Impact of Colonialism: Analyzing African Development and Challenges

This essay examines the nature and consequences of colonialism in Africa, starting from the late 1400s when Europeans began establishing trade posts and exploiting Africa's natural resources. It discusses how European colonizers ill-treated and overpowered the African people, imposing European standards of living. While colonialism brought advancements in science, technology, transportation, and communication, it also led to the exploitation of resources and people. The arrival of Christian missionaries, the imposition of a 'divide and rule' policy, and the uneven partition of African provinces are highlighted as key issues. The essay also addresses the forced cultivation of cash crops, the emergence of slave trade, and the resulting disparity between the rich and poor. It concludes by suggesting measures to address the issue, such as ensuring equal opportunities, eradicating class discrimination, and supporting traditional agricultural practices. The essay emphasizes the government's role in providing education, infrastructure, and security to all citizens.

Running head: AFRICAN STUDIES
African Studies
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Nature of the Issue
The term colonialism means the rule or dominance of one country over the other. This
control is established through the social, political and economic spheres. This colonialism
began in Africa during the latter half of 1400s. The colonizers were the Europeans who had
arrived in Africa and settled down there. They wanted to establish trade posts in Africa and
utilize the resources and the labour for the trade purposes. However with time, the Europeans
realized that Africa has richly adorned with natural resources so the Europeans slowly started
exploiting the same. Europeans became greedy and wanted to utilize the huge natural
resource of Africa for fulfilling their personal goals and objectives (Rosa, 2014).
Why this issue is a concern
The Europeans started ill-treating the inhabitants of Africa. They started
overpowering the African people and also made them accept the European standards of living
under compulsion. The Europeans thus did not make attempts to uplift the Africans but
utilized them for their own good (Fitzgerald, 2014). However, just as there are two sides of
the same coin any move or historical revolution also has both advantages and disadvantages.
Same was the case with colonialism in Africa. With the arrival of the colonizers that is the
Europeans within Africa, there came many European influences that changed the lifestyles of
the Africans (Duignan & Gann, 2013). There was a large scale development brought in the
field of science and technology. There was a great improvement in the electricity production
and electricity generation and also in the field of transportation and communication.
At the same time one has to, look into the deeper layers of these improvements that
the Europeans brought in Africa. There was a large scale development brought in the social,
cultural, legal; and economic system of Africa. The very first form of colonialism was seen
through the arrival of the Christian missionaries who wanted to convert the Africans into

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Christianity. However not every African gave their consent in this conversion and they were
often forced by the missionaries (Lloyd, Metzer, & Sutch, 2013). The Christian missionaries
took the undue advantage of the illiteracy and the ignorance of the Africans and wanted them
to give up their own religion and adhere to Christianity. The Christian missionaries acted as
the connector between the Africans and the Europeans. These missionaries claimed to give
their assistance in solving disputes between the Europeans and the Africans. However there
was also a trick hidden behind it (Lloyd, Metzer & Sutch 2013). The Christian missionaries
moulded the minds of the Africans with several false ideas and beliefs that made them refuse
the advices of their own local chiefs. Though the European colonizers promised to bring
several developments in the legal system as well but in reality they wanted to establish the
policy of divide and rule. Many African rulers had either joined hands with the colonizers or
they were totally reluctant in looking towards the needs and demands of the native Africans
who were under their jurisdiction. The Europeans took the advantage of this and called for
partition. However this partition was not done in order to establish a sound legal system for
the Africans but was done only for the benefit of the colonizers. This was evident from the
fact that the partition was not done in a planed manner. It was not done evenly (Agbor, 2015).
In other words the division of the different provinces of Africa was not evenly done. There
was a very bad and uneven method of distribution of the natural resources. The uneven
partition of the continent of Africa had greatly upset the existing legal system (Davidson,
2014). This is because after this uneven and disorganized partition some provinces had one
border like that of Gambia whereas there were many borders like that of Mali, which had
seven borders. So, it was easy bait for all the criminals and anti socials to carry on illegal
activities like that of smuggling without any fear. It was really very difficult to provide
security over a large and uneven partitioned country. However at the same time it is this
partition that has helped the African people to become independent.

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The transportation and communication infrastructure was built during this period.
However it was well connected only to the areas that were the bases for trading in cash crops.
The transportation system was not properly distributed in the colonies. The colonizers forced
the Africans to cultivate cash crops, each crop by each province which the colonizers could
export and earn money (Rosa, 2014).
As a result of this, the Africans were forced to produce that what they did not
consume and this greatly hampered the traditional agricultural practices of Africa. So, the net
result that was seen during this colonialism was that the poor were not gaining anything. The
rich became richer and the poor became poorer. The rich section of Africa was given the path
to walk towards the summit of Globalization. It is because of the influence of Western world
that several trade links were opened for Africa. It is also needless to say that it so the
European influences that is responsible for bringing in the modern technologies. So, it can be
said that the rich section of the Africa has been benefited to a great deal from the colonization
but the poor sections of the society gained nothing (Agbor, 2015). It was because of this
colonialism that slave trade emerged in South Africa. The colonizers wanted labour from the
African civilization.
Steps being taken to address the issue
The steps that can be taken to deal with this issue can be done in many different ways.
The first and foremost step that can be taken is to make sure that both the rich and the poor
people get the equal opportunities (Lloyd, Metzer & Sutch 2013). As it is known that it was
only the rich upper class people of the society who were benefitted from colonialism, the
class discrimination has to be removed. Slave trade is one of the major evil impacts of
colonialism which was mainly imposed on the poor sections of the society. Government has
to make sure that the natives of Africa are not smuggled to other countries. Everyone must

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have the freedom of living as free people and freedom must not be kept concentrated only
among the richer sections of society.
What must be done about the Issue
It is the prior duty of the Government to make sure that there are equal opportunities
available to all classes of people. There must not be any discrimination made between people
based on their skin colour or their economic status. As colonialism was beneficial only to the
richer sections of the society, the sufferings of the poor were always unheard. They were
denied the right of getting educated. So, the Government must make sure that ample support
is given to the poor sections of society. They must be given proper educational facilities. It is
the duty of the Government to support them financially (Agbor, 2015). There must be proper
distribution of electricity among all classes of people. People living in the remote sections of
the society must be getting proper electricity and water supply. The roadways and railways
must not be connected only to the rich and posh industrial areas rather they must be
connecting the remote regions to the main cities (Davidson, 2014). This will help the poor
people to get a smooth transportation facility. Proper security has to be imposed on the
borders so that no slave trade or human trafficking can take place. The Government must also
boost up the traditional agricultural activities of Africa which were overlooked and
suppressed during the colonial rule.

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References
Agbor, J. A. (2015). 13 How does colonial origin matter for economic performance in Sub-
Saharan Africa?. Growth and institutions in African development, 117, 309.
Akyeampong, E., Bates, R. H., Nunn, N., & Robinson, J. (Eds.). (2014). Africa's development
in historical perspective. Cambridge University Press.
Davidson, B. (2014). Modern Africa: A social and political history. Routledge.
Duignan, P., & Gann, L. H. (2013). Burden of empire: an appraisal of Western colonialism in
Africa south of the Sahara. Hoover Press.
Fitzgerald, T. (2014). Religion and the secular: Historical and colonial formations.
Routledge.
Lloyd, C., Metzer, J., & Sutch, R. (2013). Settler economies in world history. Brill.
Rosa, M. C. (2014). Theories of the South: Limits and perspectives of an emergent movement
in social sciences. Current Sociology, 62(6), 851-867.