Analysis of Colonialism and Its Impact in Africa
Colonialism is the direct and overall domination of one country by another on the basis of state power being in the hands of a foreign power (For example, the direct and overall domination of Nigeria by Britain between 1900-1960). The fi rst objective of colonialism is political domination. Its second objective is to make possible the exploitation of the colonized country. When we talk of colonialism in Africa we are talking of phenomenon which took place between 1800-1960s. It is a phenomenon which is part and parcel of another phenomenon called imperialism. In fact, colonialism is a direct form of imperialism. This is why it is often said that “all colonialism is imperialism, but not all imperialism is colonialism”. Colonialism began as a result of changes in the mode of production in Europe (For example, the emergence of industrial revolution). The industrial revolution ushered in a new process of production in place of the earlier slave-based economy. The industrial revolution was a revolutionary trend in the history of mankind. The problem of how to lubricate machineries came up with the emergence of the industrial revolution. The slave trade and slavery have by this time fulfilled their basic function of providing the primitive capital. The quest for the investment of the accumulated capital and the need for raw materials led to the colonization of Africa. The main focus of the study is on the analysis of colonialism and its impact in Africa. The work will be
examined under two broad headings. The first is the
reasons for colonization of Africa and the strategies used to achieve the colonial objectives. The second is the impacts of colonialism in Africa. 
The colonization of Africa by European powers was
necessitated by several factors. Notable, among the factors was the emergence of the industrial revolution which brought about a rapid change in the socio-economic transformation and technology of the European countries. The industrial revolution led to increase in production.
The progress in the industry went faster than the progress in agriculture. It was becoming increasingly hard or
diffi cult for the agriculture to satisfy the demand for raw materials required in the industries. There was therefore,
the need for the European powers, for example, the British to go outside the country to look for additional raw materials. Furthermore, as a result of the decline in agricultural production, there was the problem of how to produce enough or adequate food to feed the fast growing urban population. In other words, the rural areas in
Britain for example, were fi nding it increasingly diffi cult to produce enough food to feed the increasing urban population. Similarly, there was also need for market, not only for the production of raw materials but for food to sustain the increasing population. As a result of rapid increase in technology, new products were produced at a faster rate than the populations could dispose of. Africa
with her large population constituted a ready market for such products. Furthermore, as result of low wages
paid to workers, there was accumulation of profits by
the industrialists at a faster rate than they could invest
back. There was under-utilization of capital in Europe at
this time, and a need to fi nd where these capitals will be
transported and invested for the creation of new products.
It was during this process of investment of the surplus
capital that imperialism emerged.
Chinweizu (1978, p. 35) while discussing the European
conquest of Africa noted that “when Europe pioneered
industrial capitalism, her demands upon the resources of
the world increased tremendously. In addition to obtaining
spices for her tables and manpower for her mines and
plantations in the Americas, Europe set out to seize for
her factories the mineral and agricultural resources of
all the world. Her need to take African manpower to the
Americas declined. She needed instead to put African
labour to work in Africa, digging up for her the riches
of African mines; the trading companies that had for
centuries bought and sold on Africa’s coast were found
inadequate for seizing and carting off the raw materials
of the African hinterland. Europe now felt a need to
export her power into Africa’s interior to reorganize the
farms, mines and markets for Europe’s greater profit.
Her adventures banded together, obtained charters from
their national governments, and came to seize the African
markets, from the African middlemen with whom for
centuries Europe had been content to trade. Africa’s
coastal rulers naturally resisted all encroachments and
battled to maintain the status quo. They strove to retain
their position as middlemen, importing and distributing
European wares to the hinterland, and collecting produce
from the hinterland markets and selling it to European
merchants who came to the coast. The new breed of
European merchants, however, wanted direct access to the
hinterland markets so that, by eliminating the profi ts of the
African middlemen, they could enlarge European profi ts
and directly supervise African production. The situation
was ripe for conflict”. There was a severe struggle and
confl ict between the colonialists and the African chiefs in
the attempt to take full control of the African economy.
The colonialists needed raw materials for their industries
and the way the African economies were organized at
the time, they were not sure of steady supply of the
required raw materials. This situation necessitated the
quest for direct take over and control of the economy and
administration of the African enclaves and states. The
colonialists had to direct the economy in such a way that
the required raw materials were produced. For example,
if the colonialists required palm oil for their soap making
industry, they had to compel Africans to concentrate on
the production of this commodity in commercial quantities
so that the industry concerned could have adequate and
steady supply of this product. If the colonialists did not
take full control and direct production in the economy,
the African people who are the producers might decide to
produce yams more than palm oil, because this might be
what was in high demand within the local economy.
The colonialists also had to take direct control of
the African economy and political administration in
order to produce the type of food required for their
industrial workers back home. One of the reasons for the
colonization of Africa as we know is that the colonialists
required additional food supply and spices for the fast
increasing urban population as a result of the industrial
revolution. The industrial revolution initially came with
decline in agricultural production in Europe and as a
result it was hard for the rural areas to produce enough
food for the increasing urban population. There was
therefore the need for market not only for the population
of raw materials but for the food to sustain the increasing
population.
Similarly, there was need for the colonialist to take
direct control of the African economy and political
administration in order to reorganize the economy and the
markets to make it possible for integration into the world
IMPACT OF COLONIALISM IN AFRICA
The major impact of colonialism in African is that it
brought about the under-development of African territories
in many different ways. It is usually argued in favour of
colonialism that it brought western education and hence
western civilization to the shores of Africa which by
implication is a positive contribution towards African
development. This argument will appear to be true on
the surface level or superfi cially, but if it is subjected to
critical analysis, it will reveal the hollowness or emptiness
of colonial education which is partially responsible for
the present African underdevelopment. The colonial
education was not rooted in African culture and therefore
could not foster any meaningful development within the
African environment because it had no organic linkage.
Furthermore, colonial education was essentially literary; it
had no technological base and therefore antithetical to real
or industrial development.
The poor technological base of most of the present
day African states, which has been responsible for their
underdevelopment stems from their poor foundation of
education laid by the colonialists. Colonial education
essentially aimed at training clerks, interpreters,
produce inspectors, artisans, etc., which would help
them in the exploitation of the Africa’s rich resources.
Colonial education did not aim at industrialization
of African territories or at stimulating technological
development within the African environment. Colonial
education brought about distortion and disarticulation
in African indigenous pattern of education which was rooted in African technology. Before fully embracing
colonial education, Africans were good technologists,
advancing at their own rates with the resources within
their environment. For example, Africans were good
sculptors, carvers, cloth weavers, miners, blacksmiths, etc.
They were able to provide and satisfy the technological
need of the various African societies. The introduction
of colonial education made Africans to abandon their
indigenous technological skills and education in
preference to one which mainly emphasizes reading
and writing. This was the prelude or foundation for the
present poor technological base of African states which
has perpetuated their underdevelopment. As we know,
education that is not deeply rooted in a people’s culture
and environment cannot bring about any meaningful
technological advancement. This has aptly been shown
in the unsuccessful attempt at the so-called technological
transfer, which is more of a myth than reality.
Another important impact of colonialism in Africa
is the disarticulation of their economy. Colonialism
distorted African pattern of economic development
in many different ways. There was disarticulation in
production of goods, markets, traders, transport, provision
of social amenities and pattern of urbanization etc. the
colonialists introduced a pattern of international division
of labour which was to the disadvantage of Africans.
They assigned to Africa the role of production of raw
materials and primary products for use by their industries
at home. Africans were not allowed nor encouraged to
go into manufacturing. The only industries Africans were
encouraged to build were those that would facilitate in the
processing of the raw materials for export. The African
raw materials were bought at a very low price while
manufactured goods from abroad were sold at expensive
price. This situation accounted for the impoverishment of
most Africans.
There was also disarticulation in the type of goods
produced by Africans. The colonialists compelled
Africans to concentrate in the production of goods meant
for export. Africans were not encouraged to produce those
goods required by the local population. This made many
Africans to abandon the production of food items required
to feed the teeming and growing population. The effect
of this was food shortage and escalation in food prices.
The present day situation where Africans now import their
food is a carry-over from colonialism. The point being
stressed here is that colonialism distorted the satisfaction
of local needs in terms of food production and other
requirements in preference to production and satisfaction
of foreign needs especially the industries.
Colonialism also disarticulated African markets and
trades. The traditional or original African marketing
centres were distorted by colonialism. Most of the
traditional African marketing centres or routes were
formed based on local needs. When colonialism came and
introduced a different need, this changed the original or
traditional marketing centers to new marketing centres
because it rendered them irrelevant. Colonialists created
new marketing centres and routes where their required
raw materials could be easily bought and evacuated back
home. This led to the gradual decay or death of most of the
original or traditional marketing centres thereby distorting
African pattern of development and urbanization. As we
know, most of these traditional African market centres
constituted the traditional or original African centres.
Colonialism also made African trade to be mainly exportimport oriented.
It integrated African trade and economy prematurely
into the world market and international trade. It is a
known fact that before a local economy fully integrates
itself into the world economy or trade, it must have
developed adequately its internal dynamics and forces of
production. The consequences of premature integration is
that such economy will be hijacked by the more advanced
ones; and the vagaries in international trade will make
the country concerned a perpetual debtor. Furthermore,
premature integration cannot absorb shock from the
international market and will never enjoy trade balance
or comparative advantage. The export-import orientation
pattern of African economy introduced by colonialism
does not allow for accelerator and multiplier effects
necessary for economy advancement and development.
The raw materials produced by Africans were not used by
industries located in Africa but abroad. Therefore, there
was no organic linkage between the agricultural sector and
the industrial sector in Africa. Consequently, the African
economy could not move forward because the surplus
profi t appropriated from the economy by the colonialists
are not ploughed back or spent within the economy.
This is where the accelerator and multiplier effects
necessary for economy advancement and development
come in. As we know, goods and services are sold for
profit and income generation. If for example, Japan, an
industrialized nation sells Sanyo television to an African
state which could be Nigeria, the money paid for the
product serves as profit and income for the television
company located in Japan. If the company uses the money
paid to it to buy something in Japan, it helps to accelerate
the economy of Japan. This accelerator effect was
totally absent in African territories during the period of
colonialism. The absence of the accelerator factor/effect,
created the propensity for Africans to keep importing
continuously from outside without depending on their
own goods.
Furthermore, the multiplier effect concerns the reinvestment of profit appropriate from an economy. For
example, under a normal economy and circumstance,
when a profi t is made from an economy, it is re-invested
to stimulate and generate new profi t. The profi t can be reinvested into new enterprises within the economy. The
re-investment of accumulated profit into an economy
helps the economy to move very fast and to generate newprofi ts. The ability of re-invested profi t to bring out new
profi t is referred to as multiplier effect. This was absent in
the African economy during colonialism. This is because
the colonialists did not re-invest profi ts appropriated from
the African economy, rather they transferred the profits
abroad for the development of their home economy. This
greatly accounted for the present underdevelopment of
most African economies.
The colonialists distorted and disarticulated the
development of a comprehensive transport system in
Africa. The transport network developed was not to link
different towns and rural areas for purpose of effective
communication and development. Transport routes
were built by the colonialists to enable them to evacuate
easily the raw materials from their sources or base to the
destination point where they could be effectively exported
abroad. The transport network developed was essentially
rails and seaports. There was no good effort to develop
an organised road network which would help to improve
the lives of the African people and their interaction with
their relations in the different parts of the territories. The
distorted, disjointed, and disarticulated transport system
developed by the colonialists did not allow for effective
agricultural and economic integration within the different
parts of the African enclaves and territories. There was
therefore absence of economic integration and cooperation
among the African territories during the period of
colonialism. Colonialism also brought about disarticulation in the
provision of social amenities and the urbanization pattern in Africa. Most of the little social amenities provided
during the colonial period were concentrated at a place.
This made most people to migrate from the rural areas
where these amenities were virtually non-extent to
colonial urban centres where they could be found. The
consequence of this was the struggle and over-use of these
amenities and the attendant overcrowding of the areas
(cities) and the problems of urbanization. The consequent
problems of disarticulation of provision of amenities and
urbanization include rural urban migration, overcrowding,
filthy and slump environment, poor hygienic condition,
spread of epidemic disease, social vices, tribal and ethnic
problems etc. The management of the above problems
created by colonial distortion and disarticulation of
amenities and urbanization on Africa has remained a
single most important problem confronting African states
today.
Another important impact of colonialism in Africa
was the emergence and institutionalization of classes and
class struggle in the socio-economic and political life
of the people. Colonialism aided a clear emergence and
development of classes in Africa. These classes include
comprador bourgeoisie, petty bourgeoisie, proletariat and
the peasant. The African petty bourgeoisie serve as the
conveyor belt through which the colonialists exploited
and siphoned the economy of African countries. There is a great harmony of interest between the African petty
bourgeoisie and the European comprador bourgeois. This
was why during the period of political independence, it
was the African petty bourgeois that got the mantle of
leadership. The African petty bourgeois maintained the
same relationship with the erstwhile colonial masters
and this is why they run the economy and political
administration of their states in the same manner as the
colonialists did.
Most of the African leaders or petty bourgeois
maintain strong link with their erstwhile colonial masters.
The African petty bourgeoisie maintained the long
exploitation of the proletariat and the peasant classes.
The rampant and complex nature of political instability
and socio-economic malaise being experienced in most
African states today has recourse to the nature and
character of classes introduced in Africa by colonialism.
The economic and other resources of Africa are shared
between the petty bourgeoisie and their European/colonial
counterparts, even in this contemporary time. The nature
of political power struggle and distribution of wealth as
well as economic resources in the contemporary African
state are a refl ection of the understanding and harmony of
interest between the African petty bourgeoisie and their
colonial partners/friends. The severe impoverishment
of most Africans by their petty bourgeois leaders and
marginalisation as well as oppression of the masses by
those who have access to state power are offshoot of
colonialism or colonial hang-over among African states.
CONCLUSION
Colonization of Africa was not a very easy one. The
colonialists fought with the chiefs and the African
middlemen at the coast before they could penetrate into
the hinterland or interior.
The reasons for acquisition of colonies by the
colonialists as we have earlier mentioned include: the
need for raw materials; the search for new market for the
metropolitan industries where their surplus manufactured
products as a result of the industrial revolution could
be sold; the need to provide more food for the growing
urban industrial population; and the need to fi nd a place
where the surplus accumulated profi t from the industrial
revolution could be invested to make more profi t.
The African colonies or territories were grouped into
different categories. There were colonies that were sources
of minerals; colonies for plantation crops; colonies for
European settlement and colonies for peasant production.
The colonies under the first three categories include
Congo, South Africa, Zimbabwe, etc. The colonies under
the last category which is peasant production include
Nigeria, Ghana, etc., also some of the colonies were
selected as labour reserved while some others were simply
trading areas.
The colonialists had different policies for their
colonies. For example, Britain used the system of indirect
rule. Indirect rule policy concerns with the ruling of the
people through their own people or traditional institutions
with a close supervision from the British government. Also
the French, another major colonizing European power in
Africa, used the policy of assimilation and associations.
Assimilation concerns with the total integration of the
French colonial colonies into the main French government
in Paris. Association policy came at a later stage as a result
of the problems the French government encountered from
their initial application of the policy of assimilation. The
French assimilated the “assimilatables” and associated
with the “unassimilatables”. In the Belgium-Congo, the
policy was different from that of the British and French,
and this was also applicable to other European colonizing
powers in Africa.
Colonialism had a devastating effect or impacts on
the African colonies. It is responsible for the present
situation explained by Walter Rodney in his book, How
Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Also, this fact was vividly
articulated in Chinweizu, The West and the Rest of Us.
Colonialism introduced a dichotomy between the centre
and the periphery nations. The periphery nations are
exploited by the centre nations. The periphery nations
produce raw materials which are expropriated by the
centre nations. Africa is periphery nation as a result of
her colonization. African colonies produced raw materials
which were expropriated by the colonialists (centre
nations).
Furthermore, colonialism introduced a dual economic
structure within the African economy. It also brought
about disarticulation of African economy, education, trade,
market, transport and currency institution. Colonialism
made African colonies dependent by introducing a monocultural economy for the territories. It also dehumanized
African labour force and traders. It forced Africans to
work in colonial plantations at very low wages and
displaced them from their lands. Similarly, the business of
African traders or middlemen were taken over from them
and controlled by the colonialists.
Colonialism did not allow for industrialization of
Africa. It assigned Africa the role of production of
primary goods or raw materials in the international
division of labour. Colonialism encouraged and intensifi ed
class struggle, tribalism and ethnicity within the African
colonies. These were strategies introduced by the
colonialists in order to perpetuate or prolong their rule
and domination of African territories. An example is the
British colonial policy of “Divide and Rule” in Nigeria.
Finally, colonialism shaped both the economic and
political structure of African colonies to be in line with the
need of the metropolis. It ensured that African economic
and political structures both in form and content serve the
interest of their home government (European powers).
Colonialism therefore, in all intents and purposes was a
disservice to Africa. 
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