looking for wherein to invest the excess capital
which changed into accumulated as a result of the economic revolution. It was felt a few of the
European traders that for powerful The Scramble for Africa But different factors played an critical role
in the process. The political impetus derived from the impact of inter-European power struggles and
opposition for preeminence. Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, and Spain have been
competing for electricity inside European electricity politics. One manner to demonstrate national
preeminence become via the purchase of territories around the sector, such as Africa. The social
component changed into the third main element. As a end result of industrialization, major social
problems grew in Europe: unemployment, poverty, homelessness, social displacement from rural
regions, and so on. These social problems advanced partly because not all of us could be absorbed by
means of the brand new capitalist industries. One manner to solve this trouble become to collect
colonies and export this "surplus population." This caused the establishment of settler-colonies in
Algeria, Tunisia, South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Mozambique, and crucial African areas like Zimbabwe
and Zambia. Eventually the overriding economic elements caused the colonization of other elements of
Africa. Thus it changed into the interaction of those financial, political, and social factors and forces
that led to the scramble for Africa and the frenzied attempts by means of European business, military,
and political dealers to declare and set up a stake in exceptional components of the continent via inter-
imperialist business competition, the statement of different claims to specific territories for exchange,
the imposition of price lists in opposition to different European traders, and claims to one of a kind
manipulate of waterways and industrial routes in different elements of Africa. This scramble turned
into so intense that there have been fears that it can lead to inter-imperialist conflicts or even wars. To
prevent this, the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck convened a diplomatic summit of European
powers inside the late 19th century. This turned into the well-known Berlin West African conference
(extra generally referred to as the Berlin Conference), held from November 1884 to February 1885. The
conference produced a treaty referred to as the Berlin Act, with provisions to manual the behavior of
the European inter-imperialist opposition in Africa. Lastly, the major impact of colonialism in African is
that it delivered about the under-development of African territories in many exceptional ways. It is
typically argued in favour of colonialism that it brought western schooling and for this reason western
civilization to the shorelines of Africa which by means of implication is a nice contribution toward
African development. This argument will seem like actual on the surface level or superficially, but if it's
far subjected to critical analysis, it'll reveal the hollowness or emptiness of colonial schooling which is
partially responsible for the present African underdevelopment. The colonial education changed into
no longer rooted in African way of life and consequently could not foster any meaningful development
in the African environment because it had no organic linkage. Furthermore, colonial schooling turned
into essentially literary; it had no technological base and therefore antithetical to real or industrial
improvement. The poor technological base of maximum of the current African states, which has been
chargeable for their underdevelopment stems from their bad basis of training laid via the colonialists.
Colonial schooling essentially aimed at training clerks, interpreters, produce inspectors, artisans, etc.,
which could assist them within the exploitation of the Africa’s rich assets. Colonial schooling did now
not aim at industrialization of African territories or at stimulating technological development within the
African environment. Colonial schooling delivered about distortion and disarticulation in African
indigenous pattern of education which was conventional advertising centers to new advertising
centres as it rendered them irrelevant. Colonialists created new marketing centres and routes wherein
their required raw substances could be without difficulty offered and evacuated returned home. This
caused the slow decay or demise of most of the authentic or conventional advertising centres thereby
distorting African sample of improvement and urbanization. As we know, most of these traditional
African marketplace centres constituted the conventional or authentic African centres. Colonialism
additionally made African trade to be mainly export-import oriented.