Question

Examine some of the main (internal or external) reasons why the African people were to develop into nation states later than most experts feel was appropriate/normal. Examine the role of European imperial powers and the role of tribal chieftans in the international slave trade and African nation state development.

Answer 1

The development of Africa into a nation state was a long and treacherous road. There were many barriers that would cause the development to take longer than usual. In the 16th century, international slave trades began after the New World. These slave trades soon got out of hand when African tribal chieftains began collaborating with slave traders, such as the English, French, Dutch, and North Americans, to punish rival tribes and curry favors with the whites (Yardley, 2014). By the middle of the 18th century, the slave trade was at it’s peak and led to the European imperial powers seeking colonial conquest. The Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 was the start of colonization within Africa where European powers divided up Africa by themselves and started administering their new colonies (Heldring & Robinson, 2013). This has now become known as the ‘Scramble for Africa’ and has been considered by experts as a primary reason behind why it took so long for Africa to become a nation state. “This 19th century map was drawn up with no regard to the boundaries between different ethnic groups, linguistic variations, and regional power bases” (BBC World Service, n.d.). With European imperial powers taking control in an effort to colonize, the task of forming a national unity with this divide was proven to be difficult. The colonization had plenty of benefits such as improve transportation, sanitation, medical care, and communication facilities but these benefits were distributed very unequally and a vast majority of African citizens found little to no improvement in their lives (Duiker, 2015). Unequal distribution between colonies, improperly divided borders, and improper colonization from the European imperial powers are what primarily caused Africa to fall behind in development of a nation state.