Posted: August 26th, 2022

Challenge for Africa

Challenge for Africa
Between the 17th and 19th centuries, the whole of the Africa continent experienced European military attacks, bellicosity, diplomatic pressure and finally defeat and colonization. Simultaneously, African communities set up numerous types of opposition to counter any effort to colonize and spread western culture. In the early 20th century, much of the African countries apart from for Liberia and Ethiopia had been colonized by European imperialists (Maathai 10). European colony moves to African was motivated by social, economic, and political factors.
Therefore, there are quite a lot of social, economic, and political effects of European colonialism on African communities. Firstly, colonialism had both negative and positive effects on the African economy. From a positive perspective, the economy expanded greatly due to the increased demand for African produce on the global markets. Also, the production of goods and services increased due to the use of new technology and techniques. This leads to a drastic improvement in the quality of life and living standards. On the other hand, colonialism leads to the exploitation of natural resources such as gold, diamond, and ivory (Maathai 98). Europeans imperialist exhaustively mined natural minerals that were transported to Europe as raw material for their economic gain. They also brought dangerous diseases to local communities that affected the livestock. Europeans fought for the Africans against their enemy. This reduced local and tribal clashes. Indigenous societies were originally okay with their specific structure of governance. But, the use of intimidating imperial rule devastated leadership that was there before. On the social aspect, the introduction of Christianity in some African countries brought opportunities. Missionaries built schools to educate people and assist them to study their culture. Mission hospitals were also established to serve local communities. Some of the negative social effects are that African culture was eluded and traditions destroyed due to the introduction of western culture (Maathai 100). They coerced Africans to learn their language, eat western food and taught them dressing styles.
Besides, African independent nations inherited numerous problems from the colonial state. First, independent nations inherited undemocratic colonial systems of governance. This includes a single-party system where the ruling president encounters opposition. Though several political parties are allowed to contest for the presidential election, the ruling party banned any activity by the opposition. Also, contemporary African countries adopted the colonial central system of authority that is characterized by authoritarian and dictatorial political values. The colonial government did not create favorable conditions to establish democratic institutions that would conduct free and credible elections (Maathai 111). In fact, in some countries like Nigeria colonial government would manipulate elections to make sure their allies win. Hence, present African elections are marred with irregularities and post-election violence. African nations inherited poor quality of education. This is because colonial masters used weak curriculum and incompetent teachers to implement the same. Up to date, some of the countries do not have enough skilled teachers and lack a skill-based curriculum that would produce employable graduates. Still, the colonial government committed Africa to a policy of unequal development in society (Maathai 112). Some areas were more developed than the other. This is a problem whose effect is still felt today in some parts of Africa.
Moreover, there have been several obstacles to development in African nations. Firstly, poor infrastructures have been a key obstacle to economic development. Road and railway transport are largely used in Africa but they are still experiencing breakdown after being in operation for long with maintenance. Hence, it leads to poor economic growth. Majority of the countries in Africa experience power outages. Most of the processing and manufacturing firms rely on electric power, hence power breakdown lead to poor productivity. Secondly, corruption and embezzlement of public funds is a major constraint in economic development. Public officers and politicians in charge of community projects use allocated funds for their gain (Maathai 120). African countries like Kenya and Nigeria lose approximately 75 billion per year through corruption hampering economic, political, and social growth. Lastly, political instability is a significant hurdle to development in Africa. Countries like Somalia, Nigeria, and southern Sudan are some of the African nations affected by tribal wars.
Johnsons’ analysis of colonial rule in Africa is not accurate. This is because he did not consider the negative consequences colonial authority had on the community. The colonial government invaded African countries to benefit from unexploited resources but not to help indigenous people. Johnsons’ analysis had some strength which includes critical research of the events, their progress, and a strong understanding of colonialism in Africa (Maathai 200). However, his analysis did not access the impacts of the poor colonial governance on the social-economic and political wellbeing of the African community. Furthermore, his description decolonization of Africa is not a solution since it challenges affecting African nations can be addressed by Africa itself.
Africa can initiate social, economic, and political growth by considering various ideas about a plan for the future. African nations should endeavor to develop a sound policy that would tackle corruption decisively. Also, investing in expanding infrastructure would trigger the growth of industries creating more jobs for unemployed graduates. Another idea is the development of a self-sufficient education system (Maathai 218). This is an educational framework that would produce skilled manpower to work in industries or create self-employment. Finally, Africa in the future must have leaders of integrity and good governance.
To conclude, colonization had both positive and negative consequences on economic, social and political issues. African nations inherited various problems from the colonial government such as poor governance, oppressive regime, and poor education system. Some of these problems form an obstacle for development. Johnsons’ analysis of colonial rule in Africa is inaccurate in some sense. Africa should eliminate corruption, improve infrastructure, and establish a competency-based education system in the future.

Works Cited
Maathai, Wangari. “Challenge for Africa.” Sustainability Science 6.1 (2011): 1-400

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