African Economic DevelopmentSpring 2007

Pre-colonial and colonial periodsLecture by Dr R. Serra

First European contacts

15th C.: Portuguese pioneers venture along the coasts

16th-17th C: English, Dutch and French outposts 1652: the Dutch establish the “Cape colony” First interest in Africa initially was from:

traders missionaries explorers

Traders became more and more interested in slaves as main export from Africa

Atlantic slave trade

Slave trade existed already in Africa Uniqueness of Atlantic slave trade due to:

numbers involved (over 12 millions) human suffering demographic effects (halved 1850 African population) socio-economic impact (European merchants and American

economy thrived, most of Africa declined) cultural consequences: notion of the African ‘savage’ political effects: import of firearms increased conflicts

Africa integrated into the “triangular trade” system, but got the weakest share

Triangular Trade Route

Critical dates

1440s: first slaves were taken to Portugal 1518: first slaves dispatched across the Atlantic.

Britain, the Netherlands and France started to compete with Spain and Portugal for a share of the profits of slavery

1770s: opposition to slavery begins in Britain 1807: Britain declared buying, transporting and selling

of slaves illegal 1833: illegal to own slaves

under-6 children were freed, all others became ‘apprentices’ working for free for 6 years

1838: apprenticeships outlawed as exploitative 1865: end of slavery with the end of the Civil War

Exploration and conquest

EXPLORATION: Mungo Park’s first expedition to the Niger (1795) David Livingstone explores central Africa (1850s) and reaches

Victoria falls HM Stanley travels to central Africa and helps king Leopold II Christian missionaries, African Americans and former slaves

follow with their missions, trade activities, and new settlementsBUT the Europeans were then still hugely ignorant of the continent

CONQUEST: Portuguese, British and French colonies limited to the coast 1884: Berlin conference: the ‘scramble for Africa’ begins Principle of “effective occupation” led to conquest Conquest was not easy, due to local oppositions By 1905 most of Africa was under European rule

European presence up to 1884

Reasons for conquest

End of slavery required changes in world trade Need to sustain European industrialization:

Demand for cheap raw materials Need for a large market for industrial products

Political competition among European powers Cultural factors: the myth of the “white

superiority” and the “civilizing mission” Evangelization

African colonies: evolution

Africa in the early 20th century

Modes of colonial governance

British Indirect rule (especially in West Africa)Areas for permanent English settlers (as in

Kenya and Zimbabwe)French

Direct rule through French prefectsThe politics of ‘assimilation’

Political effects of colonization

Artificial boundaries and political units Destruction of the normal course of

institutional evolution Creation of divisions among Africans Weakening of the power and authority of local

chiefs both in direct and indirect rule modes Weak political states and institutions

Economic effects

Taxation People forced to work for wage to pay taxes Conversion from food to cash crops

Exploitation of mineral and environmental resources Transformation of the rural economy, social structure,

labor and gender relations, and migration patterns Specialization in primary products The ‘White settlers’: many Africans experience

landlessness Foreign companies penetrate the mining sector Creation of uneven progress within Africa

Social effects

Exacerbations of ethnic divisionsRacial tensionsGulf between African elites and the restTension between European and African

cultures, manners, habitsEx: formal (‘white’ or ‘mission’) education

and traditional educationAfricans’ lack of self-confidence

Africa and the World War II

Africans fought the war in all major continents: many died or were prisoners

Compensation afterwards was limited African economies were further squeezed and their

dependence on primary exports deepened But import-substituting industries were established Trade unions became very important

People’s political consciousness was raised European rule came under closer questioning Africans joined with progressive voices, in Europe and

USA, in putting pressure on Europeans to end colonization

Towards independence

The Pan-African movement from DuBois to nationalism

Resistance to colonial powers deepens and becomes less episodic after WWII

Organized political liberation movements African elites in Europe and North America

Independence

1956: Sudan 1957: Ghana 1958: Guinea 1960: 14 French colonies + Nigeria 1963: The Organization of African Unity created to end

colonialism and promote unity and cooperation The great challenge: “create nations where there were

only states”