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The
Modern World
Civilizations of Africa
VOLUME 1
(c) 2011 M.E. Sharpe, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Set Contents
The Modern World
Vol. 1: Civilizations of Africa
Vol. 2: Civilizations of Europe
Vol. 3: Civilizations of the Americas
Vol. 4: Civilizations of the Middle East and Southwest Asia
Vol. 5: Civilizations of Asia and the Pacific

The Modern World
Civilizations of Africa
Volume 1
GENERAL EDITOR
Sarolta Takács, Ph.D.
Rutgers University

DEVELOPED, DESIGNED, AND PRODUCED BY DWJ BOOKS LLC
Principal Author: Karen H. Meyers
SHARPE REFERENCE
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a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the copyright holders.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The modern world / Sarolta Takács, general editor.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7656-8096-9 (set: alk. paper)
1. Civilization, Modern—Encyclopedias.
2. World history—Encyclopedias.
I. Takács, Sarolta A.
CB357.M65 2008
903—dc22
2007044253
Printed and bound in Malaysia

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials.
ansi z 39.48.1984
TI (c) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover images (clockwise, from top left) were provided by Getty Images and the
following: Travel Ink/Gallo Images; Per-Anders; Michael J.P. Scott/Stone; Tilly Willis/
The Bridgeman Art Library; Michael Lewis/National Geographic.

Contents
List of Illustrations vii Famine 67

Topic Finder ix French West Africa 68
GREAT LIVES: Ahmed Sékou Touré 70
Preface xi
German Colonies 71
The Most Diverse Continent xii Imperialism 73
Map of Modern Africa xvi Independence Movements 75
Italian Colonies 80
African Union 1 TURNING POINT: The Treaty of Wuchale 81
Agriculture 4 INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY:
Algeria 9 Return of the Aksum Obelisk 83
Apartheid 10 Language 84
GREAT LIVES: Nelson Mandela 13 Liberia 88
Art and Architecture 15 INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY:
Aswan High Dam 19 Al-Qaeda in Africa 89

Boer War 21 Literature and Writing 90
British Colonies in Africa 22 Migration 96
GREAT LIVES: Cecil Rhodes 25 Nigeria 97
Civil Wars 27 TURNING POINT: Biafran War, 1967–1970 99
INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: Pan-African Movement 101
Blood Diamonds 28 Portuguese Colonies 102
Colonization 30 Refugees 103
TURNING POINT:
Religion 104
Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 33
INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY:
Communist Movements 34 Islamic Politics in Africa 108
Congo 36 Rwanda 110
GREAT LIVES: Mobutu Sese Seko 38
Slavery and the Slave Trade 113
Culture and Traditions 39
Society 116
Democratic Movements 44 INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY:
Drought 48 AIDS in Africa 117
Economic Development and Trade 49 Somalia 121
Egypt 54 South Africa 122
GREAT LIVES: Muhammad Ali Pasha 56 MODERN WEAPONS: Nuclear Testing 125
GREAT LIVES: Gamal Abdel Nasser 57 TURNING POINT: 1994 Free Elections 127
Environmental Issues 58 Sudan 128
Eritrea 62 INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY:
Darfur 129
Ethiopia 63
GREAT LIVES: Haile Selassie 65 Suez Canal 131
GREAT LIVES: Menelik II 66 Technology and Inventions 133

vi CONTENTS
Tools and Weapons 137

MODERN WEAPONS: NeoStead 2000 139
MODERN WEAPONS: The Military Innovations
of Shaka Zulu 138
Tutsis and Hutus 140
Uganda 142
GREAT LIVES: Idi Amin 143
Glossary 145
Selected Bibliography 149
Index 153

List of Illustrations
Time Lines Maps
Modern World Time Line Endpapers
Map of Modern Africa xvi
Rise and Fall of Apartheid 12
British Colonies in Africa, ca. 1913 24
Modern African Art and Architecture 16
Major Civil Wars, Border Disputes,
Communist Movements, and Guerilla Activities in Modern
1920–1992 35 Africa, 1960–Present 29
Democracy in Modern Africa 45 Africa on the Eve of the Berlin
Conference, 1884–1885 32
Independence Movements,
1912–1994 76 Gross Domestic Product of African
Countries 51
Landmarks in African Literature,
1845–2006 93 Climate Map of Africa 59
African Religions, 1324–2005 106 French Colonies in Africa in the
Early 1900s 69
South Africa, 1488–Present 123
Official Languages in Modern
Technology in Africa 134
Africa 85
The African Slave Trade, 1700–1810 114
The Boer War and the Union of
South Africa, 1899–1910 124

viii L I S T O F I L L U S T R AT I O N S
Photos Kwame Nkrumah signing

African Charter 77
African Union delegates 2
Modern African writer Chinua
River Nile and fertile floodplain 6
Achebe 92
Kente Cloth 18
Nigerian oil rig 98
Aswan High Dam 20
Christian church and Islamic
Mobutu Sese Seko 37 mosque 107
Initiation rite for tribal youth 42 Paul Kagame, President of
the Republic of Rwanda 111
Shopping mall in Soweto,
South Africa 52 Nelson Mandela released
from prison 126
Pyramids at Giza and Cairo 55
Sudanese refugees 130
African elephant killed for ivory
tusks 60 Expedition against
the Aros of Nigeria 135
Haile Selassie 64
Tutsi refugees from 1994 civil war
Sudanese famine victims 68
in Rwanda 141

Topic Finder
Civilizations and Peoples Notable Figures
British Colonies in Africa Nelson Mandela (see Apartheid)
Colonization Cecil Rhodes (see British Colonies in
Tutsis and Hutus Africa)
Mobutu Sese Seko (see Congo)
Culture and Language Muhammad Ali Pasha (see Egypt)
Agriculture Gamal Abdel Nasser (see Egypt)
Art and Architecture Menelik II (see Ethiopia)
Culture and Traditions Haile Selassie (see Ethiopia)
Economic Development and Trade Ahmed Séiko Touré (see French West
Environmental Issues Africa)
Language Idi Amin (see Uganda)
Literature and Writing
Periods and Events
General Topics African Union
Agriculture Colonization
Art and Architecture Communist Movements
Colonization Democratic Movements
Culture and Traditions Environmental Issues
Democratic Movements Independence Movements
Drought Pan-African Movement
Economic Development and Trade Slavery and the Slave Trade
Environmental Issues
Famine
Imperialism
Language
Migration
Refugees
Technology and Inventions

x TO P I C F I N D E R
Places Society, Religion, and Way of Life

Aswan High Dam Agriculture
Congo British Colonies in Africa
Egypt Colonization
Eritrea Communist Movements
Ethiopia Culture and Traditions
French West Africa Democratic Movements
German Colonies Economic Development and Trade
Italian Colonies Environmental Issues
Liberia Religion
Nigeria Slavery and the Slave Trade
Portuguese Colonies Society
Rwanda
Somalia War and Military Affairs
South Africa Boer War
Sudan Civil Wars
Uganda Tools and Weapons

Preface
In ancient times, barriers such as mountain can be seen, for example, in gastronomy;
ranges and great bodies of water slowed modern Indian cuisine was created when
the cultural interaction between peoples. chilies from South America arrived in India
The modern era, however, is defined by and then influenced the tastes of British
the shrinking of frontiers as revolutions in colonists.
transportation and technology closed dis- In the twentieth century, former colonies
tances. became independent. The struggle for in-
Around the turn of the sixteenth cen- dependence was often fierce and the cre-
tury, European nautical technology al- ation of democratic governments hard
lowed the transport of people and goods fought. The endurance and spirit of Nelson
over distances never before fathomed. The Mandela, for example, helped South Africa
Age of Exploration had begun and with it overcome apartheid. The last century also
came the Modern Age. The groundwork saw two World Wars, as well as devastating
for this age had been set in the preceding regional conflicts and civil wars. While
centuries by the conflicts between two reli- technological advances have made it pos-
gions, Christianity and Islam. The Crusades, sible to explore space, the same advances
armed Christian campaigns against various also have the capability of destroying
Muslim groups from the eleventh century property and life.
through the fifteenth century, sought to Articles in the five volumes of The Mod-
wrest the holy city of Jerusalem from Is- ern World: Civilizations of Africa, the Amer-
lamic control. The mustering and marching icas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and the
of crusaders across Europe helped de- Middle East and Southwest Asia are
velop trade routes throughout the conti- arranged alphabetically with time lines and
nent. The interactions in the Middle East, cross-references that provide the reader a
born in conflict, brought to the European greater historical context in which to un-
market a taste for the products of the Mid- derstand each topic. Features expand the
dle East and the Far East. Advances in coverage: “Turning Points” describe cul-
mathematics, astronomy, and other sci- tural, political, and technological changes
ences were also imported from the Middle that have had a lasting effect upon society;
East to Europe. These advances and an in- “Great Lives” profile individuals whose
creased economic interest in regions out- deeds shaped a people’s history and cul-
side Europe led to the explosion of trade ture; “Modern Weapons” delivers hard facts
and exploration that ushered in the Mod- on modern warfare; and “Into the 21st Cen-
ern Age. tury” provides an introduction to topics
From the sixteenth through the nine- that are important for understanding the
teenth centuries, European commercial most recent dramatic developments in
powers became colonial powers. The Span- world history. Each volume will be your
ish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, and British guide in helping you to explore the rich and
established colonies across the globe in or- varied history of the modern world and
der to assure ownership of trade routes. participate in its future. May this journey of-
Trading posts guaranteed the continual sup- fer you not only facts and data but also a
ply of goods and natural resources, such as deeper appreciation of the changes
spices and precious metals. During this pe- throughout history that have helped to
riod, the cultures of the colonizers and the form the modern world.
colonized would greatly influence each
other. Such mutual influences and blending Sarolta A. Takács

The Most Diverse Continent
Africa is a vast continent. The United est lands to convert to Christianity, and
States could easily fit into the Sahara, and large parts of northern Africa were con-
there would still be room on the continent quered by Muslim invaders, leading many
for China, India, New Zealand, Argentina, Africans to convert to Islam. In the Middle
and half of Europe. It is a place of great Ages, several large empires—such as Mali,
ethnic and linguistic diversity. The land is Songhai, and Ghana—rose and fell.
home to several thousand different ethnic
groups, and more than 800 languages are EUROPEAN CONTACT AND THE
spoken there, including Arabic, native lan- SLAVE TRADE
guages such as Swahili, Zulu, and Hausa, Everything changed for Africa when the
and European languages such as English, first Europeans—the Portuguese—arrived
French, Portuguese, and German. on its shores in 1419. They continued to ex-
plore southward along the west coast into
GEOGRAPHY what is known as sub-Saharan Africa and,
Africa is geographically the most diverse of by 1441, were buying Africans from African
all continents. Because it is on a north-south middlemen and transporting them to Por-
axis, it has several quite different climate tugal as slaves. In the 1470s, they explored
zones, from the dry heat of the Sahara, the what are today the countries of Sierra
world’s largest desert, to the humid steam Leone, São Tomé, and Gabon. By 1502, the
of tropical rainforests, to wide grasslands on first enslaved Africans reached the Ameri-
which gazelle and zebra graze, to rocky cas, and during the next 300 years, more
highlands and plateaus where coffee is than 10 million natives were taken captive,
grown, to coastal areas with Mediterranean packed into slave ships under horrendous
climates. Africa is home to more animal conditions, and transported to slave mar-
species than any other continent, including kets in the Caribbean, Latin America, and
exotic antelopes such as the ibex and the North America. To this day, Africa’s popula-
oryx, and the world’s great predators—lions, tion has not rebounded from the devastat-
leopards, wildcats, and cheetahs. In addi- ing theft of its young men and women.
tion, native to Africa is the largest land Many European nations engaged in the
mammal—the elephant—and the smallest African slave trade, but the primary slave-
land mammal, the tiny musk shrew. trading nations were Portugal, the Nether-
Of all the continents, Africa is most lands, and Great Britain. Each of these
threatened by global warming. As the tem- nations established forts and outposts
perature rises, many areas of Africa that along Africa’s coast to defend their access
once had sufficient rainfall to grow crops to this lucrative commodity. Most of the in-
and sustain grazing are becoming too dry terior of the continent was unknown to Eu-
to grow either food or fodder. ropeans, and they referred to it as a terra
incognita (unknown land). Africa was also
EARLY HISTORY called “the dark continent,” referring not
Africa’s history is as complicated and var- only to the color of its inhabitants’ skin but
ied as its geography and people. Two of also to the fact that Europeans did not
the world’s first great civilizations—the know what lay beyond the coast.
Egyptian and the Kush—arose in Africa Denmark was the first nation to ban the
thousands of years ago. Parts of North slave trade, in 1803, followed by Britain in
Africa and Ethiopia were among the earli- 1807. Britain outlawed slavery throughout

THE MOST DIVERSE CONTINENT xiii
the empire in 1834 and began to interfere minister Lord Salisbury once remarked in
actively with the ships of other nations that a speech to a London audience, “We have
tried to take slaves from the continent. been giving away mountains and rivers
and lakes to each other, only hindered by
THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA the small impediment that we never knew
It was not long before Europe began to exactly where they were.”
take a different kind of interest in Africa— Colonialism brought both good and bad
in its vast mineral resources, untouched to Africa. The colonial powers built roads,
raw materials, and human capital. In 1871, railroads, hospitals, and schools, but they
when Henry Morton Stanley was sent to also brought suffering and humiliation to
central Africa to find explorer David Liv- Africa’s people. European masters used
ingstone, and uttered the famous remark, Africans in much the same way slave mas-
“Dr. Livingstone, I presume,” everything ters had used their slaves. They forced
again would change for Africa. Stanley and Africans to work for much less than their
Livingstone together explored some of the labor was worth, causing many Africans to
vast interior of the continent. In 1874, Stan- accept the idea that they were inferior to
ley returned to continue his explorations, their European masters. To this day, the
tracing the course of the Congo River to marks of colonialism can be found across
the Atlantic Ocean. It is thought that Stan- Africa, not only in place names and lan-
ley helped King Leopold II of Belgium to guages still spoken but also in failed politi-
establish a personal colony in Africa, cal systems and ethnic hatreds.
known as the Congo Free State, even
though the inhabitants were brutalized by INDEPENDENCE
Leopold’s overseers and were anything Uhuru is the Swahili word for freedom, and
but free to pursue their own destinies. the 1960s were the uhuru decade for
To prevent wars among European pow- Africa, a time during which more than
ers, Otto von Bismarck, chancellor of the twenty African nations became indepen-
newly united nation of Germany, convened dent of their colonizers. The first sub-
the Berlin Conference in 1884 to deter- Saharan nation to gain its independence
mine a method for dividing Africa among was Ghana in 1957; the last was Namibia
European powers. The conference was in 1990.
successful—at least for the Europeans. The more than half-century of African
They were able to avoid fighting with one independence has been a time of ongoing
another while they concentrated their ef- turbulence and conflict. Long and bloody
forts on taking over Africa, by peaceful civil wars have killed tens of thousands in
means, by trickery, and sometimes by the nations such as Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra
sword. Countries with extensive holdings Leone, Angola, Sudan, Uganda, and the
included Germany, Great Britain, France, Congo. Some nations that began with the
and Belgium, each adding more and more hope of freedom eventually succumbed to
territory to their original coastal settle- ruthless dictators who pillaged national
ments. After the conference, these powers treasuries, murdered thousands of people,
divided the continent with little knowl- and made a mockery of the idea of democ-
edge of the native peoples and their histo- racy. Idi Amin of Uganda, Robert Mugabe of
ries, joining into nations ethnic groups Zimbabwe, Omar-al Bashir of Sudan, Muam-
that had hated one another for centuries mar al-Qaddafi of Libya, Mengistu Haile
and splitting unified groups by the imposi- Mariam of Ethiopia, and Mobutu Sese Seko
tion of arbitrary borders. As British prime of the Congo are just a few of the ruthless

xiv THE MOST DIVERSE CONTINENT
dictators—often military men who took poorest continent on earth. The bottom
over their governments in coups and ruled twenty-five slots on the United Nations’ list
for decades. of the world’s poorest countries are filled
During these years, the Soviet Union by African nations; in many countries, the
and the West were enmeshed in a Cold average income is less than $200 (U.S.) a
War in which each side feared that the year. While some African economies have
other was committed to world domina- done well (Botswana’s and South Africa’s,
tion. While communists did not see poten- for example), others have hovered on the
tial in Africa for the ideal revolution of the brink of collapse.
working class against the middle class, the Africans have long been plagued by
Soviet Union was happy to assist African tropical diseases such as malaria and
nations in the hope of recruiting them to sleeping sickness, but beginning in the late
their side in the conflict. On the other twentieth century, HIV/AIDS ravaged the
hand, Western powers often propped up continent. Millions of people are infected,
African dictators because they feared So- millions of others have died, and millions
viet influence more than they objected to of children have lost both parents to the
the anti-democratic policies of the African illness. In countries such as Botswana, up
strongmen. to 40 percent of pregnant women have
the disease. And while in places like Soma-
END OF APARTHEID lia, only about 1 percent of the population
The year 1994 was a year of triumph for is infected, in Zambia and South Africa
many black South Africans because it nearly 20 percent of all adults are HIV
marked the first free elections in that na- positive.
tion in which the majority black population Rapidly growing cities have created ma-
was allowed to vote. In that year, the peo- jor problems for modern African cultures.
ple elected as their president Nelson Man- Famine, drought, poverty, war, and civil un-
dela, a leader of the African National rest all have driven rural Africans into cities
Congress (ANC) who had been imprisoned in search of employment and refuge. Many
for twenty-seven years for his fight against urban centers, however, are overwhelmed
the all-white South African government by the rapid increase in population and do
and its policy of apartheid—the official not have sufficient housing or adequate
policy of racial separation. Apartheid be- social services. Consequently, many peo-
came the law of the land in South Africa ple in African cities live in squalid condi-
beginning in about 1948. It forced blacks tions without adequate water, sanitation,
to carry identification; denied them educa- food, or shelter. Young men who cannot
tion, jobs, and the right to vote; and pushed find jobs often turn to crime; cities such as
them out of their homes and into ghetto- Johannesburg are overrun with armed
like areas reserved for blacks only. The all- robbers and rapists.
white government under President F.W. de It is a depressing picture. While there are
Klerk eventually realized that it could no bright spots, such as rural women succeed-
longer dominate the black majority in the ing as farmers in cooperatives (in which
country and, in 1989, began to talk about people pool their resources to buy equip-
free elections. ment and do the work) and micro-loans
(small loans that help poor people buy
CURRENT SOCIAL PROBLEMS things like seed and farm equipment so
Today, many African nations are dealing they can earn a decent living), the prob-
with daunting social issues. Africa is the lems facing Africa are daunting. The African

THE MOST DIVERSE CONTINENT xv
Union (AU), an organization that comprises futures and ensure the legacies of their
most African nations, has as its goals a ancient traditions.
common African currency, a common mar-
ket, and shared judicial system, which it be- FURTHER READING
lieves will help solve some of Africa’s most Meredith, Martin. The Fate of Africa. From the Hopes of
pressing economic problems. Freedom to the Heart of Despair: A History of 50
This huge, rich continent, with all its Years of Independence. New York: Public Affairs,
wealth and diversity, has great potential 2005.
but faces even greater challenges. It is here Reader, John. Africa. Washington, DC: National
that human beings first walked upright, Geographic Press, 2001.
and it is from here that they traveled to ———. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. New York:
populate the earth. Today, the long- Vintage, 1999.
suffering people of Africa, the “cradle of
humanity,” must yet figure out how to gov- Karen H. Meyers
ern this vast continent to secure their

Map of Modern Africa
MAP OF MODERN AFRICA and others, such as Guinea-Bissau, colonial powers without
Present-day Africa is comprised of at only 13,948 square miles (36,125 consideration of ethnic loyalties or
fifty-four nations. Some, such as sq km), are tiny. National hatreds, leading to many of today’s
Sudan, are very large in land area, boundaries in Africa were drawn by civil wars.
xvi

A
African Union
An organization of fifty-three African nations formed in 2002 with the goal of fostering
political and economic cooperation among African nations, officially replacing the Orga-
nization of African Unity (OAU) and loosely based on the European Union (EU). Eventu-
ally, the African Union (AU) hopes to implement a common currency, a common
economic market, and a greater degree of political unity. Also proposed are a central
bank, a court of justice, and an all-African parliament.
The formation of the African Union re- United Nations and the Universal
flects the developments and changes that Declaration of Human Rights;
have occurred in many parts of Africa in • To promote peace, security, and stability
recent years. Among these developments on the continent;
are the growth of democracy and an • To promote democratic principles and
emerging political philosophy that concen- institutions, popular participation, and
trates less on the battles of the past and good governance;
more on the need to improve the lives of or- • To promote and protect human and peo-
dinary people. A major change between the ples’ rights in accordance with the African
AU and its predecessor is that the principle Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and
of state sovereignty has been abandoned. other relevant human rights instruments;
One of the aims of the AU is the promotion • To establish the necessary conditions that
of “democratic principles and institu- enable the continent to play its rightful
tions, popular participation and good gov- role in the global economy and in interna-
ernance.” The AU has the right to initiate a tional negotiations;
so-called “peer review” of a member coun- • To promote sustainable development at the
try’s record, intervene in the event of geno- economic, social, and cultural levels as well
cide or war crimes, and impose sanctions. as the integration of African economies.
Under the AU’s directive, for example, mem-
ber states have sent troops to Darfur in Su- Today, a major concern of the African
dan to try to end the genocide there. Union remains how to find the funding it
Other key objectives of the AU include: needs to carry out its agenda. Presently, the
African Union includes the following finan-
• To achieve greater unity and solidarity cial institutions: the African Central Bank, the
between the African countries and the African Monetary Fund, and the African In-
peoples of Africa; vestment Bank. Although the AU relies on
• To defend the sovereignty, territorial membership dues and international sources
integrity, and independence of its member of funding, many member nations do not
states; pay their dues, a situation that has led to var-
• To accelerate the political and socioeco- ious financial crises. The peacekeeping mis-
nomic integration of the continent; sion in Darfur, for example, has been
• To promote and defend African common seriously hampered due to lack of money.
positions on issues of interest to the conti-
nent and its peoples; ROOTS
• To encourage international cooperation, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and Pres-
taking due account of the Charter of the ident Sékou Touré of Guinea spearheaded

2 AFRICAN UNION
In 2004, African heads

of state and other
African Union
delegates met in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia.
Delegates represented
fifty-three of the
fifty-four nations on
the African continent.
(Simon Maina/Stringer/
AFP/Getty Images)
the foundation of the Organization of was disbanded in 2002, fifty-three of Africa’s

African Unity (OAU). The organization’s fifty-four countries were members; only Mo-
charter was signed by thirty-two nations on rocco did not belong. (Morocco had once
May 25, 1963, a day still commemorated as been a member but withdrew in 1985 when
“Africa Day.” As more African nations be- the organization allowed Western Sahara to
came independent, the number of member join as a separate nation. Morocco regards
states grew, so that by the time the OAU Western Sahara as part of its territory.)

AFRICAN UNION 3
Article II of the OAU charter listed five War (1974–2002). Half of the members of
major goals for the organization: to promote the OAU voted to back one faction and half
unity, to coordinate efforts to improve to back the other. A similar split occurred
the lives of African people, to defend during the 1977 and 1978 invasions of the
the sovereignty of member states, to elimi- Katanga Province in Zaire (now the Demo-
nate colonialism, and to promote interna- cratic Republic of the Congo) by Angola,
tional cooperation. during the invasion of Ethiopia by Somalia
The OAU was an outgrowth of the Pan- in 1978, and during the conflict between
African Movement, which began in 1900 as Uganda and Tanzania in 1978 and 1979. The
an attempt to promote the idea that OAU also proved unsuccessful in improving
Africans everywhere, whether in Africa, the Africa’s economy or combating AIDS.
United States, or the Caribbean, shared
similar goals and values. Within Africa, the SUCCESSES
movement promoted the idea of coopera- Although ineffective in many situations, the
tion among individual nations for the bet- OAU did have some successes. It mediated
terment of all. border disputes between Algeria and Mo-
rocco in the mid-1960s and between Soma-
PROBLEMS lia and Kenya in the late 1960s. The OAU
From the beginning, however, many mem- also provided significant financial support
bers disagreed about exactly what sort of to movements seeking to end Portuguese
organization the OAU should be. Some, colonial rule in Guinea-Bissau, Angola, and
such as President Kwame Nkrumah of Mozambique. In addition, the OAU advo-
Ghana, wanted the OAU to be the first step cated economic sanctions against South
toward a unified Africa. Other nations, en- Africa, demanding that its policy of
joying their first taste of independence, did apartheid be ended. In 1994 when South
not want to relinquish any power and pre- Africa ended apartheid, it was, for the first
ferred that the organization be a loose af- time, allowed to join the OAU.
filiation of independent states. The The OAU had also sent an observer mis-
compromise that the original members sion to the United Nations (UN). Observers
made left the OAU without real power to cannot vote but try to influence delega-
act on its own in many situations. tions, much as lobbyists do in the U.S. Con-
In the West, some people referred to the gress. In this capacity, the OAU was able to
OAU as the “dictators’ club,” because of its coordinate action among African nations
firm policy of nonintervention in the affairs at the UN. It also successfully lobbied to
of sovereign nations, even when the ruthless have South Africa barred from the UN be-
leaders of member countries murdered cause of its policy of apartheid.
their political enemies and plundered na-
tional treasuries. Although the borders of LATER DEVELOPMENTS
Africa’s fifty-four modern states were The prestige of the OAU was revived in the
drawn largely by Europeans with no regard 1990s, partly because of the election of
for ethnic and tribal loyalties, the OAU Tanzania’s Salim Ahmed Salim as its secre-
staunchly defended those borders as part tary general in 1989. Salim was reelected in
of its policy of noninterference. 1993 and 1997. Under his leadership, the
In addition, member states often dis- OAU devised the “Method for Conflict Pre-
agreed about which side the organization vention,” which made conflict resolution
would take in conflicts. The first such inci- central to its mission. The OAU’s policy of
dent occurred during the Angolan Civil nonintervention in the 1970s and 1980s had

4 AFRICAN UNION
made it clear to members that failure to act the Treaty Establishing the African Eco-
to resolve internal conflicts affected the en- nomic Community.”
tire continent, not just the country where
the conflict originated. Neighboring coun- ACCOMPLISHMENTS
tries not only experienced massive floods The AU has been active for several years in
of refugees in need of food and shelter, promoting democratic elections in various
they also suffered from armed combatants African nations. In 2005, it put pressure on
carrying the conflict across borders. The the government of Togo to hold elections
economic devastation that resulted from after the death of its leader, Gnassingbe
years of civil war also crossed borders, af- Edayema. He had named his son as his suc-
fecting entire regions. cessor, in violation of the Togoan constitu-
Still, over the years, the OAU had lost tion. The AU also suspended Mauritania’s
much of its credibility. According to membership in 2005 when its military gov-
Delphine Djiraibe, president of the Cha- ernment failed to hold elections as prom-
dian Association for the Promotion and ised. In addition, the AU has sent
Defense of Human Rights, the OAU was “a peacekeeping forces to Darfur (Sudan) and
private club for friends.” She added that, Somalia to help preserve stability in these
“It preserves the interests of African nations wracked by civil war.
heads of state instead of addressing the
real problems that are tearing apart See also: Apartheid; Civil Wars; Coloniza-
Africa. With a few exceptions, the prob- tion; Congo; Economic Development
lems are the same across Africa: leaders and Trade; Pan-African Movement;
are not committed to genuine democracy, Portuguese Colonies; Refugees; South
they organize electoral masquerades to Africa; Sudan.
stay in power, they oppress the African
people.” FURTHER READING
In the mid-1990s, Libyan head of state El-Ayouty, Yassin. The Organization of African
Muammar al-Qaddafi proposed the idea of Unity After Thirty Years. Westport, CT: Praeger,
an African Union as it exists today. In 1999, 1993.
African heads of state and the government Murithi, Timothy. The African Union: Pan-Africanism,
of the OAU issued the Sirte Declaration, Peacebuilding and Development. London: Ashgate,
which called for the establishment of “an 2005.
African Union, in conformity with the ulti- Roberts, Russell. The Role of the African Union.
mate objectives of the Charter of our conti- Broomall, PA: Mason Crest, 2007.
nental Organization and the provisions of
Agriculture
Although about 65 percent of all Africans work the land to raise crops and animals for
food or cash, an estimated one-third of Africa’s people are malnourished. One-fourth of
its children are believed to be underweight, and one-third have had their growth stunted
from lack of food over a long period of time. Africa is in the midst of an agricultural crisis
that threatens to worsen without concerted and coordinated efforts on the part of
African governments and donor nations.

A G R I C U LT U R E 5
POOR AGRICULTURAL YIELDS crease yield. They also need access to new
A number of factors have contributed to seed varieties that are disease or drought
the failure of African agriculture—depletion resistant.
of natural resources, inadequate infra-
structure to store and transport goods to Inadequate Infrastructure
market, dependence on natural rainfall Even assuming that farmers were able to
rather than irrigation systems, failure to aid grow more, getting crops to market in Africa
poor rural farmers, trade barriers, and dis- is a daunting task. Most farmers do not have
ease. a place to store surplus grain, nor do they
have refrigeration to keep fruits and vegeta-
Depleted Natural Resources bles fresh after they are picked. In devel-
In many regions of Africa, planting the oped countries, farmers who can store grain
same crops in the same fields has led to are able to ride out price fluctuations. If
depletion of the nutrients in the soil. Most prices are low, they can hold onto the grain
African farmers do not use fertilizers, so until prices rise and the grain can be sold for
the soil yields less and less as the years go a profit. African farmers generally cannot
by. In many rural areas, animals are left to wait to do so and must take whatever price
graze rather than being fed fodder, a prac- they can get at the time. Less profit means
tice that leaves the land without sufficient less to invest in next year’s crop.
plant life to prevent erosion. Most rural Much of Africa lacks the necessary infra-
Africans depend on wood fires for heat, structure to transport agricultural goods to
leading to massive deforestation, which in markets where they can be sold. Roads and
turn causes more soil erosion. This is railroads are either nonexistent or in disre-
clearly a vicious and deadly cycle: as the pair, and cars and trucks are in short sup-
land produces less, the population contin- ply; most goods are taken to market on
ues to grow, leading to starvation. bicycles or on foot over unpaved roads. To
In the 1950s and 1960s, Asia and Latin hire a truck to transport goods to market is
America underwent an agricultural trans- too costly for most farmers, adding so
formation known as the “green revolution.” much to the price of goods that no profit
Agricultural development programs cre- can be made.
ated new seed varieties that were resistant
to disease or produced greater yields. Irrigation
These same programs taught farmers how Water is a major problem in Africa. Nearly
to rotate crops, as well as methods to halt 300 million Africans do not have access to
soil depletion and erosion. As a result, agri- safe drinking water or adequate sanitation.
cultural production doubled and some- Moreover, only about 4 percent of all
times even tripled in these regions. African land that can be farmed is irrigated.
Unfortunately, the green revolution by- Most poor rural African farmers simply rely
passed Africa, partly because of the variety on nature to provide enough rain, and na-
of growing regions on the continent and ture is notoriously unreliable in many parts
partly because of the kinds of crops poor of Africa. The problem is not that Africa
African farmers typically plant. has insufficient water; it is, rather, that the
Many experts believe that a similar revo- potential for irrigation has not been fully
lution is needed in Africa. In particular, realized.
African farmers need to use crop rotation At least fifty-four rivers in Africa either
and chemical and organic fertilizers to in- cross national borders or form the borders

6 AFRICAN UNION
A Landsat satellite
image shows the fertile
area of the Nile River
delta in Egypt. The
delta is one of the
most fertile regions in
North Africa.
(NPA/Stone/Getty
Images)
of nations. Few nations have reached agre- small-scale irrigation projects designed to
ements on how to share the water effec- help farmers in isolated areas.
tively or move it to where it is needed to
grow crops. Experts believe that coopera- Failure to Help Poor Rural Farmers
tion between nations and strategic water- Most farmers in Africa are poor and grow
use policies will be necessary to irrigate all only enough to live on. Many experts believe
the land in Africa that can be used to grow that helping this group grow more and sell
crops. While large-scale water projects, more is the key to Africa’s agricultural de-
such as the Aswan High Dam in Egypt, velopment. According to the International
have benefited many farmers, many ex- Food Policy Research Institute, “Since
perts believe that there is also a need for small-scale farms account for more than

A G R I C U LT U R E 7
90 percent of Africa’s agricultural produc- to keep prices of domestic produce up

tion and are dominated by the poor . . . and make it difficult for African farmers to
growth must be centered on the small compete. If the United States and the Eu-
farmer.” This is a relatively new idea, as ropean Union did away with subsidies and
most aid and assistance in the past has opened their markets to African imports,
gone to producers of cash crops such as Africa’s total agricultural exports would
cotton, coffee, tea, and cocoa, not to poor be expected increase by an estimated 20
farmers who grow maize, rice, cassava, and percent.
other food crops.
According to the World Bank, about 42 Disease
percent of all those involved in agriculture Africa’s agricultural productivity has been
in Africa are women. Despite the impor- severely affected by disease. Since 1985,
tance of women to agricultural productiv- more than 7 million farmers have died from
ity in Africa, the laws in many nations of AIDS in the twenty-five African nations that
Africa bar them from owning land and ob- have been hardest hit by the disease, in-
taining the credit they need to buy seeds cluding much of south, central, and south-
and equipment. eastern Africa. As of 2007, there were more
than 25 million Africans with HIV/AIDS, and
Trade Barriers the number continues to grow. Those most
Because Africa is home to fifty-four sover- affected by the AIDS epidemic are between
eign nations, trade from one country to the fourteen and forty-five years of age, the
other is subject to taxes and restrictions members of society with the greatest po-
that reduce farmers’ profits. More impor- tential for economic productivity.
tantly, however, are the barriers to interna- Malaria is also a killer in many parts of
tional trade. The United States’ African Africa. At least 300 million serious cases of
Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and malaria occur worldwide every year, result-
the European Union’s Everything But Arms ing in more than one million deaths. More
(EBA) initiative allow importation of than 80 percent of these deaths occur in
African products without payment of cer- sub-Saharan Africa; most of the victims are
tain taxes and without quotas. However, young children and pregnant women,
even after the passage of AGOA in 2000, whose immune systems are not strong
only 8 percent of the goods imported into enough to resist the disease. As the conti-
the United States from Africa were agricul- nent’s population is decimated by disease,
tural products; rather, the primary imports fewer and fewer healthy young people are
brought in under AGOA were petroleum available to farm the land, sharply decreas-
and textiles. The European EBA does ing productivity. This, of course, consti-
not allow complete exemption from tariffs tutes another vicious cycle. Fewer farmers
on Africa’s most important agricultural lead to less food, less food leads to more
exports—bananas, rice, and sugar. Under starving people, starving people are more
the initiative, duties on these products vulnerable to illness.
would be gradually reduced. Duty-free ac-
cess was allowed for bananas beginning in IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
January 2006 and was expected to be Of all the continents in the world, the
granted for sugar and rice before the end one least responsible for the carbon emis-
of the decade. sions that cause global warming—Africa—
Moreover, both the United States and promises to be the one most adversely
Europe pay subsidies to farmers that help affected by climate change. Global warming

8 AFRICAN UNION
has already had a dramatic effect on rainfall cassava that they have been able to build
in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, leading to a new school, a new library, and a pro-
severe droughts. The last year in which rain- cessing plant to make cassava flour. Farm-
fall was normal was 2002 and many rivers ers’ groups have also begun many
are drying up, ultimately causing more land conservation efforts, such as terracing hill-
in Africa to turn into desert. sides to prevent runoff and conserving
Moreover, as the climate heats up, an ad- water supplies.
ditional 80 million people in Africa may be In South Africa, many supermarket
exposed to malaria. While some areas chains are now committed to buying pro-
where malaria is prevalent will see a sharp duce from African nations rather than
reduction in the disease, zones that are importing it from abroad. The Southern
more temperate could experience a sharp African Development Community (SADC),
rise. This would mean a net increase in in- an organization of fourteen nations in
stances of the disease, since these more southern Africa established in the 1970s,
temperate areas are more heavily popu- has signed a free-trade agreement that
lated. All in all, climate change could have a boosts trade between South Africa and
devastating impact on agricultural produc- many of its smaller and poorer neighbors.
tion in Africa, reducing the amount of land South African researchers have devel-
suitable for growing crops and reducing oped genetically modified maize and cot-
the number of farm workers. ton that resist disease and pests and
therefore have higher yields than other va-
REASONS TO HOPE rieties. Zambia and Malawi have developed
As grim as the agricultural situation in a strain of cassava that better resists both
Africa is, there are some bright spots. In disease and pests. New Rice for Africa
1995, in the tiny nation of Burkina Faso, the (NERIC) is a strain of rice produced from
government established the Soil Fertility crossbreeding Asian and African varieties
Management Unit (UGFS) to develop and that has been introduced in seventeen na-
implement a national strategy for improv- tions in Central Africa and promises to pro-
ing soil fertility. This unit helps train farmers duce a much higher yield than other
in the proper use of fertilizers, in how to ro- varieties.
tate crops to avoid depleting nutrients in Thus, while Africa faces many serious
the soil, and in how to build bunds (stone problems in growing enough food to feed
or earthen embankments) to slow water its people, government and grassroots ini-
runoff. The government has also embarked tiatives hold promise for the future.
on a national program to plant trees and
encourage conservation of forests. Irriga- See also: Drought; Famine; Society; South
tion projects are also planned to help in- Africa; Technology and Inventions.
crease the rice yield.
Throughout Africa, rural farmers are or- FURTHER READING
ganizing to make their voices heard by Christiaensen, Luc J., and Lionel Demery. Down to
governments and to pool their resources Earth: Agriculture and Poverty Reduction in Africa.
to increase crop yield. Today, Africa Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007.
boasts more than 24,000 cooperative Pallangyo, E.P. Environmental Concerns and the
associations with more than 10 million Sustainability of Africa’s Agriculture in the 1990s
members. In Cameroon, for example, a co- and Beyond. New York: Vantage, 1995.
operative of women farmers has been so Sayre, April Pulley. Africa. Minneapolis: Lerner Books,
successful in producing and marketing 1999.

A LG E R I A 9
AIDS See Society.
Algeria
Located in northwest Africa on the Mediterranean Sea and plagued by years of guerrilla
warfare, the second largest country in Africa after Sudan. Ninety percent of Algeria’s
population lives on the Mediterranean coast on just 12 percent of the land. Unlike many
other African nations, most of Algeria’s population shares an ethnic and cultural heritage.
Most Algerians are Muslim, and most are Arab, Berber, or of mixed Arab-Berber stock.
The Berbers are the indigenous people of northern Africa, given the name “Berber” by
the Greeks. The Berbers call themselves “Amazigh.”
Conquered by Phoenicians, Romans, and creasingly autocratic and overly focused

Vandals in antiquity, Algeria’s culture was on foreign policy to the detriment of do-
most deeply influenced by the Arab con- mestic policy.
querors of the eighth through the eleventh Boumédienne led the country as head
centuries, and by the French, who began of state from 1965 until he was formally
colonizing the area in the 1830s. The French elected to the presidency in 1976. After
colonists tended to live separately from the Boumédienne’s death in 1978, Colonel
indigenous rural population, and although Chadi Bendjedid was elected president, a
French colonists were represented in the post he held until 1992. In 1989, Algeria
French National Assembly, the native peo- adopted a new constitution that permit-
ples were not. ted the formation of political parties other
On November 1, 1954, an Algerian rebel than the FLN; among the parties that
group known as the National Liberation arose was the militant Islamic Salvation
Front (FLN) began a guerrilla war against Front (FIS). After years of suppression by
the French, in which both sides attacked the government, the FIS was successful in
civilians and used extraordinarily brutal winning votes and seats in the National
tactics. More than a million Algerians died Assembly in 1990. The Algerian military,
and 2 million were left homeless. The war fearful of an Islamist government, dis-
ended with the Evian Accords in 1962. The solved the National Assembly, banned the
parties agreed to an interim administration FIS, and forced Bendjedid to resign. He
until elections could be held. More than a was replaced by a five-person High Coun-
million French citizens who lived in Algeria, cil, which canceled elections and then
known as pieds-noirs (“black feet”), fled to asked Mohamed Boudiaf, a hero of the
France. war for independence, to serve as presi-
Algeria declared its independence from dent. Islamists responded with violence,
France on July 3, 1962. Its first president, and more than 50,000 members of the
Ahmed Ben Bella, was elected in 1962 but FIS were jailed. Still, the fighting contin-
deposed three years later in a bloodless ued between government forces and the
coup led by Colonel Houari Boumédienne, FIS. In 1992, Boudiaf was assassinated
head of the Council of the Revolution. by Lembarek Boumarafi on behalf of
Boumédienne and others who supported the Islamists. Years of guerrilla warfare fol-
the coup felt that Ben Bella had become in- lowed.

10 A LG E R I A
In 1999, former political exile Abdelaziz Mediterranean coast, there are still no-
Bouteflika was elected president of Algeria madic populations who inhabit the desert
and pledged a return to peace and stabil- regions to the south. Despite oil wealth and
ity. In an effort to put an end to the conflict, fertile soil, Algeria’s people are still quite
he offered amnesty to the rebels, except poor by Western standards. In recent
for those who had committed crimes such years, however, the government has made
as rape and murder. In 2000, this policy, substantial efforts to diversify the econ-
known as the Civil Concord Policy, was ap- omy and attract foreign investors, includ-
proved in a national referendum. As many ing a 2001 treaty with the European Union
as 80 percent of those who had opposed to lower tariffs and increase trade.
the government accepted the amnesty.
In 2004, Algeria held its first truly demo- See also: Civil Wars; Colonization; French
cratic election. (Previous elections were ei- West Africa; Independence Movements;
ther restricted to one party or manipulated Language.
by the ruling party.) Bouteflika was re-
elected with nearly 85 percent of the vote. FURTHER READING
He continued to work toward national rec- Hintz, Martin. Algeria. San Francisco, CA: Children’s
onciliation. Press, 2006.
Algeria’s economy is largely dependent Horne, Alistair. A Savage War of Peace: Algeria
on its vast supplies of oil. It also exports 1954–1962. New York: NYRB Classics, 2006.
cotton, figs, dates, and cork. Although the Mitchell, Peter, ed. Peoples and Cultures of North
majority of the population lives along the Africa. New York: Chelsea House, 2006.
Angola See Portuguese Colonies.
Apartheid
A legally sanctioned system of racial discrimination and oppressive government policies
in twentieth-century South Africa. Apartheid began to be dismantled in 1990. However,
the nation continues the long struggle of freeing itself of its racist policies.
EARLY DISCRIMINATION Beginning in 1795, British settlers moved

Systematic discrimination against black into South Africa, asserting complete control
Africans began with the arrival of the first of the area by 1806. In 1834, the British out-
Dutch settlers in South Africa in 1652. lawed slavery throughout the empire, an
These first settlers took land from some action that caused more than 12,000
native people without compensation and Afrikaner farmers to leave—an exodus
enslaved others. Over the centuries, Ger- called the Great Trek. Members of this group
man and French Huguenot settlers joined moved north and east and eventually es-
the Dutch settlers. Eventually, these Euro- tablished two republics, the Central Or-
pean people lost their national identities ange Free State and Transvaal. The
and began to consider themselves Afrikaans word for farmer, boer, was used
“Afrikaners.” to refer to these settlers.

A PA R T H E I D 11
The discovery of gold in the Witwater- classified as white, black, or colored (of
srand hills in 1886 in what is now Johannes- mixed race).
burg eventually led to the Boer War The Group Areas Act of 1950 created a
(1899–1902) between the British and the system of urban apartheid, assigning races
Boers. The British prevailed in 1902, and in to particular residential and business dis-
1910 they created the Union of South Africa, tricts. Nonwhites were required to carry
a self-governing dominion within the British identity passes when they traveled in white
Empire, by joining the English-speaking and areas. The Separate Amenities Act, passed
Dutch-speaking areas. The South African in 1953, created segregated beaches,
Party, an amalgamation of several Afrikaner buses, hospitals, and schools; virtually
political groups came into power, and their every aspect of life was divided along
leader, Louis Botha, became South Africa’s racial lines, and those “amenities” reserved
first president. Under Botha, a number of re- for blacks were all substandard.
pressive measures were enacted, including Perhaps the most repressive of the
the Masters and Servants Act, which barred apartheid laws were those that established
blacks from skilled jobs, and the 1913 Land “homelands” for blacks in the most unde-
Act, which reserved 90 percent of the land sirable areas of the country. The irony of
for whites. In response, the African National the term homeland, of course, was that the
Congress (ANC) was formed in 1912 to rep- entire country was the homeland of black
resent the interests of South Africa’s blacks. South Africans, yet they were herded into
Founders included John Dube, the son of a certain areas and forbidden from others.
minister; Pixley ka Isaka Seme, a Columbia- The first of these homelands acts was the
and Oxford-educated attorney, and Sol Bantu Authorities Act of 1951, which cre-
Plaatje, who was educated and taught at a ated separate governmental structures for
mission school. blacks. The Bantu Homelands Citizens Act
Blacks were not the only group that suf- of 1970 went further, stripping blacks living
fered under the repressive rule of Botha in South Africa of their citizenship, making
and his successor, Jan Smuts. Many work- them citizens of the homelands. Between
ers who had come to South Africa from In- 1976 and 1981, four such areas, collectively
dia were discriminated against in housing known as Bantustans, were created, forc-
and employment. Some were subjected to ing 9 million black South Africans to be-
violence. Mohandas Gandhi, the Indian come foreigners in their own country.
spiritual leader, first used his strategy of From 1960 through the 1980s, the South
nonviolent resistance in the early 1900s in African government forcibly moved non-
South Africa on behalf of his fellow Indian whites into areas set aside for blacks. Dur-
immigrants. After World War II, the right- ing this period, 3.5 million people were
wing Nationalist Party, under the leader- resettled. Prime Minister P.W. Botha, who
ship of D.F. Malan, won the 1948 election, served from 1978 to 1984, was an especially
having campaigned on a platform of strong advocate of apartheid. During his
apartheid. tenure, thousands of black South Africans
were detained without trials.
TOTAL SEPARATION
Shortly after the 1948 elections, the South RESISTANCE
African Parliament enacted a series of laws Beginning in 1949, through strikes, civil dis-
to enforce total separation between the obedience, and marches, the ANC resisted
races. The new laws prohibited mixed mar- apartheid openly. In 1959, some members,
riage and required every individual to be who believed that progress toward ending

12 A PA R T H E I D
RISE AND FALL OF APARTHEID
1652 Dutch East India Company establishes a 1953 Preservation of Separate Amenities Act
settlement at Cape Town, South Africa passed
1806 British take over Cape Colony 1958 Nelson Mandela opens first black law
office in South Africa
1830s On the “Great Trek,” Dutch farmers called
Boers migrate to northern and eastern 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, in which South
parts of area African police open fire on black
protestors
1867 Diamonds discovered at Hope Creek
1962 Mandela sentenced to life in prison
1884 Gold discovered in the Boer-controlled for plotting to overthrow the
Transvaal government
1899 Boer War begins between British and 1974 South Africa expelled from the United
Dutch settlers Nations
1902 Boer War ends with Treaty of Vereeniging 1976 Soweto uprising
1910 Union of South Africa becomes member 1990 Mandela freed from prison
of the British Commonwealth
1991 South African president F.W. de Klerk
1948 Apartheid—separation of the races— repeals apartheid
becomes law
1994 Mandela elected president of South
1951 Bantu Homelands Act strips native Africa
peoples of South African citizenship
apartheid was too slow, split from the ANC lence at Sharpeville, other protests oc-
to form the more radical Pan-Africanist Con- curred, leading the South African
gress (PAC). This group organized a protest government to declare a state of emer-
against the requirement that blacks carry gency, which allowed security forces to ar-
identity cards, conducting its initial demon- rest and detain people without trial.
stration in a township called Sharpeville. Among those arrested was Nelson Man-
During this peaceful protest, on March dela, leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, or
21, 1960, white police opened fire against “Spear of the Nation,” the military wing of
the demonstrators, killing 69 and injuring the ANC. In 1962, Mandela was tried for
186 people. As a result of this demonstra- treason, found guilty, and sentenced to life
tion, the government banned both the in prison.
ANC and the PAC, forcing the resistance During the 1970s, black South Africans
movement underground. After the vio- continued to resist the oppressive

A PA R T H E I D 13
GREAT LIVES
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in commander. This group made a number of
Transkei, South Africa, in 1918, the son of a guerrilla attacks against government-owned
chief of the Tembu tribe. Mandela was facilities—including a nuclear power plant.
educated in law at the University of Witwa- Arrested for sabotage in 1961, Mandela was
tersrand. He joined the African National sentenced to five years in prison. While he
Congress (ANC) in 1942 and began to work was still serving this sentence, he was tried
against the South African government’s pol- for treason and sentenced to a life term.
icy of apartheid. In 1952, Mandela was During his trial, Mandela declared,
elected National Volunteer-in-Chief of the I have fought against white domination,
ANC Campaign for the Defiance of Unjust and I have fought against black domi-
Laws. His goal was to incite civil disobedi- nation. I have cherished the idea of a
ence and recruit more supporters to the democratic and free society in which all
ANC cause. Throughout the 1950s, the gov- persons live together in harmony and
ernment threatened Mandela with arrest, with equal opportunities. It is an ideal
prohibited him from attending certain gath- which I hope to live for and achieve. But
erings, and confined him for a period to if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am
Johannesburg. In order to be able to oper- prepared to die.
ate freely in spite of these restrictions, he be- Released from prison in 1990, Mandela
came a master of disguise, sometimes received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. He
dressing as a chauffeur, sometimes as a la- was elected president of South Africa in
borer, to avoid detection. 1994. After serving one term as president,
At Mandela’s recommendation, the ANC Mandela chose not to run for reelection.
formed a military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, Since leaving office, he has worked for hu-
(“Spear of the Nation”), with Mandela as its man rights and to raise AIDS awareness.
government policies. Steve Biko, a medical sponded with bullets, killing 566 children.
student, led the South African Students’ Violence erupted across the country, and
Organization and was a powerful force be- the government reacted by arresting Steve
hind the Black Consciousness Movement, Biko. Biko was beaten so badly in custody
which promoted black pride and opposi- that he lost consciousness. Left untreated
tion to apartheid. In 1976, students at Or- for three days, Biko died, sparking an angry
lando West Junior School in Soweto (a reaction in South Africa and around the
segregated township) went on strike to world.
protest the Afrikaans Medium Decree, a Many South African whites vehemently
law requiring that all education be con- opposed apartheid as much as their black
ducted in Afrikaans, the official language neighbors did. The liberal Progressive
of South Africa. Again, law enforcement Party was against the policy, but they and
authorities countered with violence. When other opposition groups were unable to
children threw stones, the police regain a majority in elections. This situation

14 A PA R T H E I D
existed partly because of gerrymandering, as police squads continued to crack down

which gave rural voters, who supported on resistance.
apartheid, more power than urban voters,
many of whom opposed it. An organization ENDING APARTHEID
of white women called Black Sash, as well In 1990, after decades of economic and so-
as the South African Communist Party, also cial pressure, South African president F.W.
opposed apartheid. de Klerk announced that the ANC and PAC
were no longer banned and that all political
WORLD REACTION prisoners would be released, including Nel-
In 1961, South Africa gave up its status as son Mandela, who had been incarcerated
British dominion and declared itself a re- for twenty-seven years. Though a long-
public. At the same time, South Africa ap- time member of the National Party, de
plied to continue as a member of the Klerk recognized that South Africa could
British Commonwealth, a relationship that no longer continue its racist policies. Two
gave it a privileged trading status among million of the nation’s blacks were unem-
former British colonies. It soon became ployed and the economy had been seri-
clear, however, that many Commonwealth ously weakened by international economic
nations opposed continuing South Africa’s sanctions. Many white South Africans had
membership because of apartheid, so left the country, fearful of what the future
South Africa withdrew its application. In would bring.
1962, the United Nations General Assembly South Africa’s first free election, in which
passed a resolution condemning apartheid. black and other citizens of color could
A year later, the United Nations Security vote, was held on April 27, 1994. Nelson
Council instituted a voluntary arms em- Mandela was elected the nation’s presi-
bargo against South Africa. After the dent. Under his administration, South
Soweto massacre in 1976, the arms em- Africa embarked on a time of healing. In
bargo was made mandatory. Many foreign- 1993, a draft constitution prohibiting dis-
based companies that had invested in crimination was published. Mandela’s gov-
South Africa began to withdraw, the coun- ernment established a Commission on
try’s sports teams were banned from inter- Truth and Reconciliation to investigate and
national competition, and many tourists come to terms with the evils of apartheid.
opted not to travel to South Africa. Both The Commission heard massive amounts of
the United States and Great Britain im- testimony from victims and victimizers,
posed economic sanctions on South Africa. granting many individuals amnesty in re-
Sanctions included prohibitions against turn for the truth. It issued a final report in
corporate investment, sales to the police 1998, in which it condemned both the gov-
and military, and bank loans. ernment and anti-apartheid forces for
As South Africa became increasingly committing atrocities.
isolated from the world community While some questioned the Commis-
through the 1970s and 1980s, its National sion’s conclusions, especially the lack of
Party government implemented a socially punishment, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a
conservative system of laws. Gambling and member of the Commission, saw it differ-
other social vices were outlawed. Movie ently: “Anger and resentment and retribu-
theaters, liquor stores, and other businesses tion are corrosive of this great good, the
were closed by law on Sundays, and televi- harmony that has got to exist between peo-
sion was forbidden until 1976. Censorship ple. And that is why our people have been
laws limited public access to information, committed to the reconciliation where we

ART AND ARCHITECTURE 15
use restorative rather than retributive jus- Louw, P. Eric. The Rise, Fall, and Legacy of Apartheid.
tice . . . we are looking to the healing of rela- Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004.
tionships, we are seeking to open wounds, Matahbane, Mark. Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black
yes, but to open them so that we can Youth’s Comng of Age in Apartheid South Africa.
cleanse them and they don’t fester; we Topeka, KS: Tandem Books, 1999.
cleanse them and then pour oil on them, Waldemeir, Patt. Anatomy of a Miracle: The End of
and then we can move into the glorious fu- Apartheid and the Birth of a New South Africa. New
ture that God is opening up for us.” York: Norton, 1997.
See also: Colonization.
FURTHER READING
Clark, Nancy L., and William H. Worger. South Africa:
The Rise and Fall of Apartheid. White Plains, NY:
Longman, 2004.
Art and Architecture

While there is tremendous diversity in the visual arts of Africa—including sculpture,
textiles, and buildings—there are also some common characteristics among the various
forms and genres. Throughout most of Africa, for example, there is little art produced
merely for art’s sake; most of the objects that are admired as works of art also have a
practical or religious use. While a Western artist might sculpt a beautiful statue that had
no practical use, for example, an African artist might create a sculpture that represents a
revered ancestor for use in religious rituals.
Another common characteristic of One of the sculptural objects common to

African art is that many of its forms are de- nearly all ethnic groups in Africa is the mask,
termined more by tradition than by the which can cover the face or the entire body,
ideas of individual artists. This does not or just be mounted atop the head in the
mean that the hand of a particular artist form of a headdress. Masks are used in a
cannot be seen in any given work, but number of important religious rituals, in-
rather that creating something that breaks cluding weddings, funerals, and initiation
with tradition in form or material is not usu- ceremonies. Many African masks represent
ally an important value for the African animals and are believed to connect the
artist as it might be for a Western artist. wearer with the spirit of a particular crea-
African art often has the human figure as ture. The Bwa and Nuna people of Burkina
its primary subject. Yet most African art Faso, for example, believe that animal masks
works do not attempt to portray people or protect them from evil. The animals most of-
animals realistically. Instead, they tend to ten represented in their masks are croco-
be stylized and abstract. diles, hawks, and buffalo. Like most African
masks, these are carved from wood and of-
SCULPTURE ten decorated in geometric patterns.
African sculpture uses a variety of materials, Among the Dogon people of Mali, there
including wood, clay, metal, ivory, and stone. are more than seventy different types of

16 ART AND ARCHITECTURE
MODERN AFRICAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE
1100–1400 Great Zimbabwe is constructed 1989 Kenyan artist Shine Tane opens
first of several art expositions in
15th–16th Century Benin bronzes crafted East Africa
16th–17th Century Palace in Benin City built 1997 Peter Kwangware of Zimbabwe wins the
Award of Distinction at the Annual
1871 Europeans arrive at Great Zimbabwe Heritage Exhibit
1874 Ashante palace in Kumasi destroyed 2000 Africa Resource Center begins
publication of Ijele, an online African
1897 British destroy Benin palace; take 1,000 art journal
bronzes to England
2002–2003 Tanzanian artist Mkumba
1902–1904 Richard Nicklin Hall removes “debris” begins four-month exhibit in Stuttgart,
from Great Zimbabwe Germany
1906–1907 Great Mud Mosque at Djenné built 2007 Cote d’Ivoire artist Gilbert G. Groud
paints “Childsoldier in the Ivory Coast,”
1960 Largest known kente cloth presented to part of his effort to draw the world’s
United Nations attention to the use of children in warfare
masks used in secret religious ceremonies. the sixteenth century by Esigie, a king of
A common mask among the Dogon is one Benin, in memory of his mother, Idia. This
representing the antelope. The Dogon are mask, carved of ivory, has a wide forehead
farmers, and the antelope is the symbol of and full lips.
the farmer. The mask itself is a rectangle Masks in many areas of Africa have ex-
with large horns protruding from the top. aggerated features that represent certain
The Bamana people, also from Mali, wear moral virtues. The Senefou people of Cote
elaborately carved antelope headdresses; d’Ivoire, for example, depict calm and
they too regard the antelope as symbolic peacefulness by carving masks with eyes
of agriculture. partially closed and horizontal lines near
In addition to animals, masks are carved the mouth. The Temne of Sierra Leone de-
to represent people, either individuals or pict wisdom with highly decorated, promi-
idealized types. In many ethnic groups, nent foreheads.
masks are carved to represent that group’s Many ethnic groups create human fig-
idea of female beauty. The Punu of Gabon ures of wood, stone, pottery, or metal.
make masks with arched eyebrows, slightly Such figures can be freestanding or
slanted eyes, and a narrow chin. The face is carved into other objects. The Dan-Ngere
painted white, which to the Punu repre- of western Africa craft huge rice ladles
sents spirituality, and the mask is topped with handles carved to resemble people.
with black hair. Among the most famous of These ladles are used only at the harvest
such masks is Idia’s Mask, commissioned in festival.

ART AND ARCHITECTURE 17
Freestanding sculptures typically have The cloth is known for its bright colors and
spiritual significance. A stylized carving of bold designs. It is worn only on very special
a female figure, for example, could function occasions, and was once worn only by
as a fertility symbol. In some villages, kings. The largest known kente cloth,
sculptures of heroes and ancestors are which measures 12 feet (3.65 m) by 20 feet
kept in a shrine in the center of the village. (6.1 m), was presented to the United Na-
The Ibibio people of southwestern Nigeria, tions in 1960 by the government of Ghana.
for example, carve realistic bearded fig-
ures, about 4 feet (1.2 m) tall, which repre- ARCHITECTURE
sent their ancestors. Outside of Egypt, there is little monumen-
The Makonde of Tanzania make highly tal architecture in Africa. African religions
detailed, 6-foot-tall (1.8 m) carvings from do not tend toward the building of houses
African blackwood. These “Tree of Life” of worship, since spirits are believed to
carvings, which resemble a tree trunk cov- dwell everywhere, and many African kings
ered with carvings, represent the lineage of lived in the same sorts of houses their sub-
an extended family, with each generation jects did. Still, some great mosques and
supporting the next. palaces are indigenous to Africa.
Among the most famous of all African The only well-known African ruins south
sculptures are the Benin Bronzes, a collec- of the Sahara are those of Great Zim-
tion of more than 1,000 brass plaques seized babwe, located in southern Africa in the
by the British in 1897. These plaques, cast in the present-day nation of Zimbabwe. Built
bas-relief, depict people, animals, and by native people between C.E. 1100 and
scenes of life in the court. They were made 1400, Great Zimbabwe is a large complex
during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries that includes a number of stone walls and
using a sophisticated process known as the other structures, including a bee-hive-
“lost wax technique,” in which the shape is shaped tower. The wall surrounding the
molded in wax, then surrounded in clay. part of Great Zimbabwe known as the
The wax is melted away, leaving a mold Great Enclosure is the largest stone struc-
into which the metal is poured. ture south of the Sahara and an architec-
tural marvel. It runs in a winding path for
TEXTILES more than 800 feet (244 m), with neither
In addition to sculpture, African artists are corners nor angles. It was constructed
known for their work in textiles. Generally, from more than a million blocks of granite,
cloth in Africa is woven by men, though in put together without mortar. When Euro-
Nigeria and the Sudan women are also in- peans came upon Great Zimbabwe in 1871,
volved. Once the cloth is woven, it can then they did not believe that such an edifice
be dyed using various vegetables and min- could have been built by Africans, whom
erals. Cloth is often further embellished by they considered inferior. Between 1902
embroidery or appliqué. and 1904, British journalist Richard Nicklin
Probably the best-known African cloth Hall, convinced that someone other than
is kente cloth made by the Ashante of Africans had build Great Zimbabwe, had 12
Ghana. Kente is a woven cloth (in fact, its feet (3.65 m) of deposits removed from
name comes from the word meaning “bas- the site—deposits he considered mere de-
ket”) made on narrow looms. The resulting bris but that contained valuable archeo-
strips, which are 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 m) logical evidence.
long and 3 to 5 inches (7.6 to 12.7 cm) wide In the nineteenth century, the palace of
are then sewn together to make the cloth. the king of the Ashante, covered 5 acres (2

18 ART AND ARCHITECTURE
Vibrant and colorful Kente cloth is hand woven by the peoples of Western Africa. These examples are
from Ghana. (Jacob Silberberg/Getty Images)
hectares) in what is now Kumasi, Ghana. Mosque at Djenné. The mosque, designed
Built of stone, it had more than sixty rooms by Ismaila Traoré, was begun in 1906 and
with steep thatched roofs. The palace was completed in 1907. The structure is made of
designed to impress visitors with the mud bricks plastered over with mud, and
power and majesty of the king. Unfortu- the walls are between 16 inches (40.6 cm)
nately, the British destroyed it in 1874. The and 24 inches (61 cm) thick. From nearly
rubble was used to build a fort. every vertical surface of the huge building,
Also destroyed by the British, in 1897, palm wood beams jut out. These serve as
was the great palace of the king of Benin supports for workers who reapply mud to
City, Nigeria. Built in the sixteenth and sev- the mosque every spring. The mosque
enteenth centuries, the palace was im- sports three huge towers, each topped with
mense, with an inner area where the king a spire and an ostrich egg, symbolizing fer-
lived and an outer area for other royal fam- tility. Although inspired by Islamic art, the
ily members, as well as artisans and local Great Mosque makes use of African materi-
chiefs. The palace included many court- als, such as mud bricks and palm wood.
yards surrounded by buildings with gal- During the nineteenth century, indige-
leries supported by pillars covered with nous architecture was replaced by European
bronze plaques. models, including Christian churches, often
The strong influence of Islam can be seen built in the Gothic style. Most African homes,
in the mud mosques of western Africa. One even today, are built of impermanent
of the most famous of these is the Great material, such as grass, wood, animal skins,

A S WA N H I G H D A M 19
or clay, and are not intended to withstand In 2007, Cote d’Ivoire artist Gilbert G.
the passage of time. Groud created his “Childsoldier in the Ivory
Coast,” a work that protests the use of chil-
PAINTING dren in the military. This artwork, done in
Only in the twentieth century did painting crayon, has a pale and ghostlike quality.
become a significant art in Africa. Today, The face of the child is shown in close up,
many African painters are known through- with the huge helmet completely obscur-
out the world. In 1989, Kenyan artist Shine ing the eyes, as if the helmet has stolen his
Tani opened the first of several art exposi- soul.
tions in East Africa. Self-taught, Shine Tani There are so many exciting young artists
began to work seriously as an artist in in Africa today that an online journal Ijele
1988. His paintings are brightly colored was founded by the African Resource
and representational, but not realistic. He Center in 2000 to allow scholars to dis-
paints scenes of African life, but the fig- cuss African art. The journal focuses both
ures themselves are exaggerated, bul- on art produced by Africans from all over
bous, and stretched into impossible the world and on art by non-Africans that
postures. uses African iconography and symbolism.
Peter Kwangware of Zimbabwe won an
award at that country’s Annual Heritage See also: Colonization; Religion; Society;
Exhibit in 2000. A graduate of the Visual Technology and Inventions.
Art Studios of the National Gallery in
Harare, Zimbabwe, Kwangware also paints FURTHER READING
scenes of daily life in Africa. Bright colors Baldwin, James. Perspectives: Angles on African Art.
also abound in his work. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1987.
Tanzanian painter Mkumba had a four- Finley, Carol. The Art of African Masks: Exploring
month-long exhibit in Stuttgart, Germany, Cultural Traditions. Minneapolis: Lerner, 1999.
beginning in 2002. Mkumba’s work is Gillon, Werner. A Short History of African Art. New
representational, but the figures depicted York: Penguin, 1991.
are in large, unshaded blocks of color, giv- Rea, William. African Art. New York: Chelsea House,
ing an almost cartoon-like appearance to 1996.
his work.
Aswan High Dam

A dam constructed on the Nile River in Egypt between 1960 and 1970 and designed to
help control the annual flooding of the river. Constructed to generate power, the Aswan
High Dam generates hydroelectric power at billions of kilowatt hours annually.
There have been two dams at the city of cials decided to build another dam about 4
Aswan in modern times. The first was be- miles (6.4 km) upriver from the original
gun by the British in 1899 and completed in structure.
1902. It was not long, however, before the When the new dam was complete, it cre-
dam proved to be inadequate, and its ated one of the world’s largest reservoirs,
height had to be increased twice. When Lake Nasser, which covers much of lower
the dam nearly burst in 1946, Egyptian offi- Nubia. Before the lake was constructed,

20 A S WA N H I G H D A M
Completed in 1971, the

Aswan High Dam in
Egypt has controlled
the flooding of the Nile
River downstream. It
has also generated
power for the region.
(Upperhall Ltd/Robert
Harding World
Imagery/Getty Images)
the United Nations Educational, Scientific, tural needs, and travel on the Nile itself is
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) easier, leading to increased tourism.
asked for time to allow archeologists to The dam has also created many prob-
document the ancient treasures that would lems for the people living nearby. It traps
be lost when the lake was filled. Even some of the silt that used to fertilize the
though construction was delayed, not land of the Nile Delta, leading farmers
everything could be saved, and many ob- along the river to use more artificial fertil-
jects and structures have been lost forever izer, which in turn causes chemical pollu-
under the waters of Lake Nasser. tion. About 12 percent of the water in Lake
An entire island, Philae, was lost to the Nasser evaporates each year, and the
dam, but the Temple of Isis (from the standing water in the irrigated fields some-
Ptolemaic Period, 332–330 B.C.E.), located times breeds disease-bearing mosquitoes.
on it, was dismantled and moved to the Because of poor drainage, the soil and wa-
nearby island of Aglika. Thousands of Nu- ter are becoming increasingly salty, making
bian artifacts were preserved, including ce- the land less fertile and the water undrink-
ramics, jewelry, statuary, funerary items, able. Still, most people believe that the
and documents. benefits of the dam outweigh the draw-
The dam was completed in 1970. Measur- backs.
ing 2.3 miles (3.36 km) long and 364 feet
(111 m) tall, it is the largest man-made struc- See also: Agriculture; Art and Architec-
ture in the world. Aswan is a rockfill dam ture; Egypt.
made of granite rocks and sands. It gener-
ates more than 10 billion kilowatt hours of FURTHER READING
electricity per year, and has benefited the Mitchell, Peter, ed. Peoples and Cultures of North
people of Egypt in many other ways. Agri- Africa. New York: Chelsea House, 2006.
cultural production has increased greatly, Parks, Peggy J. Aswan High Dam (Building World
the people have a consistent and reliable Landmarks). Farmington Hills, MI: Blackbirch Press,
source of water for drinking and agricul- 2004.

B
Boer War
A war between the British and Dutch settlers known as Boers (a Dutch word that means
farmer), in southern Africa fought over who would control the territory now known as
South Africa. The Boer War began in 1899 and ended in 1902, resulting in a British victory,
but not before the Boers had inflicted many causalities on the more numerous and better
armed British.
By the 1890s, the southern third of As a result, war was declared on Octo-
Africa had been carved up into several ber 11, 1899. The British forces were sur-
colonies by European powers. The west prised by the immediate and fierce
coast was known as German Southwest response of the Boers. In the cities of
Africa; the east coast as Portuguese East Mafeking, Ladysmith, and Kimberly, British
Africa. The rest of the area was divided forces and settlers were trapped by the
into several British colonies and protec- Boers and sustained heavy losses. In Feb-
torates, as well as two states almost com- ruary 1900, Field Marshal Lord Roberts ar-
pletely surrounded by the British-held rived with reinforcements and was able to
land, Orange Free State and Transvaal. relieve the towns that were under siege. By
Both of these states had been founded by May, when Mafeking was relieved, there
descendents of the original Dutch immi- were wild celebrations in Britain.
grants who had settled southern Africa in When the British captured Johannes-
the seventeenth century. burg and Pretoria in May and June of 1900,
In 1885, gold was discovered in Trans- they believed they had won the war. How-
vaal. Thousands of European prospectors ever, the Boers were not ready to give up
and settlers swarmed into the region in the and continued to fight a guerrilla war, in
hope of striking it rich. The Boer govern- which small groups of soldiers continued to
ment of Transvaal disliked the influx of for- attack the British for two more years, in-
eigners, known as outlanders, and passed flicting heavy losses. During this period, the
laws limiting their voting rights and impos- British began to herd Boer women and chil-
ing taxes on the entire gold industry. Even- dren, as well as many black Africans, into
tually, the British issued an ultimatum concentration camps located throughout
demanding equality for British citizens in South Africa. Although there had been such
the Transvaal and threatening war if their camps in earlier wars, this was the first time
demands were not met. Most historians be- the term concentration camp was used. The
lieve their real motive was control of the stated purpose of the camps was to pre-
gold fields. vent Boer families from assisting the guer-
Paul Kruger, president of the Transvaal, rillas. Altogether, as many as 27,000 Boers
responded by issuing his own ultimatum and 14,000 black Africans died of disease
demanding that the British withdraw their and starvation in forty-five camps.
troops from the Transvaal border within The last of the Boer forces surrendered
forty-eight hours. The British press rein May 1902, and the Treaty of Vereeniging
sponded to the ultimatum with both anger was signed in the same month. Altogether
and amusement. They could hardly believe about 75,000 people died during the Boer
that this tiny country would dare to defy War, including 22,000 British soldiers,
the might of the British Empire. most of whom succumbed to disease;
21

22 B O E R WA R
6,000 to 7,000 Boer soldiers; 28,000 Boer FURTHER READING

civilians; and 20,000 black Africans. The Farwell, Byron. The Great Anglo-Boer War. New York:
treaty dissolved the states of Orange and Norton, 1990.
Transvaal, and control of all of South Africa Fremont-Barnes, Gregory. The Boer War 1899–1902
fell to the British. (Essential Histories). Oxford: Osprey, 2003.
See also: Apartheid; British Colonies; Col-

onization.
British Colonies in Africa

Compared to other European powers, the British were late to begin colonizing Africa. By
the beginning of the twentieth century, however, they held the largest amount of territory
of any European nation. Although Great Britain had some holdings in Africa before the
late eighteenth century, it was the Industrial Revolution that first sparked British interest
in colonizing the continent. Possessions there would be both sources of inexpensive raw
materials and purchasers of finished goods.
BRITISH WEST AFRICA strip of land about 10 miles (16 km) wide
In 1788, the English naturalist Joseph Banks, along each side of the Gambia River. This
who had sailed the Pacific Ocean with Cap- created the Gambia, an oddly shaped pos-
tain Cook, founded the Africa Association, session in the middle of the French colony
whose purpose was to fund exploration of of Senegal.
Africa. One of the most important projects British abolitionists founded Freetown in
of the Africa Association was the Niger River Sierra Leone in 1787, as a haven for freed
expedition by Mungo Park, which began in slaves, and the British government began
1795 and ended in 1797. The British govern- to administer the colony in 1808. In 1895,
ment sponsored Park’s second expedition in the British governor of Sierra Leone was
1805 and sent a subsequent expedition to granted the authority to administer all
the Ashante capital at Kumasi on the Gold British possessions on the West African
Coast (now Ghana) in 1817. However, the coast from Gambia to the Gold Coast. In
government lost interest in exploring the that same year, the British began to build a
continent for the next twenty years and left railroad into the interior.
the field to merchants, who established Among the riches that drew the British
trading posts along the Gold Coast and at to West Africa was gold. Gold mining in
the mouth of the Gambia River. Then, in the the region was controlled by the Ashante
1840s, the British established a settlement in federation from its capital at Kumasi. In
the lower Niger Valley for the purpose of 1823, the Ashante fought a British force
producing palm oil, which was used to lubri- commanded by Sir Charles McCarthy, who
cate many of the machines that made the had declared war on them. McCarthy was
Industrial Revolution possible. Many settlers advancing on the Ashante forces when he
died of malaria until the discovery in 1850 was killed. The Ashante added insult to in-
that quinine could prevent the disease. jury by converting McCarthy’s skull into a
In 1889, after years of conflict and shifting drinking cup. This conflict was followed by
borders, the French granted the British a wars in 1873, 1893–1894, 1895–1896, and a

B R I T I S H CO LO N I E S I N A F R I C A 23
final one in 1900—as the Ashante tried to tance around the turn of the century). Be-
preserve their sovereignty against the in- cause the Egyptian government was unsta-
cursion of the British. ble and unable to guarantee the safety of
In 1861, the British made Lagos in south- the canal, the British took over the admin-
ern Nigeria a crown colony. In 1900, British istration of that nation in 1882. In 1895, the
explorer and soldier Frederick Lugard con- British government sent diplomat and
quered the north and fourteen years later statesman Herbert Kitchener to conquer
united the two halves of Nigeria. Lugard set Sudan, which had previously been Egypt-
up a system of governance there that be- ian territory. This action was undertaken
came the model for most of the British because the British wanted to control the
colonies in Africa. This method is called Nile River and access to a planned dam at
indirect rule, and it contrasts with the meth- Aswan. Kitchener succeeded in 1898 at the
ods used by other European nations. Lugard Battle of Omdurman, in which 11,000 Su-
appointed a central governor and a legisla- danese died.
tive council, but depended on traditional In the 1860s, British explorers searching
leaders and institutions for local control. for the source of the Nile forged into the re-
Following this model, Sir Gordon Guggis- gion north of Lake Victoria. After annexing
berg, who governed the Gold Coast from a number of nearby territories, the British
1919 to 1929, restored the title to the tradi- unified them in 1894 and gave the name
tional Ashante king. “Uganda” to the newly formed colony. In
Under the terms of the Treaty of Ver- 1888, the British East Africa Company be-
sailles that ended World War I, the former gan to move away from the coast and ex-
German colonies of Togoland and Came- plore the interior of the territory that is now
roon were divided between Britain and Kenya. This company also built the Kenya-
France. British Togoland was administered Uganda railway between 1895 and 1905.
from the Gold Coast and Cameroon from Cecil Rhodes, a British-born South
Nigeria. African businessman who grew rich in the
diamond fields of Kimberly and who, from
BRITISH EAST AND SOUTH AFRICA 1890 to 1896, had been prime minister of
British involvement in east and south Africa Cape Colony, believed that Britain’s hold-
began as a way for the empire to protect ings in Africa should stretch from South
sea routes to its possessions in India. The Africa to Egypt, and he wanted to build a
colony at Cape Town in South Africa was railroad from Cape Town to Cairo. Rhodes’s
founded in 1806 to protect British ships as company, the British South Africa Com-
they rounded the Cape of Good Hope on pany (BSAC), began in 1890 to acquire ter-
their way to India. After the Boer War ritory to the north of South Africa,
(1899–1902), the British annexed the eventually founding the colony of Rhode-
Afrikaner territories of Transvaal and the sia. Britain achieved its goal of controlling
Orange Free State to form the Union of contiguous territory from Cape Town to
South Africa in 1910. Cairo after World War I when the German
The Suez Canal, which opened in 1869, colony that was later called Tanzania was
allowed ships to travel from the Mediter- ceded to the British.
ranean Sea to India without sailing around
the Cape, reducing the strategic impor- INDEPENDENCE
tance of Cape Town for the British (al- The British government had long envisioned
though the discovery of diamonds and a time when the colonies would be indepen-
gold nearby gave the territory new impor- dent. In order to prepare its colonies for

24 B R I T I S H CO LO N I E S I N A F R I C A
BRITISH COLONIES IN AFRICA, CA. 1913
The British emerged from what is colonists in Africa was to move side nearly all the way from South
known as the “Scramble for goods easily from one area to Africa to Egypt.
Africa” with a large portion of the another. Clearly, the British
continent’s landmass. One goal of succeeded, with colonies side-by-

B R I T I S H CO LO N I E S I N A F R I C A 25
GREAT LIVES
Cecil Rhodes
Cecil Rhodes was born in Hertfordshire, Lobengula into signing a treaty of friend-
England, in 1853. Because of his delicate ship, which effectively gave Rhodes com-
health, his parents sent him to Natal in South plete power over Lobengula’s territory. In
Africa, hoping that the milder climate would 1889, he received a charter from the British
be beneficial. There, young Cecil worked on government for his British South Africa
his brother Herbert’s cotton farm. Company (BSAC) to rule all territory from
In 1871, Rhodes and his brother gave up the Limpopo River to the great lakes of Cen-
farming and traveled to the diamond fields of tral Africa. In 1895, the new territory was
Kimberley, where they staked a mining claim. named Rhodesia. In 1898, the area south of
Rhodes’s brother eventually returned to the the Zambezi River was officially renamed
farm, but Cecil continued to manage their Southern Rhodesia; the rest was called
claim. He returned to England in 1873 to Northern Rhodesia. (In the twentieth cen-
complete a degree at Oxford University tury, Southern Rhodesia became Zimbabwe
while still managing his interests at Kimber- and Northern Rhodesia became Zambia.)
ley. In 1880, he founded the DeBeers dia- Rhodes was the quintessential imperialist,
mond company. He also began a political believing that Africans could not govern
career, and in 1890 became prime minister of themselves and that it was Britain’s destiny
Cape Colony at the southern tip of Africa. to rule the world. He expressed this point of
Rhodes had an interest in overthrowing the view in his will, saying, “I contend that we
Afrikaner Boer government of the Transvaal are the first race in the world and that the
and in 1895 supported an attack on Transvaal more of the world we inhabit the better it is
known as the Jameson Raid. That attack, led for the human race.”
by British statesman Leander Starr Jameson, In ill health for his entire life, Rhodes was
was intended to encourage British workers in barely fifty when he died in 1902, just at the
Transvaal to rebel; they did not and the raid end of the Boer War. At the time of his pass-
was a failure. Rhodes was forced to resign. ing, he was one of the wealthiest men in the
Rhodes had tried many times to obtain world. In his will, Rhodes created the
the right to mine in Matabeland (in what is Rhodes Scholarship, which allows students
now Zimbabwe) from Lobengula, king of from around the world to study at the Uni-
the Ndelbele. In 1888, Rhodes deceived versity of Oxford.
eventual self-rule, the British opened univer- were granted independence in 1960, Sierra
sities and developed programs to improve Leone and Tanganyika in 1961, followed by
transportation, health care, and agriculture. Uganda (1962), Kenya and Zanzibar (1963),
The British did not, however, prepare future The Gambia (1965), Lesotho (1966),
African politicians to lead because they did Botswana (1967), and Swaziland (1967). The
not believe that independence would come British did not oppose independence for its
as soon as it did. The first British colony to colonies by force of arms, so all of the tran-
gain independence was Ghana (the former sitions to sovereignty were peaceful. South
Gold Coast) in 1957. Nigeria and Somaliland Africa left the British Commonwealth in

26 B R I T I S H CO LO N I E S I N A F R I C A
1961. (The Commonwealth is a voluntary as- malia; South Africa; Sudan; Suez Canal;
sociation of independent nations that were Uganda.
once British colonies and that today in-
cludes many former African colonies, in- FURTHER READING
cluding South Africa, which rejoined in Meredith, Martin. The Fate of Africa. From the Hopes of
1994.) Southern Rhodesia, which had been Freedom to the Heart of Despair: A History of 50
self-governing since 1923, became the na- Years of Independence. New York: Public Affairs,
tion of Zimbabwe in 1979. 2005.
Mitchell, Peter, ed. Peoples and Cultures of
See also: Aswan Dam; Boer War; Coloniza- North Africa. New York: Chelsea House,
tion; Egypt; German Colonies; Nigeria; So- 2006.

C
Civil Wars
Since gaining independence in the mid-twentieth century, at least twenty African nations
have fought bloody civil wars with devastating consequences. Among the worst conflicts
were:
• the civil war in the Democratic Republic of 1970s, these ancient hatreds made national
the Congo (DRC), 1998–2004, which has unity impossible. Indeed, in some of
been called the deadliest war since World Africa’s civil wars, such as that between the
War II; more than 4 million people died, Hutus and the Tutsis in Rwanda, the com-
mostly from disease and famine; batants were divided along ethnic lines.
• the Angolan civil war (1975–2001), at 26 Many of those alignments, however, were
years Africa’s longest civil conflict; the result of other factors, which were
• the war in Sierra Leone, which was themselves the root causes of the conflicts.
financed by what have come to be called In “Why Are There So Many Civil Wars in
“blood diamonds,” as rebels stole dia- Africa?” an article published in the Journal
monds and sold them to finance the car- of African Economics, Ibrahim Elbadawi
nage; and Nicholas Sambanis of the World Bank
• the Rwandan civil war (1990–1993) in argue that there are three crucial factors
which Hutu peoples murdered hundreds of that have led to so much civil war on the
thousands of Tutsis; continent: poverty, an economy dependent
• the conflict in Sudan, beginning in 2003, in on raw natural resources (as opposed to
which government-sponsored militias manufactured goods), and a poorly func-
known as the Janjaweed have killed tioning political system. Even among de-
200,000 people and displaced 2 million in veloping regions worldwide, Africa has the
Darfur in eastern Sudan. lowest gross domestic product (GDP)—
less than half of Asia’s. Many young African
Other conflicts have occurred in Uganda, men, the group most likely to be recruited
Algeria, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Somalia, to fight in civil wars, are poor, uneducated,
Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, and hopeless about the future. They have
Namibia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, essentially nothing to lose and everything
Congo, Liberia, Burundi, and Senegal. to gain by rebelling against the status quo.
Many African nations are rich—in some
WHY AFRICA? cases extraordinarily so—in natural
Historians and scholars have long asked resources such as uranium, gold, and dia-
the question, Why Africa? What is it about monds. This wealth carries with it tremen-
this continent that seems to breed civil dous potential for economic growth as
conflict? The answer most often cited is well as tremendous potential for abuse
ethnic hatred made worse by the legacy of and misuse. African dictators, such as
colonization. This theory suggests that Eu- Uganda’s Idi Amin (r. 1971–1979) and DRC’s
ropean colonial powers drew the national Mobutu Sese Seko (r. 1965–1997), amassed
boundaries of their colonies arbitrarily, huge personal fortunes by looting national
grouping together historic enemies under resources. On the other hand, anti-
the governance of a single state. When the government rebel troops have taken over
colonial powers left Africa in the 1960s and mines by force and sold the raw materials
27

28 C I V I L WA R S
INTO THE 21 ST CENTURY
Blood Diamonds
Also called “conflict diamonds.” This term where on the continent.” In 2001, members
refers to African diamonds mined during civil of the international diamond industry formed
wars by rebel groups and sold to finance the World Diamond Council, which created
their rebellions. In many cases, the ability the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme
of insurgents to sell diamonds for arms (KPCS), a method by which diamonds could
prolonged wars and caused more bloodshed be certified as coming from a legitimate,
and death. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, nonconflict source. In 2003, the United
wars in Angola, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, States passed the Clean Diamond Trade Act,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, and which implemented the KPCS in the United
Republic of Congo all have been paid for States, a crucial piece of legislation because
partly in illegally obtained diamonds. the United States is the world’s largest con-
On December 1, 2000, the United Nations sumer of diamonds.
unanimously adopted a resolution stating In the 1990s, the United Nations estimated
that conflict diamonds are “a crucial factor in that as much as 15 percent of the world’s
prolonging brutal wars in parts of Africa,” yet diamond production was being sold to
underscored that “legitimate diamonds con- finance conflicts in Africa. By 2004, however,
tribute to prosperity and development else- this figure had fallen to 1 percent.
to finance their rebellions or have forced bellions. This, in turn, damages the econ-
mining companies to pay protection to omy, leading to poverty among the vast
keep takeovers from occurring. majority of people, which in turn leads to
Natural resource dependence itself has disaffected youth with nothing to lose.
contributed to the third factor in African Oxford professor of economics Paul Col-
civil conflicts: unstable political institutions. lier, in an article entitled “Natural Resources
Many African nations are so rich in natural and Conflict in Africa,” notes that natural
resources that governments have no need resources tend not to be dispersed evenly
to impose taxes on the people. Without the across a nation, but are located in pockets
need to tax, rulers can distance themselves here and there. When the people of a
from the people who elect them, which, in mineral-rich region become tired of na-
turn, leads to corruption and other abuses. tional officials getting rich by raiding “their”
In countries in which people are taxed, the treasure, they often attempt to secede—to
people tend to pay attention to what the set up their own independent nation—
government is doing to be sure their tax leading to civil war. This happened in Biafra
dollars are properly used. In Africa, how- in 1967, an oil-rich region in Nigeria, and in
ever, as a result of despotic rulers, the re- the DRC’s Katanga Province in 1960, with
sources of many nations have not been its stores of cobalt, copper, tin, radium, ura-
used for the public good—to build schools, nium, and diamonds.
roads, and hospitals—but instead to either Once a rebel group begins a civil war,
line the pockets of politicians or finance re- people often take sides based on ethnic

C I V I L WA R S 29
MAJOR CIVIL WARS, BORDER DISPUTES, AND GUERRILLA ACTIVITIES IN MODERN AFRICA, 1960–PRESENT
Civil wars, border disputes, and died across the continent. In have increased efforts to stem the
guerrilla activities have torn Africa recent years, the African Union violence and bloodshed.
apart since 1960. Millions have (AU) and the United Nations (UN)

30 C I V I L WA R S
loyalties, experts say, but ethnic hatred is tinent. The African Union, an African orga-
often not the root cause of civil war in nization modeled in part on the European
Africa. In fact, ethnic diversity can actually Union, was designed to help nations across
be a factor in preventing civil wars as long the continent develop industrialized
as parties negotiate and compromise and economies and work cooperatively to-
work to prevent gross inequalities. That is, gether for the good of all. An even more
if the political system embraces demo- significant deterrent to civil war will be in-
cratic institutions, diversity can be an asset. creased political freedom and the dialogue
This has been the case in South Africa among different ethnic groups that it will
since free elections were held in 1994. Dif- bring.
ferent ethnic groups have found produc-
tive ways to live and work together. The See also: Algeria; Colonization; Congo;
major exceptions to this are nations with Democratic Movements; Economic Devel-
one large ethnic majority and one or two opment and Trade; Ethiopia; Liberia; Nige-
small disenfranchised minorities, such as ria; Rwanda; Somalia; Sudan; Tutsis and
happened in Rwanda between the majority Hutus.
Hutus and the minority Tutsis.
FURTHER READING
ENDING CIVIL WAR Arnold, Guy. Historical Dictionary of Civil Wars in Africa.
Clearly, economic growth based on factors Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1999.
beyond natural resources—such as manu- Habeeb, William Mark. Civil Wars in Africa. Broomall,
facturing, agriculture, retail, and financial PA: Mason Crest, 2006.
institutions—will be important in reducing
the chance of civil war on the African con-
Colonization
The European nations of Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, began
colonizing Africa in the fifteenth century. Italy, Germany, and Belgium were also colonial
powers in Africa, but they did not begin to establish colonies there until the nineteenth cen-
tury. By 1875, only about 10 percent of the continent was dominated by Europe; by the
early twentieth century, almost the entire continent was under European control.
MOTIVES manufactured goods to captive markets in

The primary motive for colonizing Africa the colonies. Colonists could also be sure
was economic. By the 1880s, Britain and of a ready supply of cheap labor to work in
many other European economies suffered colonial plantations and mines. Another
from an unfavorable balance of trade, motive for the colonization of Africa was ri-
which means that they were importing valry for power, influence, and security
more than they were exporting. By coloniz- among European powers. While the earli-
ing Africa, the European powers could im- est European explorers contented them-
port relatively inexpensive raw materials selves with building forts and trading posts
such as palm oil, groundnuts (the edible tu- along the African coast, explorations that
bers of an African climbing plant), cotton, began in the 1830s and continued through
and uncut diamonds and sell profitable the 1860s revealed the previously unknown

C O L O N I Z AT I O N 31
riches in the interior of the continent. In the Portugal, German chancellor Otto von Bis-
early 1880s, the British explorer Henry Mor- marck convened the Berlin Conference of
ton Stanley negotiated treaties with the 1884–1885 to help regulate what had come
Kongo Kingdom on behalf of King Leopold to be called the Scramble for Africa. During
II of Belgium. The new Congo Free State the conference, fourteen nations negoti-
became Leopold’s personal possession, ated the rules by which Africa was to be
and he amassed a huge personal fortune carved into European colonies. The rules
by exploiting his colony’s mineral wealth had little to do with what was best for
and natural resources. Africa and Africans and everything to do
Great Britain’s earliest inroads into with preventing bloodshed among Europe-
Africa were more strategic than economic. an powers as they staked out their territory.
After outlawing the slave trade throughout
the empire in 1807, the British built forts KINDS OF COLONIES AND
along the west coast of Africa to prevent COLONIAL ADMINISTRATIONS
other nations from taking and transporting In general, Europeans created two different
slaves. Britain settled Cape Town at the kinds of colonies in Africa—exploitation
southern tip of Africa to protect British colonies and settlement colonies. The most
ships as they rounded Africa on the way to common kind of colony in Africa was the
India. In 1882, after the construction of the colony of exploitation, which usually did not
Suez Canal reduced the strategic impor- have a large numbers of settlers. Those who
tance of the Cape of Good Hope (since came to these colonies—administrators,
ships now no longer had to sail around the merchants, plantation owners, and military
continent on the way to India), the British personnel—were interested only in remov-
took formal control of Egypt. The governing as much wealth as possible. One of the
ment there was unstable and the British worst examples of a colony of exploitation
feared that its trade routes would be dis- was the Belgian Congo. There King Leopold
rupted if they did not occupy and directly II, who originally held the colony as a per-
administer the government of Egypt and sonal domain, committed atrocities on the
later that of Sudan to the south. native people, killing almost half the popula-
The French occupied Algeria in 1830, in tion in his efforts to enrich himself. The
response to an assault on the French con- British colonies of Nigeria and Ghana were
sul by the governor of Algiers. While this also colonies of exploitation.
colony was founded as an act of vengeance, In colonies of settlement, Europeans
France proceeded to expand its colonial came by the thousands to live, bringing
holdings partly because of rivalry with Ger- their own culture, animals, and crops and
many. After losing the region of Alsace- displacing native peoples, their cultures,
Lorraine to the Germans following the and indigenous animal and plant species.
Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, the As settlers and native people came into
French searched for ways to make up for conflict, many of the latter were forcibly
both the lost territory and the lost prestige. displaced or killed. Between 1904 and 1907,
The French also came to believe that they for example, German colonists virtually ex-
had a duty to “civilize” Africa, a goal they terminated the Herero people, killing 80
called their mission civilisatrice. percent of the population. Others suc-
Germany, which had not been a unified cumbed to diseases brought by European
nation until the 1870s, also sought the settlers. Eventually, the settlers developed
riches and prestige that could result from their own unique cultures and forms of
holding territory in Africa. At the request of government and became independent of

32 C O L O N I Z AT I O N
AFRICA ON THE EVE OF THE BERLIN CONFERENCE, 1884–1885
Before the Berlin Conference of mainly along the coasts. After the of Africa as possible. By 1914, only
1885, only a tiny portion of Africa Conference, however, European Liberia and Ethiopia were not
had been colonized by Europeans, powers raced to control as much under foreign control.

C O L O N I Z AT I O N 33
TURNING POINT
Berlin Conference of 1884–1885

Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck of Germany and allowed for free trade throughout the
called thirteen European nations and the Congo basin for those who attended the
United States together in 1884 to decide the conference. The conferees also endorsed
rules for carving up the African continent the Principle of Effectivity, which stated that
into European colonies. Bismarck’s goal was nations could own colonies only if they ac-
to allow European powers to divide Africa tually had established a colonial administra-
by a set of agreed-upon policies rather than tion, signed treaties with local chiefs, and
by warfare. The thirteen European nations created a force to maintain order. This prin-
that attended the conference were Austria- ciple was created to prevent countries from
Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Great establishing colonies in name only. The con-
Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Por- ferees also agreed that anyone of the four-
tugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden-Norway, and teen nations present had to inform the
the Ottoman Empire. others of plans to claim territory.
A major focus of the conference was to At the time, European leaders believed
control the slave trade and promote human- they had behaved rationally in preventing
itarianism in Africa, but the conferees did lit- war. They also believed that the African
tle except pass resolutions on these issues, people were not capable of governing
which were never enforced. The conference themselves and therefore justified their ac-
did, however, confirm the Congo as the pri- tions by taking over native lands.
vate property of King Leopold II of Belgium
the parent country. Algeria, considered a leaders in their communities. Other colo-
department, or administrative district, of nial powers, including France, Germany,
France itself, is a good example of a settle- Portugal, and Belgium, used a direct form
ment colony, as is South Africa; in both of government, placing all power in the
cases, many Europeans settled in the hands of their own colonial administrators.
colonies permanently. The British method tended to create a rul-
The two main types of colonies— ing elite, fracturing the native culture,
exploitation and settlement—were both while the French method tended to be
ruled by the parent country, either by a di- more unifying—as long as the native peo-
rect or an indirect form of government. In- ples accepted French culture and were
direct rule was used primarily by the willing to be assimilated. Like the French,
British, who tended to have very few ad- the Germans, Belgians, and Portuguese
ministrators and often ruled through tradi- tended to use a form of direct rule in their
tional tribal leaders. In some cases, colonies, although they did not assimilate
however, they appointed leaders at their native peoples as the French did.
convenience, disrupting traditional tribal
hierarchies. In Nigeria, for example, the LEGACIES
British ruled through those willing to work The legacy of colonialism in Africa has been
with them, whether or not they were actual almost entirely negative for the peoples and

34 C O L O N I Z AT I O N
nations of Africa. Although some colonial artificial national boundaries that had little
powers made substantial contributions to or nothing to do with intertribal alliances
infrastructure—building roads, hospitals, and hatreds. Without a colonial administra-
and schools—most simply exported raw tion to keep the peace, independence of-
materials and left nothing behind that could ten cast ethnic groups with ancient rivalries
help the former colonies become indepen- into armed conflict. At least twenty African
dent, well-functioning states. These nations nations have fought long and bloody civil
came into an industrialized world with little wars, prompted at least in part by ethnic
or no industry and with a population ill pre- differences and artificially imposed bor-
pared to develop industrialized solutions to ders.
problems. When the French left Guinea in Because of years of domination by colo-
1958, for example, they took literally every- nial powers, Africa still struggles with is-
thing with them, including telephones from sues of national identity, economics, and
the walls, leaving the new nation to start the governance—even more than fifty years af-
process of modernization almost from ter most nations achieved independence.
scratch. In most cases, colonial administra-
tions did not help prepare African people See also: Algeria; British Colonies; Civil
for nationhood, so when independence Wars; Congo; Democratic Movements;
came, military dictators often seized power Egypt; French West Africa; German
and democratic processes never took hold. Colonies; Italian Colonies; Portuguese
In addition, many Africans, after years of Colonies; South Africa.
subjugation and second-class citizenship,
had lost a sense of their own cultures and FURTHER READING
traditions and were left adrift, unable to ac- Bowden, Rob. Kenya. New York, Chelsea House, 2003.
cept the culture of their subjugators. In his Lovejoy, Paul E., and Toyin Falola, eds. Pawnship,
acclaimed novel Things Fall Apart (1958) Slavery, and Colonialism in Africa. Trenton, NJ:
and other works, Nigerian author Chinua Africa World Press, 2003.
Achebe creates characters who are adrift Mwaura, Mdirangu. Kenya Today: Breaking the Yoke of
in this sense, caught between two cultures, Colonialism. New York: Algora, 2005.
unable to fully accept either. Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent.
Among the worst legacies of colonialism New York: Vintage, 1999.
was the drawing of more than fifty entirely
Communist Movements
Movements in African nations that attempted to install and maintain communist govern-
ments. Although there were communist parties in Egypt and South Africa as early as the
1920s, communism did not take hold in most of Africa until after World War II. Even then,
only four nations—Angola, Mozambique, the Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia—
experimented seriously with communism. Some nations, however, advocated an economic
system that African leaders, including Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, called “African socialism.”
According to this view, the fact that pre- modern society could be created based on
colonial African societies were classless communal, rather than state, ownership of
and communal meant that a sophisticated property.

CO M M U N I ST M OV E M E N TS 35
COMMUNIST MOVEMENTS, 1920–1992
1920s Communist parties founded in Egypt and 1975 Angola institutes a one-party socialist
South Africa government
1964 Republic of the Congo’s President 1984 Mengistu renames Ethiopia the People’s
Alphonse Massamba-Débat founds the Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
National Movement for the Revolution
along Marxist-Leninist lines, outlawing all 1991 Mengistu overthrown; Angolan Civil War
other parties ends
1974 Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia 1992 Republic of the Congo allows first
overthrown by the Communist Provisional democratic elections; Angola allows first
Military Administrative Council led by multiparty elections
Mengistu Haile Mariam
After World War II, the Soviet Union The first African nation to form a Soviet-
(USSR) offered support to many African na- style government was the Republic of the
tionalists who were trying to escape the Congo, a small country that had been a
bonds of colonialism. In 1958, for example, French colony. In 1964, President Alphonse
the Soviets paid about one-third of the cost Massamba-Débat founded the National
for constructing the Aswan High Dam in Movement for the Revolution along Marxist-
Egypt. In 1969, Ghana signed a $45 million Leninist lines and outlawed all other politi-
contract with the Soviets for the develop- cal parties. Various other leftist presidents
ment of mineral rights (that is, the Soviets and parties followed, until 1992, when Pres-
were granted the right to mine certain areas ident Denis Sassou-Nguesso allowed multi-
even though they would not actually own party elections. Part of his reason for this
the land). Over the years, the Soviet Union action was the collapse of the Soviet
and Cuba sent arms, soldiers, and money to Union. Since he needed Western support,
support communist rebels in several civil he made a decision to initiate Western-
wars, notably in Angola and Ethiopia. style democracy.
The Cold War between the United Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was
States and the Soviet Union led to Ameri- overthrown in 1974 by an organization
can fears of the “domino effect.” Many called the Provisional Military Adminis-
people believed that if the Soviets gained trative Council led by Mengistu Haile
control of one nation, other nearby nations Mariam, who declared Ethiopia a one-
would “fall” to communism. The United party socialist state. In 1984, Mengistu
States had similar concerns about Africa renamed the country the People’s Demo-
and used both military and financial aid to cratic Republic of Ethiopia. Because
support noncommunist governments, even Mengistu was largely dependent on the
when some of the leaders of these govern- Soviet Union for his power, his govern-
ments were corrupt military dictators, such ment was overthrown and replaced by a
as Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire (now the coalition government after the fall of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo). Soviet Union in 1991.

36 CO M M U N I ST M OV E M E N TS
The country of Angola, a former Por- multiparty elections in 1992. A group of

tuguese colony, was granted indepen- four mediators worked with the opposing
dence in 1975, at which time the Popular parties to negotiate the Rome General
Movement for the Liberation of Angola, Peace Accords, signed later that year.
with help from the USSR and Cuba, insti-
tuted a socialist, one-party government. See also: Civil Wars; Colonization; Congo;
Civil war broke out almost immediately, Ethiopia; Imperialism; Independence
with the resistance party, the National Movements; Portuguese Colonies; South
Union for the Total Independence of An- Africa; Suez Canal.
gola, receiving support from South Africa
and the United States. The war continued FURTHER READING
until 1991, when both sides agreed to the Albright, David E. Africa and International Communism.
Bicesse Accords, which allowed for multi- New York: Macmillan Education, 1980.
party elections. Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent.
Mozambique was also a former Por- New York: Vintage, 1999.
tuguese colony that followed virtually the
same path as Angola from one-party com-
munism beginning at liberation in 1975 to
Congo
One of the largest nations in Africa, also called the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC) and, between 1971 and 1997, known as Zaire. This nation in south-central Africa is
bordered by the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Uganda,
Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, and the Atlantic Ocean. It is home to more
than 250 ethnic groups who speak hundreds of different languages. DRC is about one-
fourth the size of the United States and is home to more than 60 million people.
The first Europeans to come to Congo ment took over and named the colony the
were the Portuguese, who arrived in 1482. Belgian Congo. Joseph Conrad’s novel The
They stayed in coastal areas, however, and Heart of Darkness (1902) is in part based
did not penetrate into the interior. on his outrage at the horrors perpetrated
In 1877 English journalist Henry Stanley in Leopold’s name.
navigated the Congo River, which opened After years of internal unrest, including a
the interior of the region for further explo- series of violent riots in Kinshasa in 1959,
ration. Thanks in part to treaties Stanley Belgium granted Congo independence in
negotiated with the European colonial 1960. The first president was Joseph
powers at the Berlin Conference of 1885, Kasavubu; the first prime minister was
Congo became the personal possession of Patrice Lumumba, head of the leftist Mou-
Belgium’s King Leopold II, who used Con- vement National Congolais. The country
golese slave labor to amass a huge for- was named the Democratic Republic of the
tune in ivory and rubber. An estimated 10 Congo.
million people died at the hands of During the first year that Congo was
Leopold’s brutal administrators between an independent nation, the mineral-rich
1885 and 1907, when the Belgian govern- Katanga Province seceded from the

CONGO 37
republic, followed by South Kasai Province. Kasavubu forced Tshombe to step down
The United Nations (UN) sent in a peace- and then was deposed himself in a second
keeping force to try to prevent all-out civil coup headed by Mobutu. Upon seizing
war between secessionist groups and the power, Mobutu suppressed all political par-
central government. Lumumba’s chief of ties other than his own, nationalized many
staff, General Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, staged foreign companies, including the Union
a military coup, took Prime Minister Lu- Minière, a Belgian mining operation, and
mumba into custody, and handed him over declared that all Congolese had to adopt
to Moise Tshombe, the president of African names. To lead the way, he re-
Katanga Province. Tshombe had Lumumba named the country the Republic of Zaire
killed, and some historians believe that the and himself Mobutu Sese Seko.
United States and Belgium had a hand in The Cold War between the United
the assassination. After the coup and Lu- States and the Soviet Union played an im-
mumba’s execution, Mobutu restored portant role in sustaining Mobutu’s
Kasavubu to power. regime. Western powers feared that the
Despite several attempts to bring peace Congo might fall to communism and so
to the region, Tshombe continued to fight continued to support Mobutu, despite his
for independence until 1963, when he sur- history of suppressing opposition and
rendered to government forces. In order to looting the national treasure for personal
stem further rebellion, Kasavubu named gain. As the Cold War ended in the late
Tshombe premier. In 1965, however, 1980s, the West lost interest in supporting
Mobutu Sese Seko seized power and declared

himself president of Zaire (now the Democratic
Republic of the Congo) in 1965. After 32 years as
dictator, he fled the country during a 1997 coup
and died in exile in Morocco in 1997. (Pascal
Guyot/AFP/Getty Images)

38 CONGO
GREAT LIVES
Mobutu Sese Seko

Joseph-Désiré Mobutu was born in Lisala in 1971, he renamed the nation Zaire, which he
what was then the Belgian Congo in 1930. He claimed was the ancient name for the Congo
was educated in missionary schools and River. He also changed his name to Mobutu
joined the Belgian army when he was nine- Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga (offi-
teen years old. In the late 1950s, he joined the cially translated as “the all-powerful warrior
leftist Congolese National Movement headed who, because of his endurance and inflexible
by Patrice Lumumba. When the nation will to win, will go from conquest to conquest
gained independence in 1960, Joseph leaving fire in his wake.”) He also banned
Kasavubu was appointed president and Lu- Western names and clothing, and encour-
mumba his prime minister. Lumumba, in turn, aged the use of African languages in addition
appointed Mobutu his chief of staff. to French, the official language.
Lumumba appealed to the Soviet Union Mobutu ruled Zaire for more than thirty
for aid, which earned him the hostility of the years (1965–1997). He and his administration
United States and other Western nations. were so corrupt that the word “kleptocracy”
Three months after Lumumba came to (from the Greek word for “to steal”) was
power, Mobutu staged a coup; Lumumba coined to describe his administration. His po-
was arrested and eventually executed. Some sition was secure, however, because Western
believe that the U.S. Central Intelligence nations such as the United States continued
Agency (CIA) was involved in Lumumba’s to support him; they assumed he prevented
death because it feared he would allow the the Congo from falling under Soviet influ-
Congo to fall to Soviet influence. Mobutu ence. As the Cold War came to an end, the
handed the reins of government back to West withdrew its support, leaving Mobutu
Kasavubu, but in 1965 staged a second vulnerable. The challenge finally came from
coup, overthrew Kasavubu, and declared Laurent Kabila, who overthrew the Mobutu
himself president. government in May 1997. Mobutu fled to Ra-
One of Mobutu’s early programs was to bat, Morocco, where he died of prostate can-
return the country to “African authenticity.” In cer only four months later.
Mobutu’s government because they no been part of a plan to exterminate the mi-
longer feared a Soviet takeover. Mobutu nority Tutsi people, but the Tutsi fought
was further weakened by civil unrest, back and were able to take control of the
international criticism of his human Rwandan government. Despite an end to
rights abuses, and a worsening economy. this civil war, the Interhamwe continued to
Although Mobutu agreed to multiparty attack Rwanda from bases in Zaire. In re-
elections in 1994, he never allowed them sponse, Rwandan troops assisted Con-
to occur. golese rebel Laurent-Desiré Kabila and his
In 1996, Hutu militia forces, known as the forces in his campaign to overthrow the
Interhamwe, escaped into Zaire from Mobutu government.
neighboring Rwanda. The Interhamwe had In May 1997, Mobutu fled the country.

C U LT U R E A N D T R A D I T I O N S 39
Kabila declared himself president and re- various political parties, and Mai Mai (Con-
named Zaire the Democratic Republic of golese local defense militias.) Still, the
the Congo. Rwandan and Ugandan troops fighting continued. In April 2003, hundreds
that had assisted Kabila in his rebellion re- were killed in an ethnic conflict in the east-
mained in the country to help ensure sta- ern province of Ituri, and Rwanda has con-
bility. Rwanda was particularly concerned tinued to support rebel groups.
about protecting its borders from Hutu In May 2005, DRC adopted a new con-
militia still in DRC. Within a year, however, stitution and, in 2006, held its first elec-
Kabila demanded that Ugandan and Rwan- tions since 1970. Joseph Kabila won 44.8
dan forces leave the country. They refused percent of the vote, which was not
and, instead, brought in more troops, ush- enough to declare him the winner. In a
ering in a war that lasted through 2003. runoff election in October, Kabila won 58
This conflict is often referred to as Africa’s percent of the vote to become the coun-
“World War,” because it eventually in- try’s first elected head of state since 1970.
volved six African nations and killed more Despite the great mineral wealth of DRC,
than 3.8 million people. decades of corruption and civil war have
In 1999, a peace agreement known left the country one of the poorest in the
as the Lusaka Accord was signed by re- world and much of its infrastructure has
presentatives from DRC, Rwanda, Uganda, been destroyed and must be rebuilt if the
Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, as well economy is to be restored.
as several rebel groups that had partici-
pated in the conflict. The provisions of See also: Civil Wars; Colonization;
the accord were not fully implemented, Rwanda; Tutsis and Hutus; Uganda.
however, and fighting continued. In 2001,
Kabila was assassinated and succeeded FURTHER READING
by his son Joseph, who at age thirty be- Edgerton, Robert. The Troubled Heart of Africa:
came the world’s youngest head of state. A History of the Congo. NY: St Martin’s, 2002.
Joseph moved quickly to end the war, Hochschild, Adam. King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of
allowing United Nations peacekeeping Greed, Terror and Heroism. NY: Mariner Books, 1999.
forces into the country and promoting Oppong, Joseph R. Africa South of the Sahara. New
dialogue among the various parties to the York: Chelsea House, 2005.
conflict. Tayler, Jeffrey. Facing the Congo: A Modern-Day
In April 2003, a series of talks culmi- Journey into the Heart of Darkness. New York:
nated in a power-sharing agreement among Three Rivers Press, 2002.
government representatives, rebel groups,
Culture and Traditions

Throughout its long history, Africa has been home to a number of peoples, each with its
own traditions, customs, and spiritual practices, transmitted from generation to genera-
tion. Beginning with European exploration of the continent in the late 1400s, African cul-
tures have changed in response to European rule and forms of government, as well as
European languages, cultures, and religions. Modern Africans face the challenge of re-
claiming and maintaining their native cultures and traditions in the twenty-first century.

40 C U LT U R E A N D T R A D I T I O N S
FAMILY LIFE In general, marriage in Africa is a com-

Although there are many large and popu- munal affair. African men and women do
lous cities in Africa, most Africans still live not marry because they fall in love, as
somewhat traditional lives in rural areas. most people in the West do. This is cer-
Unlike the typical nuclear family of West- tainly true in rural Africa, if not in the big
ern nations, which includes only parents cities. Relatives and elders often arrange
and their children, most Africans live in ex- marriages, based on hoped-for alliances
tended families that include grandparents, with certain other clans or ethnic groups.
aunts and uncles, and cousins. Life is Because entire families are involved and
largely communal, with all members of the because of the institution of the bride
extended family pitching in to help with price, traditional African marriages are
meals, farming, child rearing, and choosing generally stable; divorce is rare. If the hus-
marriage partners. band and wife experience difficulties, rela-
tives do whatever they can to help the
Marriage couple solve problems. The wife’s relatives
Marriage is an extremely important insti- work especially hard to keep the marriage
tution in Africa, partly because children together because if it dissolves, they must
represent wealth and status. In rural com- return the bride price. In some families,
munities, children are needed to help with when a daughter marries, the wealth the
agricultural work, so large families are the family gains is given to her brother so that
norm; childless couples are pitied. In he may pay the price for his intended
Africa, children also represent a kind of bride. Thus, if a family has already “spent”
life after death, because children honor the bride price, it may be impossible for
and keep alive the memory of departed the bride’s family to return the bride price
ancestors. Ancestors are a very important in the event of a divorce. If the bride’s fam-
part of African culture, and every parent ily cannot keep the marriage together un-
hopes his or her spirit will be honored by der these circumstances, the entire family
children after death. Children are charged may suffer.
with keeping their parents’ memories Polygamy—having more than one
alive. spouse, in this case more than one wife—is
Although child marriage is illegal in prevalent in many parts of Africa. While
many parts of Africa and discouraged by this institution seems odd to many West-
the United Nations (UN) and other interna- erners, it serves a distinct purpose in many
tional aid agencies, in many areas, very African ethnic groups. The work of women
young girls—some as young as ten—are of- is hard; they must raise the crops as well as
fered in marriage. Often child marriage is rear the children, and even build the family
motivated by a belief in the importance of home. Having several women in the family
virginity, and families want their daughters to help with these tasks eases the burden
safely married as soon as possible. Many of each one. In addition, since women who
parents fear that their daughters will lose do not bear children are often returned to
their virginity if they are not married off their families, several wives take the pres-
before the surge of hormones and interest sure off those who may not be able to have
in sex that come with puberty. More often, children.
however, child marriage is motivated by In many ethnic groups, such as the Tiv
poverty. Girls become financial contribu- of Nigeria, men are obligated to marry
tors to their families, which barter with their brother’s widow; sometimes when a
suitors for the highest bride price. father dies, his son will marry the father’s

youngest wife. This system offers signifi- revered for their wisdom and life experi-
cant protection to widows and their chil- ence. Rather than formal judicial systems,
dren. In general, unmarried women are many African villages rely on older leaders
adrift in traditional African culture, often to judge what would be both civil and
unable to provide for themselves. criminal cases in Western cultures. Al-
though divorce is rare in rural Africa, village
Children elders rather than judges determine
Children are of primary importance in whether or not a couple should be allowed
Africa and are treasured not only by their to divorce.
parents but also by a large, extended fam- In African cities, however, the traditional
ily. The phrase “It takes a village to raise a system of laws and elders has given way to
child” is of African origin and is a good de- more Western-style legal codes, court sys-
scription of how children are cared for in tems, and judges. Inevitably, elders do not
traditional African towns. Mothers carry have the same status in cities as they do in
their infants with them when they are rural areas.
working and often sleep with babies, creat-
ing a deep bond. Children begin to help RITES AND RITUALS
their parents as soon as they are able, boys Much of daily life in rural areas of the conti-
working with their fathers, girls with their nent is governed by rites and rituals with
mothers, learning the jobs they will do as both spiritual and cultural significance. Rel-
adults. Many rural children do not receive atives and neighbors come together to cel-
formal education but rather learn from par- ebrate births, the transition to adulthood,
ents and from the stories and songs of eld- and weddings, as well as to mourn the
ers in the village. passing of the dead.
To foster a sense of community, the Igbo
of Nigeria practice fostering, in which chil- Birth
dren are raised in the homes of relatives Most African cultures believe that the
other than parents, often aunts and uncles. newborn child comes to earth from the
This practice literally “extends” the family world of spirits and that each child comes
beyond the bounds of the nuclear family. with a unique mission or gift. In order to
A study conducted among the Ogu of determine what that gift is, many African
Nigeria in 2006 suggested that the ideal of parents commission a birth chart, similar
the extended family in this ethnic group is to an astrological chart, which helps par-
weakening and that there is a definite ents understand the child’s temperament
movement toward a more Westernized nu- and predict his or her fate. Because most
clear family. Some of this change is moti- African names have a meaning that relates
vated by poverty, as people are directly to the child’s personality or des-
increasingly expected to bear the costs of tiny, African parents often wait for several
raising their own children while relatives days to name the child to be sure that he
show themselves less and less willing to or she has the most appropriate name.
take in children to foster. Nevertheless, the The Akamba of West Africa, for example,
authors concluded that most Ogu still con- wait three days before naming newborn
sider the extended family the ideal. children.
Elders Adulthood
As in many traditional societies, older peo- Many traditional African ethnic groups have
ple in towns and villages in Africa are specialized initiation rites that are celebrated

42 C U LT U R E A N D T R A D I T I O N S
Young Xhosa boys in South Africa, their faces covered in mud, prepare to go into the bush for ritual
ceremonies to become men. Formal ceremonies initiating the end of childhood and the beginning of
adulthood are common throughout Africa. (Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images)
to mark the transition of children to adult- their faces scarred in particular patterns or
hood, rites that are generally conducted have teeth knocked out. These become
when the child reaches puberty. Some outward signs of the inner changes the
groups perform initiation rites for girls, but boys have undergone. Often, when the
the vast majority are reserved for boys. boys return to their villages, their mothers
These rites are often combined with cir- pretend not to know them because they
cumcision, which marks the children as have undergone such a profound change.
ready for marriage. Some African cultures, such as the
Typically, African initiation rites begin Nandi of Kenya, practice female circumci-
with the removal of the boys from the vil- sion, which has also been called female
lage, symbolizing their transformation and genital mutilation, since, unlike male cir-
changing responsibilities. A group of boys cumcision, the female version often leaves
is taken to a remote area, accompanied by women unable to experience sexual plea-
elders whose job it is to teach them what sure. Many Western groups have launched
they need to know to be men in the campaigns to stop this practice, but many
culture—how to behave, how to hunt, how traditional cultures still embrace it, feeling
to court women, how to participate in reli- that it helps to keep girls pure for their hus-
gious rituals, how to conduct themselves bands. They believe that the inability to ex-
in general. In some instances, the boys perience sexual pleasure will make women
must undergo an ordeal—in many cases, less likely to have a reason to engage in sex
they are circumcised. They may also have outside of marriage.

Marriage To assist in the journey to the afterlife,

Marriage, because it is so important in conceived as very much like this life,
African society, is often the occasion of long Africans often bury their dead with house-
and joyous celebrations, especially in rural hold objects. While family members mourn
areas. The couple may have met only briefly the loss of a relative, the rest of the town
before the ceremony, because family mem- may celebrate life with singing, dancing,
bers conduct the negotiations. The cere- and feasting.
mony is an opportunity for the two families
to come together and celebrate their new URBAN LIFE
unity through the union of their children. The Much has been written about the loss of
two families, formerly separate, are now al- traditional culture in Africa, as people
lied. The family unit is extended to include move away from villages and extended
what Westerners call “in-laws.” Brightly col- families into the loneliness and poverty of
ored clothing, music, and dancing are part city life. Without extended families to
of most African wedding ceremonies, and help raise children, and with poverty forc-
the couple’s wrists are often bound together ing women to work long hours, children
with grasses to symbolize their union. must often be left by themselves. Many
Most African marriages, even those that parents cannot afford to send their chil-
are not polygamous, are patriarchal; that is, dren to school, and there are few elders
the husband is considered the head of the to teach the children the traditions of the
household and his word is law. Wives must tribe.
obey their husbands, and women, in gen- In areas of Africa that have been
eral, have few rights in most of Africa. In plagued with civil conflict, women have
many places, they cannot even own land, had to take over the role of head of the
despite the fact that most farming is done household while their husbands are away
by women. fighting. When the men return, domestic
disputes often arise. Men may have diffi-
Death culty finding work, forcing women to con-
Many rural Africans believe that, just as tinue working to support the family.
children come from the spirit world, the Urban life in Africa creates many chal-
dead return to it. The sprits of ancestors lenges for people who have been raised in
are believed to be present in the village traditional, village cultures. As more and
and to take an active role in guiding the more people become used to city life, how-
destinies of descendents. ever, the urban scene may change and im-
Funeral customs also reflect the idea prove.
that the spirits of the dead live on. Some
ethnic groups, fearful of what spirits may See also: Agriculture; Economic Develop-
do to the living, try to bury the dead at a ment and Trade; Religion; Society.
distance from the village. They may even
remove the bodies, feet first, from their FURTHER READING
homes through holes in walls that are then Asante, Molefi Kete, ed. African Culture: The Rhythms
sealed up. Once the hole is sealed, it is be- of Unity. Lawrenceville, NJ: Africa World Press, 1989.
lieved, the dead will not be able to find Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent.
their way back into the house. Other ethnic New York: Vintage, 1999.
groups bury the dead beneath houses to
keep the sprits nearby.

D-E
Darfur See Refugees; Sudan.
Democratic Movements
Movements in various African nations that have attempted to bring about democratic re-
forms to the political systems. Among these are freedom of the press, rule of law, and fair
and free elections.
The great push for freedom and indepen- More recently, under pressure from
dence by African leaders in the 1960s and Western donors concerned about the lack
1970s did not lead to democratic political of democracy in Africa and enhanced by
systems. In many nations, the first free elec- new technology such as cell phones and
tions after the end of colonialism were also the Internet, a number of democratic re-
the last free elections. Some presidents, form movements have arisen. Among the
such as Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, be- most prominent are Cameroon’s Social
came virtual presidents for life. Having won Democratic Front, Egypt’s Kifaya, and the
a free election, they used their power to Conférence National Souveraine (CNS) in
ensure that they were “reelected” time after the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
time by suppressing opposition and intimi- Other groups have been around longer and
dating voters. In other nations, military have worked for years to ensure demo-
coups, often in the name of democratic re- cratic processes in Africa, including the
form, toppled elected leaders with the ANC in South Africa and several groups in
promise of a return to democratic elections Nigeria.
sometime in the future. In some of these na-
tions, such as the Democratic Republic of SOUTH AFRICA
the Congo under Mobutu Sese Seko, those By 1910, South Africa was no longer a
free elections never materialized. colony but a dominion of Great Britain
Only the nations of Botswana and Mauri- with the same status as Canada. However,
tius have managed to maintain functioning its native population was completely
democracies since independence. Since disenfranchised. In 1912, the African Na-
1994, with the accession of the African Na- tional Congress (ANC) was formed in or-
tional Congress (ANC) to power, South der to defend the rights of the African
Africa, too, has maintained a true democ- people. The ANC was founded on the
racy. However, some historians and schol- principle of nonviolent protest against dis-
ars have recently begun to worry about the criminatory government policies.
fate of democracy in Botswana. In 2007, In 1952, the ANC and other groups op-
for example, the government of Botswana posed to apartheid—the legal system of
exiled Kenneth Good, a lecturer at the Uni- racial discrimination in South Africa—
versity of Botswana, for critical comments organized the Defiance Campaign, in
about government actions. In 2000, Sene- which members were encouraged to vio-
gal and The Gambia succeeded in holding late oppressive laws. The campaign ended
what appeared to be free and fair elec- when the white government enacted laws
tions. prohibiting protest meetings.
44

D E M O C R AT I C M O V E M E N T S 45
DEMOCRACY IN MODERN AFRICA
1912 African National Congress (ANC) 1993 Chief Moshood Abiola wins election in
founded to promote racial equality in Nigeria but President Ibrahim Babangida
South Africa refuses to accept results; Babangida
resigns; Congolese opposition groups
1952 ANC organizes the Defiance Campaign, appoint rival Prime Minister Faustin
a campaign of peaceful civil disobedience Birindwa
to win black rights in South Africa
1994 Democratic elections in South Africa;
1960 South African police shoot unarmed Chief Abiola of Nigeria imprisoned when
protestors at Sharpeville he declares himself winner of the
Nigerian elections
1961 ANC forms military wing, Umkhonto
we Sizwe; Nelson Mandela 1998 Nigerian president Sani Abacha and
imprisoned Chief Abiola both die under mysterious
circumstances on same day
1990 South African president F.W. de Klerk
legalizes ANC; Social Democratic Front 1999 Nigeria’s first free elections in sixteen years
(SDC), pro-democracy movement in
Cameroon founded; Mobutu Sese Seko of 2000 Senegal and The Gambia hold free elections
Democratic Republic of Congo announces
and then retracts permission for three- 2004 Egyptian opposition movement Kifaya
party system; 100 student demonstrators founded to oppose Hosni Mubarak’s
killed in Congo continued rule
1992 SDF candidate Ni John Fru Ndi denied 2005 Hosni Mubarak asks Parliament to allow
election victory in Cameroon, held under multiparty election; Ayuman Nour,
house arrest Egyptian opposition candidate, sentenced
to prison
In 1960, the ANC again planned a cam- known as the Sharpeville massacre. After-
paign of nonviolent protest, this time ward, the government banned both the
against the so-called “pass laws,” which re- ANC and the PAC.
quired blacks to carry identification at all Driven underground, the ANC leader-
times or be subject to arrest. A rival anti- ship decided that it had to renounce its
apartheid organization, the Pan-Africanist code of nonviolence and use military tac-
Congress (PAC), conducted a similar tics against the government. In 1961, the
protest before the scheduled ANC event. ANC formed a military unit known as
As unarmed PAC protesters showed up Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Na-
without passes at a police station in the tion”) with Nelson Mandela as its first
township of Sharpeville, South African po- leader. Within a year, however, Mandela
lice fired into the crowd, killing 69 and was arrested, charged with treason, and
wounding 186. This incident became sentenced to life in prison.

46 D E M O C R AT I C M O V E M E N T S
International pressure on South Africa In July 1998, Abacha died under mysteri-
and the collapse of the Soviet Union, which ous circumstances. On the same day, Chief
had long funded ANC activities, brought Abiola died in prison. Although many sus-
the two sides to the negotiating table. pected that Abiola had been poisoned, an
President F.W. de Klerk legalized the ANC international team of pathologists deter-
and PAC in 1990. In 1994, the first demo- mined that he had died of natural causes.
cratic elections were held in South Africa, In 1999, after sixteen years of military rule,
and ANC leader Nelson Mandela was Nigeria held its first free elections and
elected president. chose Olusegun Obsanjo as its president.
Obsanjo was reelected in 2003 and at-
NIGERIA tempted unsuccessfully to change the con-
From the time Nigeria gained indepen- stitution to allow him to run for a third term
dence from Great Britain in 1960 until 1999, in 2007. Presidential elections were held in
it had been ruled largely by military dicta- April 2007, with more than twenty-five
tors, including Ibrahim Babangida (1985– candidates competing. The elections were
1993) and Sani Abacha (1993–1998). won by Umaru Yar’Adua, the candidate
During these years, many individuals and from Obsanjo’s own People’s Democratic
movements rose to challenge the govern- Party (PDP). Many observers, including for-
ment and to demand a democratic political mer U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Al-
system. Many of these organizations were bright, felt the election was not conducted
moved to action by the elections of 1993. fairly. “In a number of places and in a num-
That year, business leader Chief Moshood ber of ways,” said Albright, “the election
Abiola won the presidency, but Babangida process failed the Nigerian people.” The
refused to accept his victory. Vehement work of the democracy movements in
protests both in the streets and in the Nigeria is not finished.
media caused Babangida to resign in
August 1993. He appointed his own succes- EGYPT
sor, Ernest Shonekan, who was deposed The first president of an independent
in November by General Sani Abacha. Egypt was Gamal Abdel Nasser, a member
Under Abacha, human rights abuses by of the group of young military officers who
the government escalated but so did pro- deposed Egypt’s King Farouk in 1952.
democratic protests. When Abiola pro- Nasser served as Egypt’s president from
claimed himself president in 1994, Abacha 1954 to 1970 and was succeeded by Anwar
had him thrown in prison. Sadat, who allowed much greater political
As these events were unfolding, the Na- freedom than had Nasser. Sadat was assas-
tional Democratic Coalition (NADECO) sinated by Islamic extremists in 1981
was formed to coordinate the activities the because of his policies toward Israel, and
pro-democracy movements in Nigeria. was himself succeeded by Hosni Mubarak,
Other coalitions included the Campaign who has been reelected four times. In Sep-
for Democracy and the United Democratic tember 2005, under pressure from pro-
Front for Nigeria. These groups lobbied democratic movements, Mubarak asked
with various international organizations, the parliament, which was largely under his
such as Amnesty International and Human personal control, to amend the constitution
Rights Watch, to bring the crimes of the to allow for multiparty elections. Although
Nigerian government to the attention of that appeared to be a step toward demo-
the world. cratic reform, the entire process and most

D E M O C R AT I C M O V E M E N T S 47
of the news media were under the direct In 2006, Kifaya changed its focus to re-
control of President Mubarak. The election, lations between Egypt and Israel, de-
held in September 2005, was transparently manding that Egypt annul its 1979 peace
unfair; votes were bought, ballot boxes treaty. The change in direction resulted
stuffed, and people transported to and from the United States’s support of Israel
from the polls in government vehicles. In against the radical Islamic Hezbollah
addition, the primary opposition candi- guerrillas in Lebanon in July and August
date, Ayuman Nour, was arrested in Janu- 2006.
ary 2005 on trumped-up charges and
jailed. In March, under pressure from the CAMEROON
United States and other nations, Mubarak Paul Biya, Cameroon’s president since
freed Nour and allowed him to continue his 1982, has been reelected many times, but
campaign. Nour’s trial, however, was post- international observers have questioned
poned until after the election, forcing him the fairness of the elections. Biya, in fact,
to campaign under a cloud of suspicion. has been labeled among the world’s worst
Mubarak was reelected and Nour sen- dictators. Not only did he rig elections,
tenced to five years in prison in December but he also paid international observers
2005. Many supporters feared that Nour, to assert that they were fair. The major
who is diabetic, would die in prison. pro-democracy movement opposing Biya
The major pro-democracy movement is is the Social Democratic Front (SDF),
Egypt is called Kifaya, which means founded in 1990. On May 26, 1990, the
“Enough!” Kifaya was born out of commit- founders held a rally to formally launch
tees that formed in Egypt to support the the party. During the rally, which attracted
second Palestinian intifada, or “uprising,” a tens of thousands of supporters, troops
violent attack on Israel by the Palestinians, opened fire and killed seven unarmed
which began in 2000. These groups took to civilians; the government claimed that
the streets in 2003 to protest the U.S. inva- those killed were not shot but trampled by
sion of Iraq—demonstrations that eventually the crowd.
evolved into anti-Mubarak protests. In 2004, In February 1990, the government ar-
the fear that Mubarak was planning to pass rested several of the party’s founders. They
the presidency to his son, Gamal, led to the were tried on charges of subversion, and
birth of Kifaya from the original committees. three were jailed. When members of the
Thanks to a series of effective protests, the Cameroon Bar Association protested the
organization was successful in forcing sentencing, some received death threats;
Mubarak to hold multiparty elections in one, Pierre Mbobda, was killed by police
2005. It soon became apparent, however, under mysterious circumstances.
that the elections were a sham. Although In 1992, Ni John Fru Ndi was the Social
Mubarak did not ban Kifaya, plain-clothed Democratic Front’s candidate for the presi-
police frequently attacked demonstrators. dency. Many believe that Fru Ndi actually
On September 27, 2005, the day of won the presidential election in that year,
Mubarak’s swearing in as president, Kifaya but Biya is thought to have manipulated
held a demonstration that attracted more the results. He also placed Fru Ndi under
than 5,000 people. A movement called house arrest for two months. Opposition
Youth for Change, allied to Kifaya, was parties boycotted elections in 1997 be-
formed in 2005 and many college students cause the government refused to establish
were active in anti-government protests. an independent election commission. In

48 D E M O C R AT I C M O V E M E N T S
2000, the National Assembly created the vention, known as the Sovereign National
National Elections Observatory (NEO), Conference (CNS), hosted more than 2,800
which supervised the 2004 election and individuals representing 225 organizations.
found it to be generally fair. Biya was re- Almost as soon as the conference began,
elected. Since 2004, however, there has however, Mobutu suspended its activities.
been considerable censorship of the press Repeatedly, he allowed the group to con-
by the government. vene, then prohibited its activities. In 1993,
opposition parties, tired of Mobutu’s tac-
CONGO tics, appointed Faustin Birindwa as the
Mobutu Sese Seko, ruler of the Democratic prime minister of a rival organization
Republic of the Congo from 1965 until known as the “government of national sal-
1997, announced in 1990 that he would al- vation.” Mobutu did not suppress this rival
low a three-party system. In response, the government and eventually agreed to mul-
banned Union for Social and Democratic tiparty elections. The elections never took
Process (UDPS), a reformist party, demon- place, however, and he was overthrown in
strated in favor of its leader, Étienne 1997.
Tshisekedi, but was brutally suppressed by The lack of success of Western-style
government forces. Tshisekedi himself was democracy in Africa has led some scholars
hospitalized after an attack by members to ask if a genuine African democracy may
of the government security service. Two emerge that is different from the Western
other parties, the Democratic and Social multiparty system. Yet no one has stepped
Christian Party (PDSC) and the Con- forward to propose such a system in ex-
golese National Movement-Lumumba plicit terms, let alone implement one, and
(MNC-Lumumba) were founded. Then, a one-party systems continued to predomi-
month after his original announcement, nate across the African continent.
Mobutu rescinded his statement.
Over the next several years, Mobutu al- See also: Congo; Egypt; Independence
ternated between moves toward greater Movements; Nigeria; South Africa.
democracy and crackdowns on any form of
dissent. In May 1990, government security FURTHER READING
forces killed as many as 100 protesting stu- Berman, Bruce. Ethnicity and Democracy in Africa.
dents at the University of Lubumbashi. The Columbus: Ohio University Press, 2004.
international outcry prompted Mobutu in Diamond, Larry, ed. Democratization in Africa.
December to permit the registration of op- Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press,
position parties and allow them access to 1999.
the media. He also convened a constitu- Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent.
tional convention in August 1991. The con- New York: Vintage, 1999.
Drought
An extended period during which there is not enough rainfall to support the needs of a
population for drinking water and agricultural production. Southern Africa is particularly
susceptible to drought, and countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique have often
been affected. The Sahel, a band that stretches across the upper third of the continent
from Senegal to Ethiopia, has also experienced increasingly severe droughts in recent

E CO N O M I C D E V E LO P M E N T A N D T R A D E 49
years. Major droughts in the region occurred in 1972, 1975, 1984, and 1985, with declines in
annual rainfall ranging from 20 to 50 percent.
While periods of diminished rainfall occur monwealth Scientific and Research Organi-
in many parts of the world, some African zation (CSIRO) suggests that sulphur diox-
nations are particularly hard hit because of ide from factories in Europe and North
poverty and the lack of resources and infra- America caused cooling in the Northern
structure needed to cope with disaster. Be- Hemisphere in the 1970s and 1980s. This
cause of poor soil and poor agricultural cooling, in turn, drove Africa’s tropical rain
methods in many parts of the continent, belt south, away from the Sahel. A study
even in years with enough rain, farmers are published in the journal Science in 2003
not able to produce surplus crops; so when has tied African droughts to global warm-
drought does occur, nations quickly run out ing. As the oceans warm, the currents that
of food. Even when food arrives, either pur- propel monsoons weaken, causing rain to
chased or donated by international aid fall over the ocean instead of over the land
agencies, many countries lack efficient where it is needed. El Niño, a warm ocean
methods to transport food to the people current that flows southward off the coast
who need it most. Warfare also interferes of Peru, has also been associated with
with the delivery of food to a starving pop- lower-than-normal rainfall amounts in
ulation. Corrupt leaders, too, might sell do- Africa. As El Niño heats up the water, it
nated food for a profit, lining their own causes thunderstorms over the ocean; rain
pockets while the people starve. that might have fallen on land now falls into
Even when droughts end, recovery can the ocean instead.
be slow for African countries. During Although they have increased in severity
droughts, oxen and other animals used to in the last decades, droughts in Africa are
plow the fields die, leaving farmers without nothing new. In fact, scientists have discov-
the means to sow a new crop when the ered evidence of an extensive drought
rains finally come. Sometimes people are about 70,000 years ago, at about the same
so close to starvation by the end of the time that humans began to migrate out of
drought that they are too weak to do the Africa. It could be that a drought was the
heavy work of farming. After years of cause of the migration of humans that led
planting the same crops in the same fields, to the population of the entire globe.
the soil can become so depleted of miner-
als that, despite sufficient rainfall, crops See also: Agriculture; Environmental Is-
still do poorly. In addition, heavy rainfall sues; Famine.
may simply run off soil that has become
hardened after several dry years. FURTHER READING
Scientists are still trying to understand Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent.
the causes of recent droughts in Africa. A New York: Vintage, 1999.
2002 study conducted by Australia’s Com-
Economic Development and Trade

Despite having been blessed with oil, gold, diamonds, and other valuable natural re-
sources, many parts of Africa today lag behind the rest of the world—and even the rest of

50 E CO N O M I C D E V E LO P M E N T A N D T R A D E
the so-called developing world—in economic development. The failure to develop strong
economies is partly due to the legacy of colonialism and partly due to the failure of many
African nations to develop political systems in which free markets can flourish.
FACTORS INFLUENCING economies and resulted in the destruction

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT of what infrastructure there was.
Africa’s economic woes stretch as far back The newfound power that came with
as the beginnings of the slave trade in the independence led to many corrupt dicta-
late 1500s. Although the trade was prof- torships. In the late twentieth century,
itable for some African middlemen, large leaders such as Idi Amin of Uganda and
portions of West Africa lost generations of Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire (now Demo-
young, healthy people, leaving families cratic Republic of Congo) became rich at
and whole ethnic groups devastated. the expense of the population. Sustain-
Some West African economies that were able economic development—the growth of
based on the slave trade collapsed when manufacturing and financial sectors—was
the trade was outlawed by the British in ignored while leaders plundered the natural
1807. resources for their own ends. Moreover,
In large measure, the Industrial Revolu- African nations such as Ghana developed
tion bypassed Africa. European nations socialist economies in which the state
colonized Africa in the nineteenth century owned the vast majority of banks, utilities,
to take raw materials to turn into finished and industries. As a direct result, economies
products at home, but those nations did in these nations saw slow growth. Begin-
not bring the benefits of new technology ning in the 1980s, some African countries
to Africa. In places like South Africa, began to move toward private ownership of
colonists built roads and railroads, hospi- businesses and industries, but many have
tals, and schools. However, in many other not made the change, including numerous
parts of the continent, Europeans left little countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Zambia
in the way of infrastructure when their and Nigeria both embarked on experiments
colonies became independent. Even in with privatization, with some success.
places where there were railroads, roads,
and other modern amenities, the abrupt AFTER INDEPENDENCE
departure of Europeans often meant that The end of colonialism came at a time of
there was neither the expertise nor the economic prosperity for most of Africa.
money to maintain what had been built; Rebuilding after World War II required all
much fell into disrepair. the raw materials (such as wood, rubber,
An additional factor in Africa’s failure to copper, and other metals) that Africa could
develop thriving economies has been civil provide, and the economy boomed until
unrest, another legacy of colonialism. Euro- the early 1970s. At the same time that
pean nations, when they drew boundaries African nations provided raw materials for
for their African colonies in the nineteenth Europe and the United States, they also
century, ignored ancient hatreds and al- borrowed heavily in order to develop the
liances. When the colonies became inde- infrastructure to sustain economic growth.
pendent, there was little sense of Over time, however, the foreign debt of
nationhood to hold all the various ethnic these nations became a serious financial
groups together, leading, in many cases, to burden that hurt their economies.
sustained warfare. Constant fighting made The 1970s, however, saw a tremendous
it impossible to develop functioning decline in the economies of many African

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT OF AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Africa is the world’s poorest industrialized nation in Africa, is in that region. The poorest
continent, with few of its nations also the wealthiest nation on the country on the continent is São
having a gross domestic product continent. The nations of North Tomé and Príncipe.
(GDP) near the world average. Africa draw wealth from oil, with
South Africa, the most Libya being the wealthiest nation
São Tomé

The township of
Soweto was once a
symbol of South
Africa’s apartheid
past. It is now a
bustling
neighborhood and
home to Maponya
Mall, one of South
Africa’s largest
shopping malls.
(Alexander
Joe/AFP/Getty Images)
countries because of a worldwide eco- MAJOR ECONOMIC SECTORS

nomic decline and rising oil prices. These Three major economic sectors influence
developments, coupled with corruption the economy of Africa: agriculture, mining
and political instability in many nations, and drilling, and manufacturing.
created serious economic problems.
Debts incurred in the 1960s became a Agriculture
heavy burden in the 1970s as the economy More than half of all workers in Africa are
slowed down. The World Economic Forum farmers, and more than half of those are
reported in 1970 that 10 percent of all the subsistence farmers, who grow just enough
world’s poor people lived in Africa; by to feed themselves and their families. Most
2000, the same organization reported of the rest of Africa’s farmers work on huge
that fully half of all poor people lived in mechanized farms—operated by corpora-
Africa. tions and covering thousands of acres.
There are sharp regional variations in the These farms produce cash crops—such as
African economy. South Africa has long en- coffee, cotton, cocoa, and rubber—that are
joyed Africa’s strongest economy with the exported to Europe, Asia, and America.
highest gross domestic product (GDP) of Thus, much of Africa’s land that is suitable
any nation on the continent. Zimbabwe has for farming is not used to grow foodstuffs
the worst performing economy, with a GDP for domestic consumption, leaving many
less than one-tenth of South Africa’s. North African nations without safe surpluses.
Africa, particularly those nations on the When there are droughts or other difficul-
Mediterranean, tends to be richer and have ties that interfere with food production or
more stable economies than Africa south transportation, many Africans starve. In a
of the Sahara, which is among the poorest 2007 drought in Malawi, for example, nearly
regions in the world. 4 million people were at risk of starvation.

Mining and Drilling itable manufacturing sector. Many African

Much of Africa’s wealth is in minerals— governments limit foreign investment,
including precious materials such as gold causing large international companies to
and diamonds—and oil. These commodi- look to Asia, rather than Africa, to build
ties, however, are not equally distributed manufacturing plants. African governments
across the continent. Much of Africa’s min- also tend to maintain strict control over in-
eral wealth is located in the south, while dustries, further discouraging investment.
Nigeria and Libya have large oil reserves. Political stability, reliable sources of electri-
The mining and oil industries employ only a cal power, and an educated workforce are
small proportion of Africa’s population and also lacking in large parts of Africa.
tend to profit either large corporations or From ancient times to the present,
governments. Individual Africans seldom strong economies have also been built on
see any benefit from this wealth, and many trade—the ability to move goods from one
regard it as a curse, since wars have been part of a continent to another. Africa’s abil-
fought over nothing more than who owns ity to trade is limited by its geography. Sev-
the rights to certain minerals. eral barriers make it difficult to transport
goods easily from one part of the conti-
Manufacturing nent to another, including a nearly impene-
The economies of most prosperous nations trable rainforest that covers much of the
depend on manufacturing. Industries bring center of the continent, and Africa’s two
employment, and the export of manufac- deserts—the Kalahari in the south and the
tured goods brings wealth. Africa, as the Sahara in the north. Although there are
world’s least industrialized continent, must great river systems in Africa—including the
depend on the export of nonmanufactured Nile, the Niger, the Congo, and the
commodities such as coffee and gold for Zambezi—they do not link the entire conti-
its wealth. Unfortunately, this dependence nent as do rivers in Europe or Asia, and
on commodities leaves Africa’s markets many are not easily navigable. Moreover,
vulnerable to price fluctuations, which can Africa is home to more landlocked
lead to huge losses and all the problems nations—those with no access to the sea—
that accompany market downturns, such than any other continent, making trade
as mounting debt and widespread poverty. with the rest of the world difficult.
Despite the fact that Africa has plenty of Another factor inhibiting economic
inexpensive labor, only about 15 percent of growth in Africa is disease—tropical dis-
all its workers are employed in industrial eases like malaria as well as the modern
jobs. According to the 2003 United scourge of AIDS. AIDS has reached epi-
Nations Conference on Trade and Develop- demic proportions in parts of Africa, and it
ment, Africa’s only important manufac- often kills young people, the very popula-
tured export items are undergarments, and tion that constitutes the labor force in most
those account for only about 1.7 percent of countries. Money spent to treat AIDS pa-
the continent’s total exports. Moreover, tients, as well as the victims of other dis-
two countries alone, Mauritius and Swazi- eases, creates an economic burden for
land, account for about 85 percent of the governments that are already struggling.
total export of this product.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
ROADBLOCKS TO DEVELOPMENT AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
There are several major reasons for the In 2007, the United Nations Economic
failure of African nations to develop a prof- Commission for Africa reported that the

continent’s overall GDP grew by 5.7 per- research and development, and must build
cent, an increase of 0.4 percent over 2006. or rebuild infrastructure to support a manu-
Over the previous seven years, real GDP facturing sector.
growth averaged 4.5 percent per year. The African Union (AU), successor to the
While the GDP is slowly inching upward, Organization of African Unity (OAU), cur-
this rate of progress is much too slow to re- rently has economic growth at the center
duce poverty or to reach the United Na- of its agenda. Its goals, which are modeled
tion’s Millennium Development Goals, a set after those of the European Union (EU), in-
of eight targets established to help end clude developing a common currency for
poverty and its attendant ills by the year all of Africa, as well as a common market
2015. The goals are to: and a central bank.
Africa today is poised for economic
• eradicate extreme poverty and hunger growth and development. There is a great
• achieve universal primary education deal of work to be done, but Africa is a
• promote gender equality and empower continent with tremendous potential for
women the future.
• reduce child mortality
• improve maternal health See also: African Union; Agriculture; Colo-
• combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other nization; Drought; Famine; South Africa;
diseases Slavery and Slave Trade.
• ensure environmental sustainability
• develop a global partnership for develop- FURTHER READING
ment Arnold, James R., and Roberta Weiner. Robert
Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. Minneapolis: Lerner Books,
Most economists believe that conditions 2007.
in Africa will improve only if two major Lawrence, Peter, and Colin Thirtle, eds. Africa and Asia
shifts occur. The first is diversification. in Comparative Economic Perspective. New York:
Africa must develop a manufacturing sec- Palgrave Macmillan, 2001.
tor and begin to export manufactured Panford, Martin Kwamina, ed. Africa’s Development
products, as opposed to raw materials. in the Twenty-first Century: Pertinent Socio-
Only by adopting this fundamental strategy economic and Development Issues. London:
can Africa expect the kind of growth that Ashgate, 2006.
many Asian markets have seen in recent Shah, Anup. Helping Africa Help Itself: A Global Effort.
years. To encourage manufacturing, African Broomall, PA: Mason Crest, 2006.
nations must have political stability to en- Underwood, Deborah. Exploring Africa. Portsmouth,
courage foreign investment, must invest in NH: Heinemann, 2006.
Egypt
Located on the Mediterranean coast of northeastern Africa, the second most populous
country on the continent and the most populous country in the Arab world. The vast ma-
jority of Egypt’s people live in Cairo and Alexandria and along the Nile Delta, making this
region among the most densely populated in the world.

EGYPT 55
A modern resort hotel,

complete with swimming
pool, and other
contemporary buildings
offer a vivid contrast to the
ancient pyramids at Giza,
Egypt. (Will & Deni
McIntyre/Stone/Getty Images)
In 1798, the French general Napoleon this point, Britain essentially ruled Egypt.
Bonaparte invaded Egypt and defeated It was never officially made a colony and
the ruling Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Egyptian kings continued to rule, but as
the Pyramids. The British, fearing that puppets of the British government. Even
Bonaparte would use his foothold in after Egypt gained full independence in
Egypt to interfere with their trade with In- 1922, Britain continued to play an impor-
dia, helped the Turks defeat the French in tant role in its political life.
1801. In 1805, an Albanian commander of In 1952, army Lieutenant Colonel Gamal
Turkish troops, Muhammad Ali, pro- Abdel Nasser and a group of military men
claimed himself pasha, or governor, of who called themselves the “free officers”
Egypt, and in 1807 he drove the British overthrew Egypt’s King Farouk. Egypt was
from Egypt. He ruled Egypt until 1848 and declared a republic in 1953; Nasser became
founded the dynasty that ended with King prime minister in 1954 and president in
Farouk I (1936–1952). 1956. Nasser nationalized the Egyptian
Muhammad Ali Pasha is credited with economy and took steps to distribute land
beginning the modernization and, to some more equitably to peasants.
extent, the Westernization of Egypt. Dur- In 1956, Nasser precipitated what came
ing the reign of one of his successors, Is- to be known as the “Suez Crisis” when he
mail (r. 1863–1879), the Suez Canal was nationalized the canal. Israel, France, and
built. So expensive was the construction, Great Britain began military operations on
however, that in 1875 Ismail was forced to October 29 to retake the canal, which they
sell his shares in the Suez Canal Company accomplished in a matter of days. At the
to Great Britain, giving that nation con- outbreak of hostilities, Lester Pearson (who
trolling interest in the canal. Britain’s would later become prime minister of
growing influence in Egypt led to a na- Canada) appealed to the United Nations
tionalist revolt, which the British put down (UN) to send a force to keep the peace while
at the Battle of Tel-El-Kebir in 1882. From a solution could be worked out. Israeli,

56 EGYPT
GREAT LIVES
Muhammad Ali Pasha

Muhammad Ali Pasha is often cited as the cession at his citadel in Cairo. As the pro-
founder of modern Egypt. Beginning in cession ended, Ali had the gates of the
1805, he and his descendants ruled that na- citadel closed, trapping the Mamluks inside.
tion for almost 150 years and oversaw many His army began firing and killed all but one
aspects of Egypt’s modernization. of the Mamluk leaders.
Muhammad Ali was born in 1769 in Kavala, One of Ali’s great legacies is Egypt’s cot-
a seaport on the Aegean Sea, in what is now ton crop. Today, Egyptian cotton is re-
Greece, but which at the time was part of garded as among the best grades of cotton
the Ottoman Empire. As a young man Ali in the world. It was Ali who ordered the
worked as a tobacco merchant before join- Egyptian peasantry to grow the crop, which
ing the Ottoman Army. It was as a member made a vital contribution to the growth of
of this army that Ali first came to Egypt, in the economy. He also created an efficient
1801, as part of the British and Turkish force government bureaucracy and encouraged
that drove the last of Napoleon’s occupying European visitors to come to Egypt.
force from their stronghold in Cairo. In addition, Ali established a modern mil-
Ali stayed in Egypt and in 1805 pro- itary force of well-trained and disciplined
claimed himself pasha, or governor. He knew fighters. With this force and the help of his
that to consolidate his power, he would have son Ibrahim, in 1839 Ali set out to conquer
to take on the Mamluks, the ruthless ruling the Ottoman Empire. Eventually the British
elite who owned most of Egypt’s land. In intervened on behalf of the Turks and Ali’s
1807, the British, supporters of the Mamluks, army was defeated in Beirut. In the Treaty of
launched an attack on Ali, whose 5,000 London of 1841, Ali agreed to limit the size
well-trained Albanian soldiers defeated the of his army and to give up his navy entirely;
British soundly. In 1808, Ali seized all of in return, he and his descendants were
Egypt. The Mamluks, though weakened, granted hereditary rule over Egypt.
were not yet defeated. In 1811, Ali invited Ali grew senile and was deposed by his
500 Mamluk leaders to join a military pro- son in 1848. He died the next year.
French, and British forces eventually with- Six-Day War. This defeat of several Arab
drew, leaving Egypt in possession of the armies by the tiny state of Israel was a
canal. tremendous blow to Nasser personally and
Nasser opposed the existence of Israel, to the Arab world in general.
and in the late 1960s, he formed an alliance Nasser headed Egypt until his death in
of Arab states surrounding Israel and be- 1970. He was succeeded by his vice presi-
gan to prepare for war. Israel did not wait dent and fellow “free officer” Anwar Sa-
to be attacked but instead invaded and dat. Sadat began what is known as the
captured the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Yom Kippur War when Egypt attacked
Strip from Egypt, as well as additional terri- Israel on Yom Kippur in 1973, the holiest
tory in Syria and Jordan during the 1967 day of the Jewish year. Sadat eventually

EGYPT 57
GREAT LIVES
Gamal Abdel Nasser

Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt’s president from the intention of using the tolls to finance
1956 to 1970, was born in Alexandria, Egypt, construction of the dam. This action led to
in 1918, the son of a postal clerk. He was ed- an invasion by Israeli, French, and British
ucated at the Royal Military Academy in forces, who wanted to protect their inter-
Sandhurst, England, graduating in 1939. ests in the region and their access via the
When Egypt joined several other Arab na- canal to India and China. Worried about the
tions in the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, Nasser consequences of a wider war, the United
served as a major in the Egyptian army. In Nations intervened and forced the foreign
1949, he joined the “free officers,” a revolu- troops to withdraw. Not only did Egypt
tionary group that was planning to over- keep the canal, but Nasser managed to
throw the Egyptian royal family. get money from the Soviet Union to build
In 1952, Nasser and the “free officers” the dam.
staged a coup that deposed King Farouk. Nasser became a powerful force the
Nasser played a behind-the-scenes role as Arab world. In 1958, Egypt and Syria formed
an adviser to the new government until he the United Arab Republic (UAR) with Nasser
was officially elected president in 1956. as president. He hoped that all Arab nations
As president, Nasser introduced an eco- would eventually join the UAR, but that wish
nomic system he called “Arab socialism.” was never fulfilled. In fact, in 1961, Syria itself
He took over the holdings of wealthy withdrew.
landowners and redistributed the land to After the humiliating defeat of Arab
poor farmers, limiting how much any indi- forces by the Israeli military during the Six-
vidual could own. Nasser also nationalized Day War in 1967, Nasser publicly offered to
banks and industries. In 1956, when the resign as president, but the Egyptian people
United States and Britain refused to fi- made it clear in a number of large demon-
nance the construction of the Aswan High strations that they wanted him to stay in of-
Dam to harness the power of the Nile River, fice. He did so, until his death of a heart
Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal with attack in 1970.
changed his policies from confrontation to talks. The three leaders negotiated the
negotiation, partly in order to ensure a Camp David Accords, which were signed
“peace dividend” for Egypt—the eco- in 1978. These accords led to the Egypt-
nomic growth that can come from politi- Israeli peace treaty, which allowed Egypt
cal stability. He made a historic visit to the to regain control of the Sinai Peninsula in
Israeli capital of Jerusalem in 1977, and 1982. Although Sadat made peace with Is-
while he was there addressed the Israeli rael and gained the United States as an
parliament, known as the Knesset. Sadat important ally, he made many enemies in
also accepted U.S. president Jimmy the Arab world. His diplomatic efforts
Carter’s invitation to join him and Israeli were opposed by other Arab states, who
prime minister Menachem Begin in peace felt he was betraying them.

58 EGYPT
Sadat instituted many reforms during his rael while emerging as a leading force in
time as president, including the infitah or the Arab world. Mubarak has continued
“open door” policy, which allowed private Sadat’s process of economic reform and
investment in the Egyptian economy. He re- has succeeded in expanding the private-
stored due process to the legal system and sector economy by promoting foreign in-
banned torture. In the late 1970s, Egypt was vestment.
wracked by sectarian violence, which re-
sulted in Sadat’s assassination by Islamic See also: British Colonies; Civil Wars; Col-
extremists on October 6, 1981. onization; Economic Development and
Sadat was succeeded by Hosni Trade; Independence Movements.
Mubarak, an air force commander who
had been vice president since 1975. FURTHER READING
Mubarak has been continually reelected Asante, Molefi Kete. Culture and Customs of Egypt.
since 1975. The political process in Egypt, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002.
said to be democratic, is marred by re- Goldschmidt, Arthur. Modern Egypt: The Formation
pression and strict limitations on political of a Nation State. Boulder, CO: Westview Press,
parties. Although Mubarak was reelected 2004.
in 2005, for example, he was the only can- Hobbs, Joseph J. Egypt. New York: Chelsea House, 2007.
didate. During Mubarak’s tenure, Egypt Perry, Glenn E. The History of Egypt. Westport, CT:
has maintained peaceful relations with Is- Greenwood Press, 2004.
Environmental Issues
Problems with water quantity and quality, pollutants and pesticides, land use, and dis-
eases that plague the African continent. While northern and sub-Saharan Africa share
many of the same environmental issues, there are significant differences as well.
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Although sub-Saharan Africa does not

The forty-seven nations of sub-Saharan have major industries, the manufacturing
Africa face a variety of serious environ- that does exist is centered in urban areas
mental issues, including air and water pol- where the population is growing rapidly.
lution, deforestation, soil erosion and Because industrial emissions are not regu-
diminished soil fertility, disease brought on lated by the government in most African
by environmental factors, and decline in nations, large numbers of people are in-
biodiversity. Diseases caused by environ- creasingly exposed to toxic wastes. More-
mental factors include respiratory illnesses over, many industrialized countries such as
due to pollution, pesticide poisoning, and the United States send their own toxic
malaria, whose increase is caused by a wastes to Africa for disposal, making the
warming climate. Rapid population growth problem even more severe. African coun-
makes many of these problems worse, and tries accept this waste because there is
extreme poverty leaves governments un- money to be made—even at the expense of
able to deal with them effectively. As na- a healthy populace.
tions attempt to improve economic In crowded cities, such as Cairo, Lagos,
production, they often do so at the ex- and Kinshasa, air pollution results not just
pense of the environment. from industrial emissions but also from

E N V I R O N M E N TA L I S S U E S 59
CLIMATE MAP OF AFRICA
Africa is a continent of contrasts. tropical area, including rain means that only a very small part
It has the largest desert in the forests. Most areas have either too of the continent is suitable for
world, as well as the largest much or too little rainfall, which agriculture.
automobile exhaust. Cars are seldom in- Much of Africa’s air pollution derives not
spected and use leaded gasoline, leading from industrial sources but from the burn-
to heavy concentrations of toxic lead in ing of fossil fuels. As many as 95 percent of
the air. households in sub-Saharan Africa burn

60 E N V I R O N M E N TA L I S S U E S
Poaching is a major
environmental threat in
many African nations.
Tanzanian park rangers
confiscate the ivory
tusks, worth thousands
of dollars, from the
remains of an elephant
killed by poachers. (Tom
Stoddart Collection/Hulton
Archive/Getty Images)
wood, charcoal, dung, grass, or crop Most people in sub-Saharan Africa earn
residues to cook and provide heat and light. their subsistence through agriculture. In
Breathing in smoke—which contains carbon some areas, modern farming practices have
monoxide, nitrogen oxides, formaldehyde, improved production but at the same time
benzine, and hydrocarbons—in enclosed have caused a number of environmental
spaces causes severe respiratory illnesses, problems as farmers use increasing amounts
especially in children. Pneumonia is a fre- of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Lack
quent cause of death among the very of careful handling of pesticides has led to
young. As trees are cut for fuel, Africa’s large-scale poisoning, affecting as many as
woodlands disappear, leaving deserts 11 million people a year. As recently as 2005,
where once there were lush forests. The Sa- empty pesticide cans were used to store wa-
hara is getting larger every year while rivers ter in Nigeria, leading to a number of deaths.
and lakes such as the Nile River, Lake Victo- In some areas, pesticides have been kept in
ria, and Lake Chad are gradually drying up. nylon bags, which leak when wet, contami-
Mining and oil production are also major nating both soil and water.
sources of pollution in sub-Saharan Africa. As more land is cleared to feed a grow-
Oil spills in seaports and from pipelines ing population, valuable forests, wetlands,
pollute surrounding sources of water, com- and woodlands are disappearing at an
promising water quality and leading to loss alarming rate. As Africa’s population grows,
of natural habitats for plants and animals. further demands are placed on the land,
Failure to regulate mining has also led to and overfarming and overgrazing damage
toxic wastes, such as arsenic, lead, and sul- topsoil. These factors have led to the rapid
phuric acid, leaching into water and soil. As desertification of much of Africa’s farm-
ore is removed from the rock in which it is land. Whole populations of animals, many
embedded, the dust that results often con- of which exist nowhere else in the world,
tains multiple toxins. If the dust and debris are increasingly threatened by the destruc-
are not properly managed, they can get tion of natural habitats. Even traditional
into the water supply. farming methods create problems. Since

ERITREA 61
traditional farmers do not rotate crops, the percent. This means that as populations
soil may become rapidly depleted of nutri- grow, water scarcity will reach crisis levels.
ents and no longer usable for agriculture. More than 85 percent of all water in the
Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, water north is used for agricultural purposes, with
supplies are undrinkable, contaminated by only 7 percent reserved for domestic use.
sewage, pesticides, heavy metals, and in- Water quality is also an issue in the north
dustrial wastes. In some nations, less than for many of the same reasons as in the
20 percent of the population has access to south, including pesticide and fertilizer
safe drinking water. Though Africa is home runoff. The Aswan High Dam, built to allow
to many great rivers, getting water to the for more efficient irrigation of land along
people who need it is often difficult. Water the Nile River and to harness hydroelectric
projects, such as dams and irrigation sys- power, has brought many benefits to the
tems, if not properly planned and managed, area, but it has also created problems of
sometimes create more problems than they water quality and scarcity. Standing water
solve. Dams actually diminish total water breeds mosquitoes and also leads to in-
supply because silt builds up in reservoirs creased evaporation and accumulation of
and water evaporates more rapidly from silt at the bottom of Lake Nasser (an artifi-
reservoirs than from freely flowing bodies of cial lake created when the dam was built),
water. Standing water becomes a breeding diminishing the water supply.
ground for malaria-carrying mosquitoes. There are also serious problems with
In cities, garbage and human waste are pollution and coastal erosion along the
not properly disposed of. Many public Mediterranean Coast. As much as 38 per-
spaces are clogged with solid wastes, cent of Africa’s northern coast is under a
which attract disease-carrying insects and high degree of threat from development.
rodents. Waste is often dumped along wa- Coastal populations are growing rapidly
terways. Toxins leach into the water supply, and industrial and human wastes are pol-
causing diseases such as cholera and luting coastal waters. The effects on the
dysentery. Children often play in precisely marine fishing industry have been pro-
the locations where waste accumulates. found, leading to significant decreases in
the number of fish caught each year. Fish-
NORTH AFRICA ery experts, for example, predict that it
The environmental issues facing northern may already be too late to save the
Africa are similar to those of the Middle Mediterranean bluefin tuna from extinction.
East. Land suitable for agriculture is rapidly Africa’s environmental problems remain
diminishing, especially in southern regions. overwhelming. They will be very difficult to
Less than 6 percent of the region’s total solve without international intervention
land area can now be used for farming. and substantial infusions of money.
Drought and wind, as well as poor land
management, including deforestation and See also: Agriculture; Algeria; Aswan High
failure to rotate crops, are the root causes Dam; Drought; Egypt.
of the problem.
Water is also scarce in many parts of FURTHER READING
North Africa. Countries such as Morocco, Hillstrom, Kevin. Africa and the Middle East:
Egypt, and Algeria use 80 percent of all the A Continental Overview of Environmental Issues.
rainwater that falls on their lands, in con- Oxford, UK: ABC-CLIO, 2003.
trast with South America, sub-Saharan Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent.
Africa, and the Caribbean, which use only 2 New York: Vintage, 1999.

62 ERITREA
Eritrea
A country situated in the northern part of the Horn of Africa, bordered by Sudan on the
west, Djibouti on the southeast, Ethiopia on the South, and the Red Sea on the east. Once
a province of Ethiopia, Eritrea became a colony under Italian rule beginning in 1890 and
an independent nation on 1993. Thus, Eritrea is the first African state to successfully split
off from an independent African country.
In the Scramble for Africa—the desper- Selassie’s actions led to the formation
ate efforts of European countries between of the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), a
1880 and the beginning of World War I to grassroots opposition movement that be-
colonize and exploit Africa’s natural gan to harass Ethiopian troops in a guer-
resources—Italy had its eye on the north- rilla-style war. In 1970, the ELF split into
ern portion of Ethiopia because of its two factions—the Eritrean Liberation
strategic access to the Red Sea. In 1885, Front and the Eritrean People’s Liberation
the Italian government bought the hold- Front (EPLF). Both groups claimed to ad-
ings of a shipping company at the port of vocate Marxist policies and were dedi-
Asseb. In 1889, the Treaty of Wuchale cated to liberating Eritrea from Ethiopia.
(also known as the Treaty of Uccaile) gave After a bitter civil war between the ELF
Italy sovereignty over parts of Eritrea, af- and the EPLF in the early 1980s, the latter
ter which Italy consolidated and expanded became the dominant force in the resis-
its control over the area. In 1896, Italian tance. After nearly thirty years of warfare,
forces launched their disastrous invasion Eritrea expelled Ethiopian forces from the
of Ethiopia from Eritrea. The Ethiopian region in 1991. Casualties of the war were
army won a stunning victory over the Ital- very high. By some estimates, 60,000
ian troops. people were killed, another 60,000 were
In 1941, during World War II, the British badly injured, and 50,000 children were
seized control of Eritrea and then adminis- left without parents. In a UN-supervised
tered it as a United Nations (UN) Trust Terri- referendum in 1993, more than 99 percent
tory until 1952. After the war, the UN of the people of Eritrea voted for indepen-
ignored the Eritrean people’s wish for inde- dence, which was declared on May 24,
pendence and created a federation, joining 1993.
Eritrea to Ethiopia in 1952. Under the UN Isaias Afwewerki, former secretary gen-
plan, Eritrea was to have its own parliament, eral of the EPLF, was elected Eritrea’s first
representation in the Ethiopian legislature, president. Eritrea’s proposed constitution
and a measure of independence. Neverthe- has never been implemented, however, be-
less, Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie al- cause of the continued unrest in the coun-
most immediately set about to undermine try. No other elections have been held
the spirit of the agreement by putting his since 1993, and the EPLF remains the only
own relatives into positions of leadership legal political party.
in Eritrea, banning political parties and limit- Peace for Eritrea was short-lived. A
ing freedom of the press. In 1961, Selassie bloody border war with Ethiopia broke out
closed the Eritrean Parliament, ending any in 1998 and continued for two years, until
pretense of adhering to the UN plan. On No- the United Nations brokered a peace
vember 14, 1962, Salassie declared Eritrea agreement. The disputed border is still pa-
the fourteenth province of Ethiopia. trolled by UN peacekeeping troops today.

ETHIOPIA 63
Eritrea’s economy is primarily agricul- years of war and educating its largely illit-
tural and its people are poor. The country erate population. Although there is still
has frequently been afflicted by drought, much to be done, major projects have been
as have other countries on the so-called completed since the war, including a 500-
Horn of Africa. Eritrea is home to people of mile (800-km) coastal highway. The Er-
many ethnic backgrounds and languages, itrean Railway has also been rebuilt, an
including Afar, Arabic, Tigre, Kunama, and important step in connecting Eritrea’s
Tigrinya; most are from the Semitic and cities for trade and transportation.
Cushitic language families. About half the
population is Muslim, and the other half is See also: Ethiopia; Italian Colonies.
Christian. Most of the Muslim population
belongs to the Sunni sect. Eritrea recog- FURTHER READING
nizes four official religions: the Eritrean Or- Mengisteab, Kidane. Anatomy of an African Tragedy:
thodox Tewahdo Church, Sunni Islam, Political, Economic and Foreign Policy Crisis in Post-
Catholicism, and Lutheranism. Members of Independence Eritrea. Trenton, NJ: Red Sea Press,
other religions are not free to practice their 2005.
faith. In fact, the U.S. State Department has Wrong, Michael. I Didn’t Do It for You: How the World
labeled Eritrea as one of the worst viola- Betrayed a Small African Nation. New York: Harper,
tors of religions freedom in the world. 2000.
Eritrea’s greatest challenges are rebuild-
ing the infrastructure destroyed by the
Ethiopia
On the east coast of Africa, country bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west,
Kenya to the south, and Djibouti and Somalia to the east. Except for a brief occupation by
Italy during World War II, Ethiopia is the only East African nation to have escaped foreign
rule during the Scramble for Africa—the efforts of European countries between 1880 and
the beginning of World War I to colonize and exploit Africa’s natural resources. Ethiopia
may also be the place where humans first evolved from their humanoid ancestors; bones
found in eastern Ethiopia date back more than 3 million years. Historically, Ethiopia was
also known as Abyssinia.
The first Europeans to visit Ethiopia were centralized government, and local rulers
the Portuguese in 1493. At the time, Ethiopia battled one another for control. Beginning
was a Christian nation with a large Muslim in 1859, the kingdom was consolidated un-
population. The Portuguese sent missionar- der Emperors Theodore II (r. 1855–1868),
ies to convert the people to Roman Catholi- Johannes IV (r. 1872–1889), and Menelik II
cism, which led to a hundred years of (r. 1889–1913). It was Menelik who resisted
conflict between pro- and anti-Catholic fac- Italy’s 1896 attempt to conquer Ethiopia
tions. In 1630, Ethiopia expelled all foreign and make it a colony. At the Battle of
missionaries, beginning a period of isolation Andow on March 1, 1896, Ethiopia defeated
that persisted into the nineteenth century. the Italians.
From the early eighteenth to the middle Menelik was succeeded by his grandson
of the nineteenth century, Ethiopia had no Lij Iyassu, who was deposed by the Christian

64 ETHIOPIA
Haile Selassie, the last emperor of Ethiopia,

ruled from 1930 until a 1974 coup. His many
titles included “King of Kings,” “Conquering
Lion of the Tribe of Judah,” and “Elect of
God.” He died in Ethiopia in 1975. (Hulton
Archive/Stringer/Getty Images)
majority because of his ties to Islam. The arrested and died during his captivity,
Christian nobility made Menelik’s daughter, probably murdered by members of the
Zewditu, empress and appointed her cousin, Derg.
Ras Tafari Makonnen, as regent. When Lieutenant Colonel Mengistu Haile
Zewditu died in 1930, her cousin succeeded Mariam, a leader of the Derg, took over the
to the throne as Emperor Haile Selassie, who government in 1977. He was an avowed
ruled Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. communist who instituted a totalitarian
In 1936, Selassie was forced into exile in rule and built a huge military force with aid
England when Fascist Italy under Benito from the Soviet Union and Cuba. He also
Mussolini again invaded Ethiopia. In 1941, murdered thousands of suspected enemies
British and Ethiopian forces defeated the of the state in a purge known as the Red
Italians and Selassie was restored to Terror.
power. Throughout the 1980s, Ethiopia was
In 1974, Selassie was deposed by a coun- plagued by droughts, famine, rebellion, and
cil of soldiers known as the Derg (“commit- attacks by neighboring Somalia. Then, in
tee”). The new government executed many 1989, rebel forces from the northern regions
members of the imperial family along with of Eritrea and Tigray formed the Ethiopian
government ministers. Selassie himself was Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front

ETHIOPIA 65
GREAT LIVES
Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie was born Tafari Makonnen in founding a new religion called Rastafarian-
1892 in Harer Province, Ethiopia (then ism. The League of Nations, however, did
known as Abyssinia). He was a cousin of not come to Selassie’s aid.
Emperor Menelik II. Educated by a private A joint force of British and Ethiopian sol-
European tutor, Tafari proved to be such an diers retook Ethiopia in 1941 and restored
adept student that Menelik appointed him Selassie to power. During the 1940s and
governor of the Sidamo province at the age 1950s, Selassie improved the nation’s health
of fourteen. care, transportation, and education, while
When Menelik died in 1913, Ras (Prince) also expanding and consolidating his power.
Tafari, who was a Coptic Christian, led a In 1960, after the failure of an attempted
movement to depose Menelik’s son, who coup, Selassie took a more conservative
had converted to Islam. Tafari was ap- view of reform and began to direct his at-
pointed regent and heir to Menelik’s daugh- tention to foreign affairs. He was the first
ter, Zewditu, who ruled as Ethiopia’s first African head of state to visit many counties,
empress since the ancient Queen of Sheba. and he was a leader in the Pan-Africanism
Zewditu died under mysterious circum- movement, which called for African unity.
stances in 1930, and Ras Tafari became em- He also helped found the Organization of
peror, calling himself Haile Selassie, “Power African Unity (now the African Union),
of the Trinity.” headquartered in the Ethiopian capital of
Selassie worked hard to modernize Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia, but his efforts were cut short when Eritrean rebels began a civil war in 1963 in
Italy, led by Fascist dictator Benito Mus- an attempt to gain independence. In 1977,
solini, invaded of the country in 1935. Somalia attacked Ethiopia in hopes of re-
Selassie fled Ethiopia, which lost its inde- gaining the Ogaden region in southeastern
pendence for the first time in its history. Tak- Ethiopia, formerly Somalian territory. In 1973,
ing refuge in Great Britain, Selassie went a drought led to widespread starvation. All
before the League of Nations in 1936 to of these factors led to a decline in Selassie’s
plead for help for his country. His charis- power, and in 1974 the Derg, a committee of
matic presence and eloquence made him an military officers, forced him to resign. He
international celebrity. So powerful did he was arrested and held in Addis Ababa until
seem that many Jamaicans began to wor- his death—widely attributed to murder—in
ship him as the future king of blacks, thus 1975.
(EPRDF) and in May 1991 forced Mengistu with Eritrea in control of the entire coastline
to flee to Zimbabwe. In 1993, after nearly on the Red Sea.
thirty years of fighting, Eritrea declared its Under Prime Minister Meles Zenawi,
independence from Ethiopia, leaving elected in 1995, Ethiopia has developed a
Ethiopia country completely landlocked, federal system of government in which re-

66 ETHIOPIA
GREAT LIVES
Menelik II
Menelik II, emperor of Ethiopia (then known Ababa as the nation’s capital and created a
as Abyssinia) from 1889 to 1913, reigned dur- postal system and a national newspaper.
ing the Scramble for Africa and was the only Italy, which had already colonized Eritrea
African leader to successfully resist a Euro- to the north of Ethiopia, attempted to expand
pean attempt at colonization. its influence and, in 1889, occupied the town
Menelik was born in 1844 in the city of of Adwa in northern Ethiopia. It was there
Ankober in the Shewa Province and served that on March 1, 1896, Menelik and his army
as governor of Shewa before becoming em- defeated the Italians. This was the first time in
peror. As emperor, Menelik doubled the ter- 2,000 years that an African army had de-
ritory under his rule and made substantial feated a European one. The last time was in
strides in modernizing Ethiopia. He built 218 B.C.E. when the Carthaginian general Han-
bridges, telegraph lines, hotels, hospitals, nibal crossed the Alps and attacked Rome.
and schools. He also established Addis Menelik died in 1913 after a long illness.
gions and tribal areas have significant estimated that police killed as many as
power and autonomy. 200 protesters including 40 teenagers.
In 2005, Ethiopia held what appeared to
be a free and fair election campaign. Irreg- See also: Colonization; Communist Move-
ularities in the election process, however, ments; Eritrea; Famine; Italian Colonies.
resulted in violent protests in June of that
year. When the election results were an- FURTHER READING
nounced, opposition parties called for a Gillespie, Carol Ann. Ethiopia. New York: Chelsea
boycott of Parliament and civil disobedi- House, 2002.
ence. In November, the Ethiopian govern- Haile, Rebecca G. Held at a Distance: My Rediscovery of
ment arrested many opposition leaders Ethiopia. Chicago: Academy Chicago, 2007.
and journalists, and held tens of thousands Paulos, Milkias. Haile Selassie, Western Education, and
of civilians in detention camps for months. Political Revolution in Ethiopia. Youngstown, NY:
During protests in June and November, it is Cambria Press, 2006.

F-I
Family Structure See Culture and Traditions.
Famine
In Africa, famines have occurred throughout history and into modern times. They are es-
pecially prevalent in the Horn of Africa, which includes Ethiopia, Somalia, and parts of Su-
dan. According to a 2007 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO), every year nearly half the population of sub-Saharan Africa goes hungry. The re-
port also notes that the region is “worse off nutritionally than it was 30 years ago.” In fact,
Africa’s people are the worst nourished in the world, according to the United Nations.
Although parts of Africa have long other cases, the reason is political: cor-
fought the effects of famine, during the rupt leaders may line their own pockets or
later quarter of the twentieth century the see to it that people from their own politi-
continent has endured repeated devastat- cal party get food while the opposition
ing famines, including one that affected does not. In some instances—notably in
Ethiopia in 1984–1985 in which more than a Ethiopia in 1984—the government may
million people died. Other famines and the even sell the donated food in order to buy
countries most affected include: 1988, weapons.
Ethiopia; 1992, Somalia; 1994, Sudan and Another problem is mismanagement of
Ethiopia; 1997, Kenya; 2002–2003, land. Many African governments have
Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Zimbabwe, and pressed their people into growing cash
Mozambique, among others. Since the crops (such as coffee) instead of food
1980s, millions of people have died in crops, leaving fewer workers and less land
Africa from starvation and associated ill- dedicated to growing food. The money
nesses. from cash crops is often used by govern-
The causes of famine in Africa are comments to buy weapons, not to help im-
plex. Drought is a major problem in parts of prove the lives of the people. Most African
the continent and is a primary culprit in food farmers know little about modern agricul-
shortages. Many Africans are subsistence tural methods that can lead to greater
farmers, growing barely enough to feed yields per acre, such as crop rotation. Thus,
their own families. When a crop fails be- African farmers suffer from low yields and
cause of low rainfall, there is no extra food soils that are depleted of essential nutri-
stored away to help the family get through ents.
the bad times. AIDS has also contributed to famine
When a food shortage occurs, for in Africa. Most agricultural workers in
whatever reason, African nations may Africa are women, and women are dispro-
be more devastated than other parts of portionately affected by AIDS. About 75
the world because much donated food percent of all HIV positive people in Africa
never reaches the people who need it are women, leaving fewer people to till the
most. In some cases, this occurs because soil.
of a lack of transportation—keeping food Famine is an issue of dire importance in
from reaching those who are hungry. In Africa in the twenty-first century. There are
67

68 FA M I N E
Refugees from the Sudanese famine await medical treatment at an emergency health care center. The
famine is one result of a long civil war between Sudan’s Muslim north and Christian south.
(Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images)
no easy solutions to the problem, and FURTHER READING

many experts believe that it will only Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent.
worsen in the coming years. New York: Vintage, 1999.
Von Braun, Joachim. Famine in Africa: Causes,
See also: Drought; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Soma- Responses, and Prevention. Washington, DC:
lia; Sudan. International Food Policy Research Institute, 2000.
French West Africa

A confederation of eight French colonies in West Africa. French West Africa was origi-
nally created in 1895 as an administrative entity and included the colonies of Senegal, Su-
dan, Guinea, and the Cote d’Ivoire. Later Benin, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso were added
to the federation.

FRENCH WEST AFRICA 69
FRENCH COLONIES IN AFRICA IN THE EARLY 1900S
France’s African colonies were Morocco in 1912. French West of a federation of four French
centered in West Africa. Algeria Africa was a federation of eight colonies governed from
became a French colony in 1830. French colonies administered from Brazzaville in the French Congo.
Tunisia became a French Dakar, Senegal. Similarly, French
protectorate in 1881, as did Equatorial Africa was comprised
COLONIZATION bic (a sticky substance that had a number

French influence in West Africa began with of uses including controlling the thickness
the founding of the city of Saint Louis in of ink), groundnuts, and other raw materi-
Senegal in 1659. French interest in the area als.
was motivated primarily by economics. Al- French attitudes toward native inhabi-
though the French participated in the At- tants differed from those of the British and
lantic slave trade, they did so to a lesser other European powers, who tended to re-
extent than the British, Dutch, and Por- gard Africans as racially inferior. The French
tuguese. The French were more interested felt strongly that as long as Africans
in agricultural products, such as gum ara- learned the French language and accepted

70 FRENCH WEST AFRICA
GREAT LIVES
Ahmed Sékou Touré

Ahmed Sékou Touré was born in Faranah, the only territory in French West Africa to
Guinea, in 1922, the son of poor Muslim par- vote for complete independence from
ents. His education began in the local Ko- France.
ranic school and he attended a technical Sékou Touré, now the president of Guinea
school in the Guinean capital of Conakry. In and an avowed Marxist, negotiated aid from
1937, he was expelled after organizing a the Soviet Union and convinced Kwame
food riot. Nkrumah of Ghana to lend him £10 million
In 1941, Sékou Touré took a position with (equivalent to about $35 million.) Sékou
the French post and telecommunications Touré’s attempt at a socialist economy was a
department and rose to head the Postal complete failure, however, and in 1978, he
Union in 1945. In 1953, Sékou Touré led a abandoned his socialist policies and began to
successful general strike against the govern- trade with the West. As Guinea’s president,
ment and was elected to the Territorial As- Touré restricted political activity and perpe-
sembly. He continued to seek political office trated a series of human rights abuses.
and was elected vice president of the na- Touré died in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1984,
tional assembly in 1957. The next year, under during heart surgery. At the time of his
Sékou Touré’s leadership, Guinea became death, he was still the president of Guinea.
French values and culture, they could be- Africa, with a population of more than 15
come French themselves. This was partic- million by the 1940s, was run by a mere
ularly true in the French colony of Algeria, 385 colonial administrators. The governor
which had representatives in the French general, stationed first in Saint Louis and
government, and to a lesser extent in eventually in Dakar, reported to a minister
Senegal. In the early years of the twentieth of colonies in Paris. Reporting to the gov-
century, however, the French abandoned ernor were a number of territorial lieu-
this goal in much of the rest of West Africa tenant governors. These individuals were,
and made little effort to help the popula- in a sense, absolute rulers who had little
tion assimilate. It had become clear that respect for traditional chiefs, values, or
many Africans did not want to abandon customs. Thus, African culture was weak-
their own cultures, languages, and world- ened more by the French method of direct
views. rule than by the British method of indirect
rule, which in many cases preserved tradi-
COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION tions and customs.
Unlike the British, the French used a sys- The French were harsh rulers in West
tem of direct rule to administer their Africa, using a system of forced labor and
colonies. While the British ruled through imprisonment to attain their economic
traditional tribal chiefs, the French goals. They forcibly moved people to
brought in their own administrators to places where their work would best benefit
safeguard their interests. French West the French economy, regardless of family

G E R M A N CO LO N I E S 71
or tribal ties. In the British colonies, the 1980. Senghor was one of the originators
African “middle class” (those favored and of the concept of négritude, which refers
employed by the British to help them rule) to the consciousness of belonging to the
benefited to some extent from economic black race. The concept had a major im-
prosperity, but this was not the case in pact on African and African American lit-
French West Africa. The French did little erary expression.
in West Africa to improve the lives of the na- A third leader to emerge in this era of in-
tive peoples, though they did make some dependence was Ahmed Sékou Touré of
efforts to improve heath care and educa- Guinea, who had helped Houphouët-
tion. Boigny found the RDA. In 1958, the French
under Charles de Gaulle sponsored a refer-
INDEPENDENCE endum in which the territories of French
The native people of French West Africa West Africa could choose to become to
had fought on the side of the French in become autonomous republics within the
World War I and World War II, both in French community. Seven of the eight ter-
Africa and on the European front. After ritories voted for the referendum, but
World War II, many Africans began to real- Guinea, under Sékou Touré’s leadership,
ize that they did not share in the democ- did not. A poet like Senghor, Sékou Touré
racy they had fought so hard to preserve, famously told French president de Gaulle,
and many nationalist movements arose. In “We prefer poverty in liberty to riches in
French West Africa, three major leaders in- slavery.” Within two years, all of the nations
fluenced the course of events. In 1946, of French West Africa had followed Sékou
Félix Houphouët-Boigny of Cote d’Ivoire Touré’s lead and gained their indepen-
founded the African Democratic Rally dence from France.
(Rassemblement Démocratique Africain, or
RDA), an organization dedicated to help- See also: British Colonies; Colonization;
ing all African nations achieve indepen- Independence Movements; Sudan.
dence. In 1960, when Cote d’Ivoire attained
independence, Houphouët-Boigny became FURTHER READING
its first president. He continued lead the Bohannon, Paul. Africa and Africans. Long Grove, IL:
nation until his death in 1993. Waveland Press, 1995.
Léopold Senghor, a French citizen born Meredith, Martin. The Fate of Africa. From the Hopes of
in Senegal and a poet who taught for Freedom to the Heart of Despair: A History of 50
many years in France, founded the Bloc Years of Independence. New York: Public Affairs,
Démocratique Sénégalais (Senegalese 2005.
Democratic Bloc) and was elected Sene- Mitchell, Peter, ed. Peoples and Cultures of West Africa.
gal’s first president in 1960, serving until Chelsea House, 2006.
German Colonies
The territories ruled by the Germans from the 1880s through World War I. After the war,
the colonies were granted to the Allied Powers as protectorates by the League of Na-
tions. The colonies included German Southwest Africa, now Namibia; German East Africa,
now Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda; Togo; Kamerun, now Cameroon; and a tiny colony,
Wituland, now part of Kenya.

72 G E R M A N CO LO N I E S
GERMAN SOUTHWEST AFRICA Battle of Waterberg on August 11, 1904.

Because Germany was not a united nation The defeated Herero were herded into the
until the 1870s, it was relatively late in com- Kalahari Desert, where thousands died of
ing to Africa, and its occupation was the thirst. German troops later found skeletons
shortest of any of the European colonizers. in holes as deep as 50 feet (15 m), which
A German merchant, Adolf Lüderitz, the Herero had dug in an attempt to find
founded German Southwest Africa in 1883 water.
when he bought some land along the coast During World War I, South African and
from a native chief. To prevent the British German troops fought each other in South
from encroaching on his territory, Lüderitz West Africa, as the territory was called, and
in 1884 asked the German government for many German settlers were transported to
protection. The German flag was raised on concentration camps in South Africa for
the territory that same year. In 1890, the the duration of the war. After the war, the
Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty between Britain League of Nations placed the territory un-
and Germany allowed for the growth of the der the protection of the British. The for-
colony through the acquisition of an area mer German colony remained as a British
called Caprivi (named after a German protectorate until it became the indepen-
chancellor who served from 1890 to 1894), dent nation of Namibia in 1990.
which allowed access to the Zambezi River.
In the same treaty, the Germans gained He- GERMAN EAST AFRICA
ligoland, an island in the North Sea, and In 1885, Germany granted an imperial char-
gave up Zanzibar and the tiny colony of ter to the Society for German Colonization,
Wituland to Great Britain. Ironically, the an organization founded with the sole pur-
people of Wituland protested violently pose of establishing German colonies in
when the Germans left. The sultan of Witu East Africa. The sultan of Zanzibar, believ-
had invited the Germans to help him fend ing that the territory in question was his,
off his traditional rival, the sultan of Zanz- protested. In response, German chancellor
ibar, and the protectorate was established Otto von Bismarck sent ships, which ar-
in 1885. Thus, when the Germans left, the rived in the waters around Zanzibar and
people of Wituland felt betrayed. directed their cannons at the sultan’s
German West Africa was the only Ger- palace. As a result, the sultan backed down
man colony in which large numbers of Ger- and in 1886, the British (who already had a
mans settled. Many came because of the consulate in Zanzibar) and the Germans di-
riches in diamond and copper mining; oth- vided the territory in question between
ers came as farmers. By 1914, there were them.
about 12,000 Germans in the colony, along Few Germans settled in East Africa. The
with 80,000 Herero natives, 60,000 small number of administrators and sol-
Ovambo, and 10,000 Nama—all referred to diers relied on native chiefs to maintain or-
by the Germans as “Hottentots.” der, collect taxes, and force their people to
Many of the native groups rose up and grow cotton for export. Beginning in about
tried to drive the Germans from their lands. 1905, a spirit medium called Bokero cre-
The largest of these attempts was later re- ated a “war medicine” of water, castor oil,
ferred to as the Herero Wars of 1904. At and millet seeds and told his followers that
first, the Herero were successful, destroy- this medicine would turn German bullets
ing German farms and driving settlers into water. The Swahili word for water is
away, but the Germans brought in rein- maji, and when Bokero and his followers
forcements and defeated the Herero at the began to attack Germans, their uprising

IMPERIALISM 73
became known as the Maji Maji Rebellion. labor to do the work, creating lasting re-
By the time the rebellion ended in 1907, sentment among the native people.
several hundred Germans and more than During World War I, the British invaded
75,000 natives had died. the German colony and forced the surren-
During World War I a young German der of the last German fort there in 1916.
general, Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, After the war, Cameroon (now known by its
with a small force of Germans and 11,000 English spelling) was partitioned between
native forces known as Askaris, success- Britain and France, and the two resulting
fully fought the 330,000-strong British im- areas were referred to as British and
perial forces under South African French Cameroon, respectively.
commander Jan Smuts. At the 1914 Battle In 1884, German chancellor Otto von Bis-
of Tanga, von Lettow-Vorbeck defeated a marck sent Gustav Nachigal to Togo to
British unit that was eight times larger than persuade the local chiefs to accept the
his own force. Overall, von Lettow-Vorbeck protection of the German empire. The
was responsible for more than 60,000 chiefs agreed, and by the next year, To-
causalities. After hearing that Germany goland was recognized by the European
surrendered, von Lettow-Vorbeck agreed powers as a German colony. Using forced
to a cease-fire. labor as they had in Kamerun, the Germans
The 1919 Treaty of Versailles that ended established rubber, palm oil, cotton, and
World War I divided the German colony of cocoa plantations. After World War I, To-
East Africa, giving Ruanda-Urundi to Bel- goland, like Cameroon, was divided be-
gium, a small area known as the Kionga Tri- tween the French and the British. By 1919,
angle to the Portuguese, and the rest to Germany had no colonies in Africa.
the British, who called their new colony
Tanganyika. See also: British Colonies; Colonization;
French West Africa; Rwanda; South Africa.
TOGO AND CAMEROON
In 1884, Germany established a colony on FURTHER READING
the coast of east-central Africa that they Farwell, Byron. The Great War in Africa, 1914–1918. New
called Kamerun. The German colonialists York: Norton, 1989.
built railways, roads, bridges, and hospitals Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent.
in the colony, but they used native forced New York: Vintage, 1999.
Global Warming See Environmental Issues.
Imperialism
The policy of expanding national power by acquiring and controlling territory. In the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the continent of Africa became the main target
of European imperialism. Europeans had set up trading posts and small settlements
along Africa’s coast in the 1400s. European interest in Africa grew, however, after the Eu-
ropeans discovered the vast resources of the continent’s interior.

74 IMPERIALISM
MOTIVATIONS it was imperative that Africans be con-

From 1815 until the 1870s, Great Britain was verted from their pagan religions to Chris-
the undisputed economic leader of the tianity. Most Europeans of the late
world, the only modern industrial power. nineteenth and early twentieth century did
After 1870, however, Britain found itself not see their imperial policies as exploita-
confronted by competition from France, tion; rather, they believed they were
Germany, and the United States, as these “called” to “save” the poor, benighted
nations began to build more factories and African people.
manufacture more goods. Britain and other Yet another motivation for imperialism
European powers began to see captive was strategic. Britain, in particular, saw its
overseas markets as the solution to their presence in Africa as essential to protect-
economic challenges. Africa, as the least ing its interests elsewhere. Britain annexed
developed region of the world, became a both the Suez Canal in Egypt (1882) and
particular target, though Asia also saw Cape Town in South Africa (1795) in order
massive colonization efforts. to protect its ships on their way to its ter-
The economic theory behind imperialism ritories in India. Other nations sought ac-
held that developed nations needed to im- cess to crucial waterways and seaports.
port cheap raw materials to convert into For example, one of the agreements at the
manufactured products. They also needed Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 was to
captive markets to export their manufac- keep the Congo and Niger river basins
tured goods to. In addition, wealthy bankers neutral and open for river traffic by all
and businesspeople in Europe needed ways interested parties.
to invest their excess capital, or money, and
underdeveloped nations in Africa provided THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA
the perfect arena. The Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 began
Imperialism was also politically moti- what has been called the Scramble for
vated. Small European countries com- Africa. At the request of the Portuguese,
peted to see who could “own” the largest Otto von Bismarck, chancellor of a newly
overseas territory. Britain was the clear united Germany, called European powers
winner. By 1921, Britain ruled over 458 mil- together to determine how to divide Africa
lion people, about a quarter of the world’s among them without warfare. Attending
population, and a quarter of the total land the conference were Austria-Hungary, Bel-
area of the earth, about 14.2 million square gium, Denmark, France, the United King-
miles (36.8 million sq km). Britain also dom, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal,
held more territory in Africa than any Russia, Spain, Sweden-Norway, the Ot-
other nation. toman Empire, and the United States. The
A belief in the cultural and racial superi- conference was a success in that it did out-
ority of Europeans over Africans and line a plan that saved Europeans from
Asians also motivated imperial expansion. deadly warfare. However, the conference
Rudyard Kipling expressed this view in his did not protect Africans from being mur-
poem “The White Man’s Burden” (1899), dered by colonial powers, most notably by
telling his readers that they must “take up Leopold II of Belgium, who held the Bel-
the White Man’s burden,” ruling over “new- gium Free State as a personal possession
caught sullen peoples/half-devil and half- and had nearly half the population killed in
child.” Many Europeans believed that order to pursue his economic interests. Be-
Africans were, in fact, like children, unable fore the Berlin Conference, Europeans oc-
to rule themselves. They also believed that cupied about 10 percent of the continent.

I N D E P E N D E N C E M OV E M E N TS 75
By 1914, virtually the entire continent was come modern nations themselves. Al-
ruled by European powers, including though some Africans were educated by
Britain, France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, their imperialist rulers in government or
Spain, and Germany. missionary schools, many people were left
without the needed skills and knowledge
EFFECTS to build industrial nations after the colonial
The effects of imperialism on the people of powers left. Since Westerners ran the
Africa were devastating. In particular, colo- schools, many of those who were educated
nial powers forced Africans to abandon learned only Western ideas. These young
food crops, such as yams and grain, and people were taught that their traditional
grow cash crops, such as peanuts, coffee, ideas and beliefs were inferior to Western
tea, rubber, cotton, and cocoa, for export. ideas, and this led to further loss of tradi-
The family farm became a thing of the past, tional culture.
and African laborers, mostly men, left
home to work on large plantations. Those See also: Agriculture; British Colonies; Col-
who could not or did not farm also left onization; Culture and Traditions; French
home to find jobs in the brutal and back- West Africa; German Colonies; Italian
breaking mining industries. Ultimately, Colonies; Portuguese Colonies; Suez
women were left to grow food crops on Canal.
their own, and they were often unable to
grow enough. FURTHER READING
The fact that many men left their homes Mackenzie, John. The Partition of Africa and European
had a devastating impact on African fami- Imperialism, 1800–1900. New York: Routledge, 2007.
lies and traditional culture. Wealth gener- Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent.
ated in Africa was exported to Europe and New York: Vintage, 1999.
little money was spent to build the infra- Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism. New York:
structure African societies needed to be- Vintage, reprint, 1994.
Independence Movements
At the end of World War II, there were only three independent nations in Africa: Liberia,
which had been settled by former slaves from the United States and declared its inde-
pendence in 1847; Ethiopia, which had never been colonized except for a brief occupa-
tion by Italy; and Egypt, which had achieved independence from Great Britain in 1922. By
1970, however, Africa had thirty-seven additional independent nations. Namibia, the last
nation to gain independence, did so in 1990.
FACTORS INFLUENCING THE model for many African nationalists in the

DESIRE FOR INDEPENDENCE 1950s and the 1960s.
A major influence on African independence Another important influence was the
movements was Mahatma Gandhi, who led Pan-African Movement, an organization
India to freedom from its British colonizers founded toward the end of the nineteenth
in 1947. Gandhi, who lived in South Africa century with the goal of uniting and uplift-
from 1893 to 1914 and started his method ing all Africans—no matter where in the
of nonviolent protest there, served as a world they lived. Many of the delegates to

76 I N D E P E N D E N C E M OV E M E N TS
INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS, 1912–1994
1912 African National Congress (ANC) founded 1956 Popular Movement for the Liberation of
to fight for equality for Africans in South Angola (MPLA) is founded; African Party
Africa for the Independence of Guinea and
Cape Verde (PAIGC) is founded
1946 Founding of the African
Democratic Rally (Rassemblement 1957 Gold Coast gains independence as the
Démocratique Africain, or RDA), nation of Ghana under the leadership of
an independence movement in Nkrumah
French West Africa, by Félix
Houphouët-Boigny 1962 Algeria becomes independent of France;
rebel groups seeking independence are
1949 Kwame Nkrumah founds the founded in Angola (National Liberation
independence-minded Convention Front of Angola, or FNLA), and in
People’s Party in Gold Coast, Mozambique (Mozambique Liberation
later Ghana Front, or FRELIMO)
1952 ANC organizes Defiance Campaign 1975 Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau
to nonviolently protest apartheid win independence from Portugal
laws
1990 ANC is legalized in South Africa; Namibia
1954 The National Liberation Front (FLN) granted independence
of Algeria begins attacks on French
colonial targets 1994 First democratic elections in South Africa
the 1945 Pan-African Congress were indi- by American president Franklin Roosevelt
viduals who later led their nations to inde- and British prime minister Winston
pendence, including Hastings Banda of Churchill, proclaimed that one of the prin-
Malawi, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Obfemi ciples for which World War II was fought
Awolowo of Nigeria, and Jomo Kenyatta of was “respect [for] the right of all peoples
Kenya. The ideals of the Pan-African Move- to choose the form of government under
ment, including a belief in the basic equal- which they lived.”
ity of all humans, led many to become
involved in independence movements. AFRICAN DEMOCRATIC
World War II had a major impact on RALLY (RDA)
many African soldiers who served in na- Among the earliest independence move-
tional armies and fought in Africa along- ments in Africa, formed in French West
side their European colonizers. Having Africa, was the African Democratic Rally
battled to save the world for democracy, (Rassemblement Démocratique Africain,
returning soldiers began to wonder why or RDA), founded in 1946 by Félix
they continued to live under colonial rule. Houphouët-Boigny, who would, in 1960,
Indeed, the 1941 Atlantic Charter, created become the president of the Cote d’Ivoire.

Kwame Nkrumah, the prime minister

of the Republic of Ghana, signed the
African Charter that established the
Organization of African Unity
(OAU). The OAU’s attempts at
African unity were largely
unsuccessful. In 2004, the OAU was
replaced by the African Union (AU),
an organization with greater
authority to preserve peace on the
continent. (Keystone/Stringer/Hulton
Archive/Getty Images)
This organization represented all of French United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) un-
West Africa and was not associated with der politician Joseph Danquah. The UGCC’s
any particular colony. Although harshly primary purpose was to advocate for inde-
suppressed by the French, the RDA even- pendence from Great Britain. In early 1948,
tually achieved its goal of helping African police shot at African service members who
nations attain independence. The RDA is were protesting sharp increases in the cost
still an active political party in many West of living. When the shootings led to rioting
African nations. across the country, British leaders, believing
the UGCC had incited the riots, had several
GHANA of its leaders, including Nkrumah, arrested.
The first sub-Saharan African nation to be- The British soon realized that the UGCC was
come independent was the Gold Coast, now not involved and released the leaders. Upon
Ghana, which won its independence from his release, Nkrumah traveled around the
Great Britain under the leadership of country making speeches and demanding
Kwame Nkrumah. Nkrumah was educated in immediate self-rule. By 1949, he had orga-
the United States and returned to Africa in nized his many followers into the Conven-
1947 to serve as the general secretary to the tion People’s Party.

When the British proposed a new con- confidence of the public, partly because of
stitution that limited voting rights to those its handling of the conflict in Algeria. Al-
who owned property, Nkrumah and his fol- though de Gaulle at first pursued the war,
lowers responded with the Constitutional by 1959 he had accepted the idea of Alger-
Proposals of October 1949, which de- ian independence. De Gaulle’s stance, how-
manded universal suffrage and self- ever, angered the French settlers in Algeria,
government. Soon after the British rejected who, with the support of French troops in
these proposals in 1950, Nkrumah began a Algeria, staged two revolts, which de
campaign for “Positive Action” that in- Gaulle had to put down by force.
cluded civil disobedience, boycotts, and In March 1962, the parties to the conflict
strikes. Nkrumah was arrested and spent between the French settlers and the
three years in prison. In 1951, Nkrumah’s French government declared a cease-fire,
party won in free elections, and in 1952, be- and in July of the same year, Algerians
cause he was leader of the party that won voted to become independent of France.
the elections, Nkrumah became the prime There are differing estimates of the num-
minister of a new transitional government ber of deaths that occurred during the
that would eventually lead to freedom. In eight years of fighting. Algerians set the
1957, following a series of strikes and death toll at 1.5 million, while the French
protests, Gold Coast became the indepen- set it at about 350,000.
dent nation of Ghana, with Nkrumah still at
the helm as prime minister. In 1960, PORTUGUESE COLONIES
Nkrumah was elected Ghana’s first presi- Portugal, under the leadership of Fascist
dent. Nkrumah’s path to freedom for dictator António Salazar from the early
Ghana inspired other African leaders to 1930s to the late 1960s, was determined to
strive for independence. hold onto its colonies in Africa. Long after
other colonial powers had realized that
ALGERIA their tenure in Africa was over, the Por-
Among the most violent of all the African tuguese continued to battle independence
struggles for independence was that of Al- movements in Angola, Mozambique, and
geria. In 1954, the socialist political party, Guinea-Bissau.
National Liberation Front (FLN), began a
series of attacks against military posts, po- Angola
lice stations, and other state-owned facili- In 1961, a brief rebellion by native An-
ties. The French, determined not to allow golans against their Portuguese coloniz-
independence, brought additional troops ers was put down, and many of the rebels
into Algeria and fought back. The FLN fled to neighboring Congo. The next year
used guerrilla tactics, striking quickly at a group of these refugees led by political
French positions, then hiding among the activist Holden Roberto came together as
civilian population. Both sides in the con- the National Liberation Front of Angola
flict engaged in acts of terrorism against (FNLA). From its base in the Congo, the
noncombatants. FNLA fought a guerrilla war against the
In 1958, General Charles de Gaulle, Portuguese. By the early 1970s, Portugal
leader of the Free French Movement dur- had more than 50,000 troops in Angola to
ing World War II and former president of ward off attacks by the various guerrilla
France, was called to form a new govern- groups. In 1972, Portugal declared Angola
ment. The previous administration, referred an “autonomous state,” allowing self-
to as the “Fourth Republic,” had lost the determination in all areas except defense

and foreign policy. In 1974, a group of left- had not been in favor of independence be-
wing military leaders overthrew the gov- gan to advocate for self-determination.
ernment of Portugal in a bloodless coup PAIGC changed its tactics in 1962 and
that came to be known as the Carnation began to launch attacks against Por-
Revolution. The new government granted tuguese targets. Like other leftist African
Angola independence in 1975, and the so- independence movements, PAIGC looked
cialist Popular Movement for the Libera- to the Soviet Union and China for support
tion of Angola (MPLA) established a and received both weapons and training
government in the capital of Luanda. The from those nations. Embroiled in conflicts
FNLA and National Union for the Total In- in Angola and Mozambique, Portugal found
dependence of Angola (UNITA), however, itself hard pressed to fight back against the
were opposed to socialism and estab- guerrillas, and by 1967 PAIGC had control of
lished a rival government in Huambo. The most of the countryside. The tide turned,
MPLA received financial and military aid however, when Portuguese soldier and
from the Soviet Union and Cuba, while the politician António Spínola took over as gov-
United States supported the FNLA and ernor of the colony. He sought to influence
UNITA. These groups fought a prolonged public opinion by building schools, hospi-
civil war that did not end until 2002. tals, and roads, but at the same time, the
Portuguese Air Force began dropping na-
Mozambique palm and defoliants in order to kill guerrillas
Another Portuguese colony, Mozambique, and destroy their hiding places. Neverthe-
began its struggle for independence in less, in 1973, PAIGC declared Guinea-Bissau
1962 with the founding of the Mozambique to be an independent nation. It was recog-
Liberation Front (FRELIMO). Based in Tan- nized as such by the United Nations, which
zania and led by U.S.-educated anthropol- condemned the Portuguese occupation.
ogist Eduardo Mondlane, FRELIMO began Portugal formally declared Guinea-Bissau
to attack targets in northern Mozambique independent in 1975, along with all its other
in 1964. After Mondlane’s assassination in colonies in Africa.
1969, Samora Machel took over leadership
of the movement and extended the war- SOUTH AFRICA
fare into central Mozambique. To defend its By 1910, South Africa was no longer a colony
colony, Portugal stationed 70,000 troops but a dominion of Great Britain, with the
in Mozambique, but they could not put same status as Canada. (Britain granted do-
down the insurgency. After the 1974 Carna- minion status to former colonies that were
tion Revolution against the Portuguese essentially self-governing.) However, South
government, Mozambique was granted in- Africa’s native population was completely
dependence. FRELIMO became the only le- disenfranchised. In 1912, the African National
gal political party. Congress (ANC) was formed in order to
defend the rights of the African people,
Guinea-Bissau whether living inside or outside the borders
Marxist Amilcar Cabral established the of South Africa. The ANC was founded on
African Party for the Independence of the principle of nonviolent protest against
Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) in 1956. discriminatory government policies.
PAIGC’s original strategy was peaceful, and In 1952, the ANC and other groups op-
the party worked for independence. When posed to apartheid—the legal system of
in 1959 Portuguese soldiers fired on a racial discrimination in South Africa—
crowd of protesters, many Africans who organized the Defiance Campaign, in which

members were encouraged to deliberately ating table. International pressure and eco-
violate oppressive laws. The campaign nomic embargo were damaging the power
ended when the white government enacted of the government, while the fall of the So-
laws prohibiting protest meetings in 1953. viet Union in 1991 meant that the ANC was
In 1960, the ANC planned a non-violent no longer receiving weapons and money.
protest against the “pass laws,” which re- As a result of their meetings, President F.W.
quired blacks to carry identification cards. de Klerk legalized the ANC and PAC and re-
Not to be outdone, the Pan-African Con- leased Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990.
gress (PAC) planned a pass law protest of Four years later, South Africa held its first
their own, to try to draw away ANC’s sup- democratic elections, and Mandela was
porters. The PAC protesters gathered at the elected president.
Sharpeville police station in an attempt to It is one of the great ironies of history
turn themselves in for traveling without pa- that, having fought so hard for indepen-
pers. The protest turned bloody when the dence, many African nations still do not
police, on edge due to the massive crowd, have multiparty democracies and solid
began firing into the crowd, killing 69 and democratic institutions. Many nations were
wounding 186. In the aftermath of the wracked by civil war, and many newly
Sharpeville massacre, the South African elected leaders refused to hold subsequent
government banned the ANC and PAC. elections, instead staying in power for de-
Because nonviolence had failed to cades, robbing the national treasuries and
achieve their goals, the ANC leaders altered outlawing dissent. South Africa, at least,
their tactics. Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of hopes to escape this fate and sustain its
the Nation”) was formed in 1961 to be the democratic governments.
military arm of the African National Con-
gress. Nelson Mandela led the newly formed See also: Algeria; British Colonies; Civil
unit, though he was arrested within a year Wars; Colonization; French West Africa;
and sentenced to life in prison for terrorism. Pan-African Movement; Portuguese
During the 1970s and 1980s, the ANC at- Colonies; South Africa.
tacked a number of targets in South Africa
from bases in Botswana, Mozambique, and FURTHER READING
Swaziland. Tactics included bombings, tor- Enwezor, Okwui, and Chinua Achebe, eds. The Short
ture, and even murder. In return, the South Century: Independence and Liberation Movements
African government routinely bombed ANC in Africa. New York: Prestel, 2001.
bases and may have been responsible for Meredith, Martin. The Fate of Africa. From the Hopes of
the 1988 assassination of ANC member Dul- Freedom to the Heart of Despair: A History of 50
cie September. Years of Independence. New York: Public Affairs,
Eventually, outside pressure from other 2005.
world leaders brought both the South Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent.
African leaders and the ANC to the negoti- New York: Vintage, 1999.
Italian Colonies
Italy’s holdings in Africa, which by 1934 included the territories of Cyrenaica and Tripoli-
tania (now Libya), Somaliland (now a part of Somalia), Eritrea, and Ethiopia. Like Ger-
many, Italy was relatively late in becoming a unified nation, beginning the process in

I TA L I A N C O L O N I E S 81
TURNING POINT
The Treaty of Wuchale

The Treaty of Wuchale, also known as the Then, in October of the same year, Italy noti-
Treaty of Uccaile, was signed by Emperor fied other colonial powers in Africa that it re-
Menelik II of Ethiopia and Count Pietro An- garded Ethiopia as a protectorate. Italy
tonelli of Italy on May 2, 1889. The treaty, justified its claim by referring to Article XVII of
which was written in two versions, one Ital- the Italian version of the Wuchale Treaty,
ian and one Amharic, the language of which stated that Ethiopia was under the con-
Ethiopia, ceded several provinces of trol of the Italian government. The Amharic
Ethiopia to Italy. These provinces eventually version, however, did not clearly state that
became the Italian colony of Eritrea. Menelik Italy was in control, only that the two nations
signed the treaty because he viewed Italy as were partners. In 1893, Menelik repudiated the
a threat to Ethiopian independence and treaty and declared it invalid. In response, Ital-
hoped the ceded territories would satisfy ian forces advanced upon Ethiopia, but were
Italy’s colonial ambitions. defeated at the Battle of Adwa in 1896. The
Shortly after the treaty was signed, how- Treaty of Addis Ababa, signed in 1896, ended
ever, the Italians began taking over provinces the war and forced Italy to recognize
that were not part of the original agreement. Ethiopia’s independence.
about 1815, after the defeat of Napoleon, and ending in about 1870. Also like Germany,
Italy was a latecomer to Africa, beginning its colonization efforts with Somaliland and Er-
itrea in 1889.
FIRST ITALIAN-ETHIOPIAN WAR March 1, 1896. About 20,000 Italian

In 1889, Menelik II, the ruler of Ethiopia, troops planned an early morning attack
signed the Treaty of Wuchale with Italy, on the Ethiopian forces, hoping to sur-
which established Eritrea as an Italian prise the sleeping army. However, the
colony. In 1893, Menelik, having consolidated Ethiopians had wakened early to attend
his power over Ethiopia, declared the treaty church, learned of the Italian advance,
void. In October 1895, Italy responded by at- and counterattacked. In defeating the
tacking Ethiopia from Eritrea. The Italians Italians, Menelik and his army made
expected that the Tigray and Amhara peo- history—becoming only the second
ple, whom Menelik had conquered, would African military force to defeat a Europe-
support them. The assumption proved in- an force since Hannibal’s victory over
correct, however, as they sided with Menelik. the Roman army 2,000 years earlier. In
In the first battle of the war at Amba Alagi in October, Italy and Ethiopia signed the
December 1895, Ethiopian solders drove the Treaty of Addis Ababa, which established
Italian forces back into Eritrea. the borders of the Italian colony of Er-
Ethiopia’s decisive victory over the itrea and recognized the independence of
Italians came at the Battle of Adwa on Ethiopia.

82 I TA L I A N C O L O N I E S
LIBYA puted territory on the border between Er-

Italy gained control over the North African itrea and Ethiopia at an oasis in the
territories of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania as Ogaden Desert known as Walwal. In 1934,
a result of its victory in a short war with the Ethiopian and Italian troops clashed, leav-
Ottoman Empire in 1911. Those in Italy who ing 150 Ethiopian and 50 Italian troops
had dreams of a new Roman Empire based dead. Soon afterward, the Italians began to
in modern Italy referred to Libya as Italy’s mass forces on the Ethiopian border.
“fourth shore.” Despite this boast, the Ital- Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie mobilized
ians encountered a determined resistance his army to fight, but many of his forces
by the native people until 1914, by which were armed only with spears, bows, and ar-
time Italy controlled the vast majority of rows. In 1936, without a formal declaration
the territory. Italy consolidated Tripolitania, of war, Italian forces crossed the border
Cyrenaica, and a third territory—Fezzan— into Ethiopia and captured Adwa, the site
as the colony of Libya in 1934. of the 1896 Italian defeat.
In the period between World War I and In addition to conventional weapons,
World War II, Idris I, emir of Cyrenaica, led Italian forces used chemical weapons
a guerrilla war of resistance against Italy against the Ethiopians. It is now known that
from a base in Egypt. During World War II, mustard gas was used both on the ground
Libya was the site of many battles between and in aerial bombardments, although the
Allied and Axis forces. Idris, fighting with Italian government refused to acknowledge
the Allies, helped defeat the German forces this fact until 1995. Civilians and Red Cross
in Libya under the command of Nazi gen- encampments were deliberately sprayed
eral Erwin Rommel. After the war, Italy re- with the gas. In addition to using poison
linquished all claims to Libya, the once gas, the advancing Italian army forced
united colony was redivided, and Great Ethiopian civilians into labor camps, killed
Britain administered the territories of Cyre- hostages, and mutilated the corpses of the
naica and Tripolitania; the territory of Fez- dead. Captured rebels were thrown alive
zan was transferred to French rule. When from airplanes, and Mussolini himself au-
Libya gained its independence in 1951, Idris thorized his army to “systematically con-
became the new nation’s first king. duct a politics of terror and extermination.”
One of the worst incidents of the war oc-
SECOND ITALIAN-ETHIOPIAN WAR curred in 1937 in the capital of Addis Ababa
Benito Mussolini, the Fascist dictator of when a bomb exploded next to an Italian
Italy, was among those Italians who general. In a rage, he ordered the Italian
dreamed of a new Roman Empire and pic- militia to “Avenge me! Kill them all!” The
tured modern Italy in control of the entire Black Shirts, as the militia was called, killed
Mediterranean region. Mussolini had not every Ethiopian civilian they could find, set
forgotten Italy’s defeat by Ethiopia at the fire to houses, and conducted mass execu-
Battle of Adwa in 1896, and he was deter- tions. Nearly 30,000 people were killed.
mined to avenge the humiliation. Ethiopia Ethiopia fell on March 29, 1936, and Em-
was also an obvious choice for Italian ex- peror Haile Selassie fled the country on
pansion because it was one of the few May 2. On May 9, Italy declared Ethiopia,
African nations not already colonized by a Somaliland, and Eritrea to be the state of
European nation, and it bordered the Ital- Italian East Africa. Nevertheless, Ethiopians
ian colonies of Eritrea and Somaliland. continued to resist Italian occupation until
The attempt to take over Ethiopia began Allied forces liberated Ethiopia in 1941.
in 1930 when the Italians built a fort in dis- Ethiopia regained its independence in

I TA L I A N C O L O N I E S 83
Return of the Aksum Obelisk

For nearly 70 years, a 1,700-year-old When archeologists examined a site on
Ethiopian stone monument stood in the Pi- which to place the obelisk, they found a
azza di Porta Capina in Rome. Italian occu- number of underground tombs. Archeologists
piers of Ethiopia had taken the 78-foot-tall believe that only about 7 percent of all the
(24 m) monument, known as the Aksum artifacts in Aksum have been unearthed,
Obelisk, from Ethiopia in 1937. To transport and the prospect of uncovering so much an-
the obelisk, which weighs more than cient history is exciting to the nation. How-
200 tons, the Italians had to break it into ever, when people living nearby were asked
three pieces. to leave the area so that archeologists could
The obelisk, which was erected near the explore the sites, they chose not to cooper-
Ethiopian border with Eritrea in what was the ate. The obelisk, meanwhile, was being held
ancient kingdom of Aksum to commemorate in two metal shacks, covered by blankets.
a royal death (date unknown), became a Many in Ethiopia, one of the world’s poorest
symbol of Ethiopian national pride, and the countries, have begun to question the time,
Ethiopian government tried for years to ne- effort, and money expended to return the
gotiate its return to its original site. On No- monument. The cost to remove and trans-
vember 18, 2004, Italy and Ethiopia signed an port the obelisk was more than $50 million,
agreement for the return of the monument. paid for by the Italian government. Many
The structure, which had to be rebroken in Ethiopians wonder if that money would
order to be transported, arrived in Aksum in have been better spent on economic devel-
April 2005. A national holiday was declared opment.
in Ethiopia, and people danced in the streets.
1942, and in 1952 Eritrea was placed under Ethiopian artifact taken in 1937, was finally
Ethiopian control. Italian Somaliland be- returned in 2005.
came a part of Somalia in 1960.
See also: Art and Architecture; Coloniza-
AFTERMATH tion; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Somalia; Tools and
After World War II, many Italian political Weapons.
leaders, still influenced by fascist ideology,
worked actively to regain their colonies. FURTHER READING
Even after signing a peace treaty in 1947 in Andall, Jacqueline, and Duncan D. Andall, eds. Italian
which it renounced its control over its for- Colonialism: Legacy and Memory. Oxford: Peter
mer colonies, the Italian government sent Lang, 2005.
diplomats around the world to lobby the Gillespie, Carol Ann. Ethiopia. New York: Chelsea
Allies in an attempt to regain their territory. House, 2002.
The treaty also required the Italian govern- Palumbo, Patrizia. A Place in the Sun: Africa in Italian
ment to return objects they had looted Colonial Culture from Post-Unification to the
from Ethiopia after 1935. Little was ever re- Present. Berkeley: University of California Press,
turned, but the Aksum Obelisk, an ancient 2003.

L-N
Language
More than 2,000 different languages are spoken in Africa, including both native lan-
guages and languages brought into Africa by conquerors and colonizers. Africa is the
most linguistically diverse continent on Earth.
In addition to indigenous African languages in the Nilo-Saharan and the Niger-
guages, Africans speak Arabic, French, En- Congo groups.
glish, Portuguese, German, and Afrikaans, a
language derived from Dutch and spoken Afro-Asiatic Family
mainly in South Africa. The two most This language family comprises nearly 400
prevalent African languages, spoken by the languages, many of which are spoken in
greatest number of people, are Hausa, spo- northern Africa. Afro-Asiatic includes Ara-
ken by 39 million people, and Swahili, spo- bic, varieties of which are spoken in Algeria,
ken by 35 million people. Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Mo-
rocco, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and
CLASSIFICATIONS Tunisia. Other branches of the Afro-Asiatic
Several different systems have been devised family includes the Berber branch, spoken
for classifying Africa’s languages, but the in parts of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia,
most widely accepted is that devised by and the Chadic branch, which includes
American linguist Joseph Greenberg in Hausa, a language spoken in many areas in
1963. Greenberg divided Africa’s many lan- sub-Saharan Africa. The name “Afro-
guages into four broad families. A language Asiatic” refers to the fact that some of
family is a grouping of related languages these languages are also spoken in Asia. It
that scholars believe derive from a common is estimated that some 300 million people
ancestor language. The four families Green- speak one of the Afro-Asiatic languages.
berg identified are Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-
Saharan, Khoisan, and Niger-Congo. These Nilo-Saharan Family
language families differ from one another in The languages in the Nilo-Saharan family
many significant ways, and even languages are found from the area around the Niger
in the same family may be as different as River in West Africa across the continent to
English and Hindi. Ethiopia and are spoken by about 11 million
Many African languages do not have people. Languages from this family are
writing systems and have been handed also spoken in the upper Nile Valley—hence
down orally. In some cases, writing systems “Nilo” as part of the name—and in parts of
using the Roman alphabet were developed Uganda and Kenya. South of Egypt, an-
to allow missionaries to translate the New other branch in this family, Nubian, is spo-
Testament into the native tongue of those ken by about a million people.
Africans they were attempting to convert
to Christianity. To date, the New Testament Khoisan Family
has been translated into 680 African lan- Among the most inter-esting of all African
guages, including Zulu and Swahili. In language families is Khoisan, which is also
many African languages, even today, the spoken by the smallest number of individu-
only written text is a translation of a por- als. Only about 200,000 people speak the
tion of the Bible. This is true of many lan- thirty languages in this group. Among
84

L A N G UAG E 85
OFFICIAL LANGUAGES IN MODERN AFRICA
Very few African nations have as official. Most nations use a language, a legacy of the
designated native languages European tongue as their official colonial era.
Khoisan languages are Nama, spoken in these languages, the click sound is often
Namibia, and Sandawe, spoken in Tanzania. represented with a slash or exclamation
Khoisan are “click” languages, in which mark.
many consonants are pronounced with a In recent years, linguists who study
clicking sound (the way English speakers the origins and development of lan-
might say “tsk, tsk”). In written versions of guages, known as glottochronologists, have

86 L A N G UAG E
concluded that the very first human lan- conjugated in a way that can emphasize the
guage may have been a click language speaker’s attitude toward an action rather
similar to that still spoken today by the than just the time of the action, or tense. En-
Khoi and the San of southwest Africa. glish, on the other hand, emphasizes only
tense in verb conjugation, using the present
Niger-Congo Family (I eat), past (I ate), and future (I will eat). In
This is the largest of all the African lan- the Niger-Congo family, one can say such
guage families, comprising more than things as, “He eats all the time” or “She is
1,400 languages. This family is divided into likely to eat” by adding a prefix or suffix to
several subfamilies, some of which are the verb. Obviously, to translate these ideas
found in only very small areas in Africa sur- into English would require many words.
rounded by other, nonrelated languages. Many of the Nilo-Saharan, Niger-Congo,
The largest subfamily of the Niger-Congo and Khoisan families, and even some of
family is the Atlantic-Congo, whose lan- the Afro-Asiatic families, are tonal lan-
guages are found throughout almost all of guages, as is Chinese. This means that the
sub-Saharan Africa. Within Atlantic-Congo, pitch of the word conveys meaning. In
which is further divided into many subfam- Yoruba, which is spoken in Nigeria, the sin-
ilies, are a group of languages known as gle word “ogun” has nine different mean-
Bantu, which is a word that means “the ings, depending on the pitch used. There
people” in many languages in the group. are even some tonal languages that use
More than 100 million people in southern whistle speech, in which each sound unit
Africa speak Bantu languages. In studying can be whistled according to the pitch
the distribution of Bantu languages, lin- with which it could be spoken such that
guists and historians have been able to native speakers can understand what is
trace the “Bantu migration.” The original or being whistled.
root Bantu language was spoken in what is Tonality also makes possible the “talking
today Nigeria and Cameroon beginning in drums” of the Yoruba. These drums are
about 2000 B.C.E. Over the next 1,500 shaped like hourglasses. The drumheads
years, Bantu speakers moved across the are attached to both ends of the drum with
continent, probably bringing iron-smelting a hoop, and a number of cords running the
technology with them, and absorbed or length of the drum are attached to the
overcame many other cultures. Some hoops. When the drummer applies pres-
Bantu languages spoken today include sure to the cords, he or she tightens or
Zulu and Xhosa in South Africa, Shona loosens the drumhead, which alters the
in Zimbabwe, Bemba in Zambia, Swahili tone when the head is struck. By changing
in Tanzania, Kikuyu in Kenya, Ganda in the tone in a way that imitates the tonality
Uganda, and Fang in Cameroon. Part of of the language, the drummer can send
the same subfamily as Bantu are other messages over long distances.
African languages with large numbers of
speakers, including Yoruba with 22 million EUROPEAN LANGUAGES
speakers and Igbo with 18 million speakers. Because Africa was colonized by Arab
speakers and speakers of European lan-
CHARACTERISTICS guages, there are many non-African lan-
While there are great variations among guages spoken in Africa today. Arabic, while
African languages, many of the families among these languages, has been spoken
share similarities, or common characteris- for the longest period of time, primarily in
tics. In Niger-Congo languages, verbs are northern Africa. Because of the continent’s

L A N G UAG E 87
colonial legacy, the two primary European Some politicians also advocate aban-
languages spoken in Africa are English and doning French and English and installing
French, and scholars often refer to “Fran- African languages as official. Others point
cophone” (French-speaking) and “Anglo- out, however, that many African languages
phone” (English-speaking) Africa. There are have no written form and thus could not
eighteen African nations in which English is serve as official languages. Moreover, no
an official language and twelve nations in African leader wants to be responsible for
which French is an official language. In choosing which of the many native lan-
many of these nations, there is more than guages in each nation to elevate to official
one official language, including one or more status. Because the borders of African na-
African languages; in Nigeria, for example, tions were drawn by Europeans with little
official languages include English, Igbo, regard for language or ethnicity, most na-
Hausa, and Yoruba. Other languages spoken tions today have speakers of hundreds of
in parts of Africa include Portuguese, Ger- different languages within their borders
man, and Afrikaans, which is derived from (Cameroon, for example, has speakers of
Dutch. Afrikaans is one of eleven official lan- 248 different languages).
guages of South Africa today and is a
widely accepted means of communication. PIDGINS AND CREOLES
In most nations with a European official lan- Because of the great number of languages
guage, individuals are bilingual, speaking spoken in Africa, many pidgin and creole
both the official language, which is used for language variations have arisen. A pidgin
government, trade, and education, and a language is a simplified form of speech
native language, which is used at home and that combines elements of two or more
among family members. languages and facilitates communication
Many Africans, and especially African between two groups who do not share a
writers, perceive the prevalence of Euro- language. Pidgins are also sometimes re-
pean languages in Africa as a problem. ferred to as “contact languages.” Among
They feel that there is such a close rela- the many pidgins in Africa are Nigerian
tionship between language and culture Pidgin, which is a form of English, and
that Africans who speak and write in En- Fanagolo, which combines Zulu, Afrikaans,
glish or French may lose their uniquely and English and is used in the mines in
African way of thinking and seeing. To South Africa.
some, this domination of language is a A creole is a fully formed language that
continuation of colonialism, as if the Euro- begins as a pidgin language and becomes
pean powers left their languages in their the primary language of a people. While
place to continue to make Africans sub- pidgins are spoken only during contact be-
servient to them. The Kenyan writer Ngugi tween two groups that do not share a lan-
wa Thiong’o (who once wrote in English guage, a creole is spoken at home, just like a
under the name James Ngugi), writes only native language. Many African creoles are
in his native Kikuyu and has emphasized based on English, such as Kiro in Sierra
his belief that a truly African literature Leone and Sheng in Kenya. Others, such as
must be written in a native African lan- Cape Verde Creole and Guinea-Bissau Cre-
guage. The Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, ole, which is spoken in both Guinea-Bissau
who writes in English, disagrees and and Senegal, are based on Portuguese.
believes that African writers can mold Eu- Some creoles, such as Juba Arabic, which is
ropean languages to an African way of spoken in southern Sudan, are based
thinking. on Arabic, and others are based on local

88 L A N G UAG E
languages, such as Sango, which is the main See also: British Colonies; Colonization;
language of the Central African Republic. Culture and Traditions; French West Africa;
More than 300 African languages are German Colonies; Imperialism; Literature
spoken by so few people that they are on and Writing; Portuguese Colonies; South
the verge of dying out; some languages Africa.
have already been lost. For example, a click
language, Ku!khaasi, was last spoken some- FURTHER READING
time in the 1930s. The year 2006 was desig- Brock-Utne, Birgit. Language, Democracy and
nated as the Year of African Languages by Education in Africa. Uppsala, Sweden: Nordic Africa
the African Union (AU) and the AU itself has Institute, 2002.
declared all of Africa’s languages “official.” Heine, Bernd, and Derek Nurse, eds. African Languages:
It also established the African Academy for An Introduction. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
Languages, situated in Bamako, Mali, in or- University Press, 2000.
der to help preserve and promote the in- Nurse, Derek. The Bantu Languages. New York:
digenous languages of Africa. The African Routledge, 2000.
Union also promotes the development of Webb, Vic, and Kembo-Sure, eds. African Voices: An
reading material in a number of African lan- Introduction to the Languages and Linguistics of
guages and publicizes the importance of Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
preserving Africa’s linguistic heritage.
Liberia
A country in western Africa, bordering on the Atlantic Ocean and situated between Cote
d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone, settled in 1821 by freed slaves from the United States. Liberia
declared itself an independent nation in 1847. Its capital, Monrovia, was named after U.S.
president James Monroe. The first Liberian settlers purchased a strip of land along the
coast from the native leaders.
The early Liberian settlers modeled their In the early years of the twentieth cen-
new land on what they remembered from tury, Liberia’s economy began to struggle,
the United States. They continued to speak partly because the cost of what had to be
English and built churches and houses that imported far exceeded the value of ex-
resembled those of the American South. ports. By 1909, the government was bank-
Also like white people in the South, the rupt and had to borrow extensively to stay
freed slaves tended to look down on the afloat. In 1926, the government leased land
native people. to American rubber companies to increase
During the early years of indepen- revenues, but the rubber companies ex-
dence, Liberians built schools and a uni- ploited the workers, leading to social un-
versity, managed a growing economy, and rest. In 1930, the League of Nations
expanded the nation’s borders. From the accused Firestone Rubber Company of
beginning, the country was ruled by and employing “forced labour . . . hardly distin-
for the former slaves, who called them- guishable from slavery.” The scandal
selves Americo-Liberians, with little at- caused Liberian president Charles D.B.
tention paid to the needs of native King to resign in order to avoid being im-
populations. peached.

LIBERIA 89
Al-Qaeda in Africa
Since the 1990s, al-Qaeda, the terrorist or- d’Ivoire. In Liberia in particular, al-Qaeda
ganization bent upon destroying the United found that it could purchase weapons with
States and its allies, has extended its net- impunity (often using so-called “blood
work throughout Africa. Al-Qaeda first diamonds”—diamonds mined in war zones),
made inroads into African nations with large count on a supportive Muslim population for
Muslim populations, such as Somalia, Sudan, security, and set up training camps without
and Algeria. In the early 2000s, the terrorist interference. In 2004, the U.S. Federal Bureau
group has worked to expand its reach be- of Investigation (FBI) confirmed that former
yond heavily Muslim nations. Liberian president Charles Taylor had main-
In western Africa, al-Qaeda took advan- tained strong ties to al-Qaeda and had al-
tage of the lawlessness that accompanied the lowed the organization to operate there for
civil wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Cote years.
In 1944, Liberian senator William Tub- count of votes went against him, and then
man was elected president, and he served shut down newspapers and banned rival
in that capacity for seven terms until his political parties. Civil war broke out in
death in 1971. Tubman traveled the world 1989, with rebel forces led by Charles Tay-
and was successful in promoting invest- lor, who had served as a commerce minis-
ment in Liberia. Profits from foreign inter under Doe.
vestment and from newly discovered In 1995, after years of bloody fighting in
deposits of iron ore allowed his govern- which much of Liberia’s infrastructure was
ment to invest in crucial infrastructure, in- destroyed and 250,000 people killed, Tay-
cluding schools, roads, and hospitals. lor agreed to a cease-fire. In 1997, he was
However, Tubman did little to improve reelected president in what most observers
lations between the descendents of regarded as a free election. His govern-
slaves, a mere 5 percent of the population, ment proved brutal and repressive, too,
and native people. Most of the natives leading to a new rebellion in 1999. Interna-
were impoverished and resentful of the tional pressure, including a warrant issued
ruling elite. In 1979, when Tubman’s suc- by a United Nations justice tribunal for his
cessor, William Tolbert, increased the arrest, forced Taylor to resign in 2003. He
price of rice, violent demonstrations re- fled to Nigeria, where he stayed until
sulted, and in 1980, a military coup led by 2006. Upon extradition, he was brought
Sergeant Samuel K. Doe overthrew the before the World Court at the Hague in
government. Tolbert and thirteen mem- the Netherlands and charged with war
bers of his cabinet were executed, and crimes.
Doe and his party, the People’s Redemp- In 2005, meanwhile, Liberia elected the
tion Council (PRC), formed a new govern- continent’s first female head of state, Ellen
ment. In 1985, Doe claimed to have won an Johnson-Sirleaf. A former employee of
election despite the fact that the actual Citibank and the World Bank, Sirleaf used

90 LIBERIA
her financial expertise to help reduce FURTHER READING

Liberia’s $3.5 billion debt and worked to re- Olukojo, Aodeji. Culture and Customs of Liberia.
build the devastated nation. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006.
Pham, John-Peter. Liberia: Portrait of a Failed State.
See also: Civil Wars. New York: Reed Press, 2004.

Until the twentieth century, much African literature was oral. Most people, particularly
south of the Sahara, were not literate, and many African languages did not even have a
written form. Thus, stories and poems were passed down by word of mouth from gener-
ation to generation.
Only in the twentieth century did a writ- world? How did the creatures of the earth
ten literary tradition develop. Until recently, come to be, and why do they behave as
most of the greatest works of African liter- they do? There are literally thousands of
ature were written in English or French, not myths, some bearing striking similarity to
in indigenous African languages. Most aspects of Western mythology, others
well-educated Africans in the twentieth uniquely and distinctively African. The
century were taught in European lan- Pangwa of Tanzania, for example, believe
guages, and many considered those lan- that the world was created from the ex-
guages superior to their native tongues—or crement of ants. A Bantu creation story
so they were told by their colonial masters. tells how the great god Bamba vomits up
Since the 1970s and 1980s, there has been the sun, which begins the process of the
a movement among some African writers creation of the universe. The Fulani of
to produce literature in indigenous African Mali, who are cattle herders, tell how the
languages. These writers, including Kenya’s universe was created from a huge drop of
Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Uganda’s Okot milk.
P’Bitek, believe that an African way of see- The African poetic tradition includes
ing and experiencing the world can only be praise names or praise songs, a form that is
expressed in an African language. unique to Africa. The poet constructs the
song from a series of pithy phrases that de-
ORAL TRADITIONS scribe special qualities about the subject of
The oral literature of Africa includes myths, the song—which can be a person, a god, an
epic poems, folktales, praise songs, riddles, animal, or even a place. Following is a
and proverbs. This body of literature is praise song about the Zulu chieftain, Shaka
closely associated with music, and much Zulu:
poetry was sung or chanted.
African mythology, like myths the world He is Shaka the unshakeable,
over, deals with many of the fundamental Thunderer-while-sitting, son of Menzi
questions humankind has always asked. He is the bird that preys on other birds,
How was the world created and who cre- The battle-axe that excels over other battle
ated it? How did death and evil enter the axes.

L I T E R AT U R E A N D W R I T I N G 91
Another form of oral literature prevalent Other literature in indigenous African

in Africa is the folktale, especially the languages includes works from West
animal-trickster tale. Although the nature Africa in Yoruba and Hausa, from southern
of the trickster changes from culture to cul- Africa in Sotho, Xhosa, and Zulu, and from
ture (taking the form of a hare, tortoise, or East Africa in Amharic, Somali, and
spider, for example), the stories themselves Swahili. The first full-length novel pub-
share a number of characteristics. Some- lished in Yoruba is D.O. Fagunwa’s The For-
times the trickster makes a fool of himself; est of a Thousand Daemons: A Hunter’s
sometimes he is a thorn in the sides of the Saga (1968), the story of a hunter in a for-
gods, defeating their best-laid plans; some- est populated with strange, unnatural
times he makes fun of the stupidity and creatures. Fagunwa’s work is influenced by
pomposity of others. Often the trickster fig- Yoruba folklore.
ure is a small creature that outwits larger Early literature in Hausa, spoken in the
and stronger creatures. Anansi the spider, predominantly Muslim north of Nigeria, in-
of the Ashante culture of Ghana, is the sub- cludes Song of Mohammad (1845), a poem
ject of thousands of stories in which his about the prophet Mohammad by Asim
cleverness is his greatest strength. Degel. Among the most popular genres in
The African oral tradition also includes Hausa today is Kano literature, named for
proverbs and riddles. Even today, the abil- the Nigerian Kano State, the primary mar-
ity to use an apt proverb is considered a ket where the books are sold. In Hausa, the
sign of learning among many ethnic genre is called littattafan soyayya, which
groups. Proverbs reflect the values and the means “books of love.” Written primarily by
imagination of the culture. The Ibo teach women, these romances tell contemporary
proper behavior, for example, with “If a love stories. Although they are light fiction,
child washes his hands, he will eat with these novels also reflect some of the most
kings.” African riddles, unlike Western difficult issues for Hausa women, including
ones, do not take the form of a question. polygamy, purdah (the practice of women
For example, the answer to the riddle “Peo- being veiled in front of non–family mem-
ple run away from her when she is preg- bers), coerced marriages, and lack of edu-
nant, but they rejoice when she has cation.
delivered,” is “a gun.” The first South African work of fiction in
an indigenous language was based on
LITERATURE IN AFRICAN John Bunyan’s allegorical work of the late
LANGUAGES seventeenth century, The Pilgrim’s Progress.
The existing literature in African languages Like Pilgrim’s Progress, Thomas Mofolo’s
is not well known in the West, except per- The Traveller of the East (1906), written in
haps for the work of Kenyan author Ngugi the Sotho language, tells the tale of a spiri-
wa Thiong’o, who once wrote in English as tual journey of a newly converted Christian.
James Ngugi but now writes in his native Edward Krune Loliwe Mqhayi wrote both
Kikuyu. His novel Wizard of the Crow poetry and fiction in the Xhosa language,
(2006), written in Kikuyu, has been trans- one of only very few writers to do so. His
lated into English and widely read in the 1914 novel, The Case of Two Brothers, re-
West as well as in Africa. This pointed counts cases tried in a traditional African
satire of African political life tells the fan- court. The first book written and published
tastic tale of a dictator who plans to climb in Zulu is a history of the Zulu people, The
to heaven up a modern tower of Babel, fi- Black People and Whence They Came (1922)
nanced by the Global Bank. by Magema ka Magwaza Fuze.

92 L I T E R AT U R E A N D W R I T I N G
In 2002, former South African

president Nelson Mandela met
with acclaimed Nigerian author
Chinua Achebe in Cape Town,
South Africa. After their meeting,
Achebe received an honorary
Doctor of Literature degree from
the University of Cape Town.
(Anna Zieminski/Stringer/AFP/Getty
Images)
In East Africa, Cismaan Yuusef Keenadiid of Thunder, 1971) and Ghana’s Kifi Anyi-
developed a Latin-based alpahabet for doho (A Harvest of Our Dreams, 1984)—it is
the Somali language in the early years of African fiction written in English that has
the twentieth century. Most Somali litera- caught the attention of the world.
ture is in verse, and one of greatest poets
to write in that language is Sayyid Max- Nigerian Writers
amed Cabdulle Xasan. His poetry, written The best-known contemporary Anglo-
toward the end of the nineteenth century, phone African writer is Nigerian Chinua
was highly critical of the European colo- Achebe, whose most acclaimed work, the
nizers of Somaliland. Xasan was also a novel Things Fall Apart (1958), tells the
rebel leader who fought for years against story of an Ibo village at the end of the
colonizers (1899–1905) and was nick- nineteenth century and the destruction
named the “mad mullah” by the British. caused by the coming of Europeans.
(A mullah is an Islamic clergyman.) Reli- Achebe, like many African writers who fol-
gious works in Amharic, the language of lowed him, deals with the theme of the end
Ethiopia, and in Swahili first appeared of traditional African life and the clash of
in the seventeenth century. The first mod- African and European culture through the
ern writer to publish in Swahili was Shaa- character of Okonkwo, a successful man
ban Robert, who wrote both poetry and who is destroyed by colonialism. No Longer
prose. His utopian novel, Kusadikika (1951) at Ease (1960) continues the story of the
(the title means something like “Trustful Okonkwo family. Okonkwo’s grandson lives
Place”) is a satire of colonialism and the in Lagos, the capital city of Nigeria, cut off
abuse of power. from traditional life and values, adrift in a
Westernized urban culture that is opposed
AFRICAN LITERATURE IN ENGLISH to his deepest nature.
There are many great African works writ- Amos Tutuola’s novel The Palm-Wine
ten in English, which is by far the most im- Drinkard (1952) is based on Yoruba folk-
portant literary language in Africa. While tales. It is the story of a drinking man who
there is much fine African poetry in follows his bartender into “Deads’ Town,” a
English—notably that of Nigerian poet place populated by demons and ghosts.
Christopher Okigbo (Labyrinths, with Path Tutuola is among the many African writers

LANDMARKS IN AFRICAN LITERATURE, 1845–2006
1845 Song of Mohammed, a poem, published 1958 Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart
in the Hausa language published
1883 South African writer Olive Schreiner 1964 Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s first novel in English,
publishes the novel The Story of an Weep Not Child, published
African Farm
1968 First full-length novel in Yoruba, D.O.
1885 South African writer Rider Haggard’s Fagunwa’s The Forest of a Thousand
novel King Solomon’s Mines published Daemons
1906 First full-length South African fictional 1986 Nigeria’s Wole Soyinka wins Nobel Prize
work written in the Sotho language for Literature—the first African to be so
published, Thomas Mofolo’s novel honored
The Traveller of the East
1988 Na Mahfouz wins Nobel Prize for
1922 First published work in Zulu, Magema Literature
Fuze’s history The Black People and
Whence They Came 1991 South Africa’s Nadine Gordimer wins
Nobel Prize for Literature; Nigerian Ben
1930s Négritude movement begins, led by Okri wins Booker Prize for his novel
Léopold Senghor The Famished Road
1948 Alan Paton’s acclaimed novel, Cry, the 1995 Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa executed
Beloved Country, portraying black-white for “anti-government activity”
relations in South Africa, published
2003 South African writer J.M. Coetzee wins
1951 First modern novel published in Swahili, Nobel Prize for Literature
Kusadikika by Shaaban Robert
2006 Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s novel, Wizard of the
1952 Amos Tutuola’s novel The Palm-Wine Crow, written in Kikuyu and translated
Drinkard, based on Yoruba mythology, into English, receives outstanding
published reviews worldwide
who weave traditional oral literature into Road (1963), and Death and the King’s
the fabric of their modern tales. Horsemen (1975), all of which are influ-
Wole Soyinka, the most celebrated enced by his Yoruba background and com-
Nigerian who writes in English, is primarily bine European and Yoruba culture into a
a dramatist, although he has also written poetic whole.
novels and poetry. The 1986 Nobel laureate Ken Saro-Wiwa wrote plays and satirical
in literature, Soyinka has written light novels, in addition to children’s books. His
drama and comedy, but his most serious first novel, Sozaboy: A Novel in Rotten En-
plays are The Strong Breed (1963), The glish (1985), was written in pidgin English.

94 L I T E R AT U R E A N D W R I T I N G
Sozaboy is pidgin for “soldier boy,” and the ditional and modern culture. Two of her
novel deals with Saro-Wiwa’s own experi- best short-story collections are Land With-
ence as a soldier in the Biafran war. Saro- out Thunder (1968) and The Other Woman
Wiwa’s comic television series Basi & (1976). Her novel The Promised Land
Company was canceled by the Nigerian (1966) tells the story of Luo people who in
government in 1990 after a five-year run the 1930s emigrate from Nyanza (a Kenyan
because of its anti-government message. province) to Tanzania in search of better
Several of its scripts, however, were turned land for farming.
into children’s books. Saro-Wiwa was exe-
cuted in 1995 for his participation in an South African Writers
anti-government group. Although there is a large body of literature
Ben Okri, born in Nigeria in 1959, won in Afrikaans, a language of South Africa
the Booker Prize (given each year for the based on Dutch, the best-known South
best book in the British Commonwealth) African literature is in English. Five writers
for his magical novel The Famished Road stand out: Rider Haggard, Olive Schreiner,
(1991). The novel is the first in a trilogy J.M. Coetzee, Alan Paton, and Nadine
about Azaro, a spirit child. Filled with Gordimer. Of the five, Haggard is the least
horror and magic, it is ultimately a story literary, writing primarily adventure novels
of human survival in the face of harsh re- set in Africa. Among the best known is
ality. As Azaro struggles to continue King Solomon’s Mines (1885).
among the living, his family contends Olive Schreiner published the first great
with hunger, disease, and violence. In South African novel, The Story of an
combining the spirit world seamlessly African Farm (1883), which tells the story
with the real world, Okri pays tribute of an independent woman running an iso-
to the animism of African traditional lated ostrich farm. Scheriner published two
religion—the belief that all things possess volumes of short stories, and two addi-
a spirit and that spirits are real and pres- tional novels were published after her
ent in daily life. death.
Two South African authors have been
Kenyan Writers awarded the Nobel Prize for literature—
Before deciding to write in his native lan- Nadine Gordimer in 1991 and J.M. Coetzee
guage of Kikuyu, Ngugi wa Thiong’o wrote in 2003. Gordimer is a prolific writer, hav-
many novels and plays in English. His first ing penned fourteen novels, eighteen col-
novel, Weep Not, Child (1964) traces the lections of short stories, a play, and several
effects of colonialism on two brothers. Like volumes of essays. Her work explores the
Achebe, Ngugi laments the loss of the tra- impact of apartheid on the everyday lives
ditional life as it comes into conflict with of both whites and blacks. The Conserva-
European ideas and values. His second tionist (1974), a highly symbolic and poetic
novel, The River Between (1965), tells the novel, is told from three points of view: that
tragic tale of two young lovers caught in of Mehring, a white farmer; his black over-
the middle of a religious conflict brought seer, Josephus; and an Indian shopkeeper.
about by Christian missionaries. Mehring’s farm is a symbol for the mori-
The Kenyan writer Grace Ogot has writ- bund nature of South African society under
ten both novels and short stories about tra- apartheid. The Burger’s Daughter (1979),
ditional life among the Luo people, and she tells the story of Rosa Burger, the daughter
also writes about the conflict between tra- of white anti-apartheid activists, and her

growing understanding of her own place in French admired their colonizers and wrote
South African culture. fiction that showed colonizers and French
The prolific J.M. Coetzee also writes in ideas and values in a positive light. Both
various ways about the effects of Ahmadou Mapaté Diagne’s novel Three
apartheid on his characters. In the Heart Wishes (1920) and Ousmane Socé’s novel
of the Country (1997) tells the story of a Mirages of Paris (1937) adopt this view.
woman living with her father on an iso- Later writers took an entirely different po-
lated farm and her frenzied reaction to his sition, satirizing and criticizing the coloniz-
taking a black mistress. Disgrace (2000) ers. These attitudes are reflected in two
follows a shamed professor to his daugh- satirical novels, Houseboy (1966) by Ferdi-
ter’s remote farm where he and his nand Oyono of Cameroon and The Poor
daughter are brutally attacked by three Christ of Bomba (1971) by Mongo Beti of
black men. Cameroon.
Alan Paton’s most famous novel, Cry, African literature, in whatever language,
the Beloved Country (1948), tells the story reflects the great diversity of the conti-
of an aging Zulu minister and his son, Ab- nent and its peoples. It remains to be seen
salom, who has been corrupted by life in what direction its young writers will take
Johannesburg. Although condemned as and to what extent they will adopt West-
revolutionary in South Africa, the novel ern forms or adapt African oral and folk
was translated into a number of foreign traditions.
languages and brought international at-
tention to social conditions in South See also: Apartheid; British Colonies;
Africa. Colonization; French West Africa; Lan-
guage.
AFRICAN LITERATURE IN FRENCH
Among the best known of African poets FURTHER READING
who wrote in French is Léopold Senghor Asihene, Emmanuel. Traditional Folk Tales of Ghana.
of Senegal, one of the founders of négri- Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 1997.
tude, a literary and political movement Griffiths, Gareth. African Literatures in English: East and
that celebrates black identity. Beginning in West. Essex, UK: Longman, 2000.
the 1930s, Senghor and other poets, in- Mathabane, Mark. Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black
cluding the more combative David Diop, Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa.
reversed all the European stereotypes Topeka, KS: Tandem Books, 1999.
about black and white, elevating African Ogunjimi, Bayo, and Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah.
values and ideas above European. Senghor Introduction to African Oral Literature and Perfor-
not only wrote his own poetry; he also mance. Lawrenceville, NJ: Africa World Press,
compiled and edited the Anthology of the 2005.
New Black and Malagasy Poetry in the Soyinka, Wole. Myth, Literature and the African
French Language, published in 1948, the World. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
first work to bring African poetry to an in- Press, 1990.
ternational audience. Senghor went on to Tate, Eleanora E. Retold African Myths. Logan, IA:
become president of Senegal, serving Perfection Learning, 1993.
from 1960 to 1980.
Unlike the early African writers in En-
glish, many of the early African writers in

96 M I G R AT I O N
Migration
For a number of complex reasons, millions of Africans leave their homes every year and
move to neighboring countries, Europe, or the United States. In the year 2000, there
were an estimated total of 175 million immigrants worldwide. Of this number, about 16.3
million (9.3 percent) were African.
The primary cause for migration from example, more than 20,000 African immi-
Africa is economic. People leave their grants arrived in the Canary Islands, a Span-
homes to be able to earn more money to ish possession located off the west coast of
support their families; many men, for ex- Africa, making the dangerous sea crossing
ample, leave home to work on large, indus- in rickety boats. These young immigrants
trial farms. Such migration can confer chose the Canary Islands because it is the
benefits to both the home and the host closest European territory to the North
country. The host country gains a source of African mainland. Experts estimate that
inexpensive labor for jobs that, in some more than 1,000 people a year die trying to
cases, native people do not want to do. make the journey. Behind much of this ille-
In many situations, an individual who mi- gal immigration are unscrupulous people
grates leaves his or her family behind but who traffic in human beings, taking what lit-
sends money home, which can have a sig- tle money migrants have with the promise
nificant positive impact on the economies of a safe and successful passage. Sadly, the
of the home countries. According to the journey often ends in death or near-death
United Nations Economic Commission for for the migrants.
Africa, in 2004 Nigeria received more than The 2006 Euro-African Ministerial Con-
$2.5 billion from migrants who sent money ference on Migration and Development,
home to their families, constituting nearly held in Rabat, Morocco, and including rep-
4 percent of the entire gross domestic resentatives from fifty-eight African and
product (GDP) of Nigeria. Lesotho, one of European countries, concluded with an
the poorest countries in Africa, depends on agreement called the Rabat Plan. In it,
money sent home by migrants for fully 25 African nations agreed to try to stem the
percent of its GDP. flow of illegal immigrants to Europe in re-
On the other hand, many African coun- turn for economic assistance from Europe-
tries have experienced a significant “brain an countries. Many believed that the
drain,” as well-educated young profession- agreement would have little effect, how-
als leave in search of higher-paying jobs in ever, because the aid promised was insuffi-
more prosperous countries. The brain drain cient to solve the problems that cause
has reached crisis proportions in the med- African people to leave their homes.
ical field. Doctors and nurses who migrate Another major reason Africans migrate
from Africa leave behind an ever-growing is civil unrest and warfare. Between 1989
population of people with AIDS—with and 2003, for example, four West African
fewer and fewer trained professionals to countries—Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea,
treat them. and Cote d’Ivoire—were besieged by civil
Illegal migration is a growing problem in war and sectarian violence. In 2003 alone
Africa and Europe. Many desperate young more than one million people from the re-
Africans take terrible risks to seek a better gion fled to neighboring countries. In the
life and many die in the process. In 2006, for mid-1990s, millions fled ethnic cleansing in

NIGERIA 97
Rwanda as members of the Tutsi ethnic See also: Civil Wars; Economic
group sought to exterminate the Hutu. Development and Trade; Liberia;
Since 2003, in Darfur, a region of Sudan, vi- Refugees; Rwanda; Sudan; Tutsis and
olence has forced more than 1.8 million Hutus.
people to seek asylum. In many cases, they
end up in poor countries that do not have FURTHER READING
the resources to feed or even provide wa- Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent.
ter to the desperate migrants. New York: Vintage, 1999.
Clearly, migration in African is both a Reynolds, Jonathan T., and Erik Gilbert. Africa in
blessing and a curse. While it is beneficial World History: From Prehistory to the Present.
for families to have relatives send money Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education,
home, migrants are often separated from 2004.
their families for years. While some who Veney, Cassandra R. Forced Migration in Eastern Africa:
have been forced to flee violence in their Democratization, Structural Adjustment, and
homelands have found better lives, most Refugees. Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan,
have not and many spend years in dreadful 2006.
conditions in refugee camps.
Mozambique See Portuguese Colonies.
Nigeria
A sub-Saharan nation in West Africa, bordered by Niger on the north, Benin on the
west, and Cameroon and Chad on the east. Nigeria’s southern border is on the Atlantic
Ocean. Today, Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa, with about 126 million peo-
ple, and is home to more than 250 different ethnic groups, including the Ibo, Hausa, Fu-
lani, and Edo.
The first Europeans to visit Nigeria In 1861, the British annexed the city of
were the Portuguese, who arrived in 1481. Lagos in an attempt to put an end to the
From the seventeenth through the nine- slave trade there. With a foothold in Lagos,
teenth centuries, European traders estab- Britain laid claim to southern Nigeria dur-
lished ports along the coast to handle ing the Berlin Conference (1884–1885). The
the growing traffic in slaves. Ibo middle- British gradually expanded their territory
men, who grew rich by selling slaves and, in 1914, unified the northern and
to European traders, established several southern parts of the country as the
city states, including Bonny, Owome, and Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. De-
Okrika. In 1804, Usuman dan Fodio, a despite unification, however, education and
vout Muslim, and his followers launched a economic development progressed more
holy war during which they conquered rapidly in the south along the coast, lead-
most of the Hausa states of northern ing to a split between the two regions that
Nigeria. would have long-term effects on the future

98 NIGERIA
by creating more and more states. By 1996

Nigeria—with an area the size of California,
Arizona, and Nevada combined—was di-
vided into thirty-six separate states.
Since gaining its independence, Nigeria
has undergone a number of coups and
coup attempts, the first of which occurred
just six years after it became a self-
governing state. In 1966, Ibo army officers
overthrew the government and assassi-
nated both regional and federal leaders.
The new government itself was over-
thrown just seven months later by Hausa
soldiers, who placed Lieutenant Colonel
Yakubu Gowon at the head of a military
government. In retaliation for the original
coup, Gowon’s government soldiers mas-
sacred thousands of Ibo living in the north.
Secessionist sentiments, already strong
among the Ibo, were strengthened by
these events, and many Ibo left the north
and returned to their homelands in the
southeast.
In 1967, Ibo leaders declared the inde-
pendence of this region of Nigeria, and
Nigeria is one of the African continent’s largest
they named the new nation the Republic of
producers of petroleum. In recent years, conflict
Biafra. This began a civil war, which ended
has arisen between the oil companies’ owners and
with the defeat of Biafra in 1970 and the
the local people, who are demanding higher wages
reintegration of the region.
and better working conditions. (STR/Stringer/AFP/
After the civil war, Nigeria was able to
Getty Images)
make rapid economic strides. In the early
1970s, the price of oil had risen dramati-
cally, making Nigeria’s massive petroleum
political life of Nigeria. Moreover, the reserves even more valuable. In 1975, how-
colony was split along religious and tribal ever, Gowon’s government was overthrown
lines. Hausa and Fulani tribes in the north by General Murtala Muhammad, who ac-
were Muslim and the Ibo in the southeast cused Gowon of corruption and misuse of
were Christian. Nigeria’s wealth and promised to return
Great Britain granted Nigeria indepen- the nation to civilian rule. Only one year
dence in 1960. Originally, Nigeria was later, however, Muhammad was assassi-
established as a federation of three semi- nated. He was succeeded by General
autonomous regions—Western, Eastern, Olusegun Obasanjo, who moved the na-
and Northern Nigeria—with the federal tion toward civilian rule and used oil rev-
government in charge of defense, foreign enue to develop the nation’s economy. He
relations, and the overall economy. As time also supervised the drafting of a new con-
passed, Nigeria continued to respond to stitution and a free multiparty election in
ethnic, religious, and regional differences 1979, in which Alhaji Shehu Shagari won

NIGERIA 99
TURNING POINT
Biafran War, 1967–1970

Nigeria has long been home to ethnic and ria instituted an economic blockade and its
religious tensions and has been subdivided troops captured Biafra’s seaports, leaving
into regions along ethnic lines. After an the new nation landlocked and unable to re-
abortive coup in 1966 by mostly Christian ceive shipments by sea. Starvation and dis-
Ibo army officers, Muslim Hausa in the ease resulted. No one is sure exactly how
Northern Region retaliated by massacring many people died in Biafra during the three-
tens of thousands of Ibo. Nearly a million Ibo year conflict, but estimates range from
fled the north and settled in the Eastern Re- 500,000 to 1 million.
gion. Shortly afterward, the Ibo drove other On January 15, 1970, Ojukwu surrendered,
ethnic groups out of the east. fled to Cote d’Ivoire, and Biafra was made part
On May 30, 1967, the head of the Eastern of Nigeria again. The Nigerian government
Region, Odumegwu Ojukwu, declared the promised the Ibo that there would be no retal-
region independent of Nigeria and gave the iation for the war and moved quickly to reinte-
name Biafra to the new nation. Nigeria’s grate them into the larger society. To this day,
president, Yakubu Gowon, rejected the se- however, the Ibo continue to believe that they
cession and a civil war began. have been excluded from power since the war,
Although Biafran troops made early mili- a belief that could again create instability in
tary gains in their battle for freedom, Nige- the region.
the presidency. Reelected in August 1983 successor, Abdulsalami Abubaker, released

amid allegations of corruption, Shagari’s all political prisoners and appointed an in-
government was overthrown by General dependent commission to conduct elec-
Muhammadu Buhari in December of the tions.
same year. The new government, in turn, The winner of the 1999 elections and
was overthrown in 1985 by Major General Nigeria’s new president was the former
Ibrahim Babangida, who promised he military head of state Olusegun Obasanjo.
would eventually return Nigeria to civilian His presidency ended sixteen consecutive
rule. years of military rule. Almost immediately,
In 1993, free elections were again held in Obasanjo forced many military officers
Nigeria, but within a week Babangida de- from political positions, created a commis-
clared the election void and handed the sion to investigate human rights abuses,
reins of government to Ernest Shonekan. ordered the release of political prisoners,
Shonekan, however, was forced to resign and tried to recover millions of dollars that
almost immediately, ceding power to De- Nigeria’s leaders had hidden away in over-
fense Minister Sani Abacha, whose admin- seas bank accounts.
istration dealt severely with anyone who Despite these improvements, Nigeria
dared to protest government policies or has suffered for many years from insur-
lobby for change. Although Abacha prom- gencies and sectarian violence. Since
ised free elections and civilian rule, he re- 1999, more than 10,000 people in the
mained in power until his death in 1998. His northern portion of Nigeria have died in

100 NIGERIA
clashes between Muslims and Ibo Chris- oil-producing nation, its people are among
tians over the spread of Sharia, or Muslim the poorest in Africa. Ethnic and religious
law. As of 2004, twelve of Nigeria’s thirty- conflicts continue, making any real eco-
six states were ruled by Sharia, which im- nomic stability difficult.
poses punishments such as flogging or
dismemberment for certain crimes. In See also: British Colonies; Colonization;
2004, a rebellion began in the Niger delta Democratic Movements; Economic Devel-
region, Nigeria’s primary oil-producing opment and Trade; Religion; Slavery and
area. The Ijew people of the region live in the Slave Trade.
poverty, while the government takes the
profits from the oil. Fueled by resentment FURTHER READING
about unequal distribution of the profits Efiong, Philip. Nigeria and Biafra: My Story. New York:
from oil, the rebels have disrupted pro- Seaburn Books, 2007.
duction. Robson, Lorna. Nigeria. New York: Chelsea House,
Although Obasanjo’s government has 2005.
taken forceful measures against corruption, Rosenberg, Anne. Nigeria—The Culture. New York:
he, his vice president, and many supporters Crabtree, 2000.
themselves were accused of corruption, Uzokwe, Alfred Obiora. Surviving in Biafra: The Story of
and the vice president was forced to resign the Nigerian Civil War. Media, PA: Writer’s
in 2006. Corruption so dominates Nigeria’s Advantage, 2003.
political culture that, despite being a major

P-R
Pan-African Movement
The “all-African” movement based on the concept that all African people, whether liv-
ing on the continent or not, share common goals and bonds. Chief among those goals
are the idea of self-determination for African people and an end to racism in all forms.
The Pan-African Movement began in months in London, Paris, and Brussels, is-
1900, when an attorney from the Caribbe- sued a document known as the “London
an island of Trinidad, Henry Sylvester- Manifesto” that criticized Britain for its
Williams, held a conference in London in treatment of African colonies. Britain, the
which black people from all over the world Manifesto declared, “has . . . systematically
came to discuss common issues and con- fostered ignorance among the Natives, has
cerns and to protest the treatment of enslaved them, and is still enslaving them,
blacks in Britain and in British colonies in [and has] declined even to try to train
Africa. black and brown men in real self-
After this initial conference, the African government.” The 1923 and 1927 confer-
American scholar and founder of the Na- ences (held in London and New York City,
tional Association for the Advancement of respectively) dealt with many of the same
Colored People (NAACP), W.E.B. Du Bois, concerns as the earlier ones and also
organized five Pan-African Congresses. added a demand to stop lynching in the
The first, held in Paris in 1919 at the end of United States.
the World War I, brought together fifty- In the 1930s and early 1940s, a world-
seven delegates from fifteen nations. The wide depression and another world war
congress addressed issues stemming from made it difficult for the Pan-African move-
the experience and aftermath of World ment to make headway in achieving its
War I. African and African American sol- goals. Thus, the next congress was not
diers who had served in the war were an- convened until 1945, in Manchester, En-
gry at the discrimination they suffered gland, after the war. Delegates passed a
both during and after the conflict, despite resolution demanding that discrimination be
having fought—in the words of U.S. presi- made a crime and condemned capitalism
dent Woodrow Wilson—to “make the world and imperialism.
safe for democracy.” Black leaders also The first sub-Saharan African nation to
hoped to persuade the League of Nations gain its independence was Ghana, in 1957.
that the former German colonies in Africa Its first president, Kwame Nkrumah, was a
should be allowed to become self- strong supporter of Pan-Africanism. He
governing and independent as soon as held that Ghana was not truly free until all
possible. Despite the demands of the con- of Africa was free. His dream of a united
gressional delegates, however, the German Africa proved elusive, however, because the
colonies were divided up among European leaders of newly independent nations resis-
powers with little or no thought to their ted any limitations on their autonomy. Thus,
eventual independence. they did not want a system of government
Du Bois organized three other Pan- like that of the United States, in which indi-
African Congresses, in 1921, 1923, and 1927. vidual states give up some of their power to
The 1921 conference, held over several a central, federal government. In 1963, the
101

102 PA N - A F R I C A N M O V E M E N T
Organization of African Unity (now the regional cooperative groups such as the
African Union) was formed, with thirty-two Economic Community of West African
nations agreeing to work cooperatively to- States and the Southern African Develop-
ward common goals while maintaining po- ment Community, which work together to
litical independence. ensure favorable tariff and trade agree-
The civil rights and black power movements with other nations.
ments in the United States in the 1960s
and 1970s were influenced by the idea of See also: African Union; British Colonies;
Pan-Africanism, as many African American Colonization; Economic Development and
leaders identified their quest with the Trade; Imperialism.
struggle against colonialism in Africa. In
fact, Malcolm X, leader of the Black Muslim FURTHER READING
group known as the Nation of Islam, trav- Kunjufu, Jawanza. Lessons from History: A Celebration
eled through Africa in 1964 proclaiming of Blackness. Chicago: African American Images,
that American blacks could never be free 1987.
as long as Africa was not free. Reynolds, Jonathan T., and Erik Gilbert. Africa in World
A sixth Pan-African Congress was held History: From Prehistory to the Present. Upper
in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in 1974, but Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2004.
conflicts between Marxist and non-Marxist Walters, Ronald W. Pan-Africanism in the African
delegates from all over the world, including Diaspora: An Analysis of Modern Afrocentric Politi-
100 Americans, became the focus of the cal Movements. Detroit: Wayne State University
meeting and little was accomplished. To- Press, 1997.
day, Pan-African ideas are still evident in
Portuguese Colonies
Areas of Africa, including the modern countries of Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe,
Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Angola, ruled by the Portuguese. The Portuguese were
the first Europeans to reach Africa on August 21, 1415, when Henry the Navigator’s fleet
landed in and conquered Ceuta in what is now Morocco.
Not only were the Portuguese the first more than 4.5 million Africans to the Amer-
Europeans to colonize Africa, but they icas, about 40 percent of the total. Even af-
were also the last to leave. It was not until ter the abolition of slavery in Europe and
1975 that Portugal ceded control of the the Americas in the nineteenth century,
colony of Angola to native peoples. With Portuguese colonies continued to force
the exception of Mozambique, located on African natives to work in farming, mining,
the east coast of Africa, all the Portuguese and fishing enterprises that benefited only
colonies were located along Africa’s west- the colonizers.
ern shores. In the late nineteenth century, Portugal
Portugal’s main exports from its African sought to connect the colonies of Angola
holdings were slaves. In fact, Portugal had and Mozambique in order to have a terri-
a monopoly on the African slave trade for tory that stretched the entire width of
200 years, from 1440 to 1640. It is esti- Africa. The British, however, planned to ex-
mated that the Portuguese transported tend their African colonies from South

REFUGEES 103
Africa north to Egypt and objected to the Almost as soon as Portugal withdrew,
Portuguese plan. The British issued the Ul- civil wars broke out in both Mozambique
timatum of 1890, demanding that the Por- and Angola. The new communist govern-
tuguese withdraw from all disputed ments of both nations found themselves
territory in what was then Rhodesia. The battling insurgent groups supported by
Portuguese, no match for the British mili- other African nations as well as by the
tary, complied. Unlike many of the other United States. The civil war in Angola did
nations that held colonies in Africa, Portu- not end until 2002, with the nation in ru-
gal was neither rich nor militarily powerful ins. In Mozambique, meanwhile, the civil
and depended on the wealth from its war ended in 1992. Since that time,
colonies for economic stability. Mozambique has been politically stable,
From 1932 to 1968, Portugal was ruled which has led to the return of hundreds of
by Fascist dictator António Salazar, and his thousands of refugees who had fled the
right-wing party, Estado Novo, continued country during the war and to economic
in power until 1974. Beginning in 1961, Por- growth. Guinea-Bissau has not been politi-
tugal was faced with the first of several in- cally or economically stable since the de-
dependence movements in its colonies parture of the Portuguese and is among
when Angolan rebel groups attacked the Africa’s least developed nations today.
Luanda prison and killed seven police offi- Both São Tomé and Príncipe and Cape
cers. In Guinea-Bissau, the Marxist African Verde instituted democratic reforms in the
Party began a rebellion against the Por- 1990s and have been relatively stable
tuguese in 1963, and the next year saw at- since then.
tacks against Portuguese targets in
Mozambique. Although the Portuguese See also: Colonization; Communist Move-
military was largely successful in holding ments; Democratic Movements; Slavery
back the rebel forces, in 1974 the costs of and Slave Trade.
the ongoing war led to the collapse of the
Portuguese government. The Carnation FURTHER READING
Revolution brought a democratic govern- Birmingham, David. Portugal and Africa. Hampshire,
ment into power, which immediately began UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
negotiations to withdraw from Africa.
Refugees
According to the United Nations Convention on the Status of Refugees (1951), a refugee
is someone who “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted . . . is outside the
country of his nationality, and is unable to, or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail him-
self of the protection of that country.” Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are people who
have been driven from their homes but have not moved to another country.
In 2006, the United Nations High Com- African continent, representing more than
mission on Refugees (UHNCR) reported one-quarter of the world’s refugees.
that there were more than 5 million “per- Africa has seen several major refugee
sons of concern” (refugees or IDPs) on the crises since the early 1990s. These crises

104 REFUGEES
are caused by a number of factors includ- and Central African Republic have been
ing natural disasters, drought and famine, displaced.
civil war, political and economic instability, In Zimbabwe, meanwhile, economic dis-
and ethnic conflict. Among the worst is aster caused human displacement on a
the Great Lakes refugee crisis, which was massive scale. Inflation as high as 1200 per-
brought about by a wave of ethnic cleans- cent led as many as 3 million people to flee
ing in Rwanda in 1994 in which two ethnic to neighboring Mozambique, South Africa,
groups, the Hutu and Tutsi, came into con- Malawi, Namibia, and Botswana in search
flict. After the death of Rwandan presi- of work. Ironically, Mozambique also un-
dent Juvénal Habyarimana, Hutu officials, derwent a refugee crisis of its own in 2007.
police, and militia began a campaign to Flooding in that nation displaced more
eliminate the minority Tutsi. When Tutsi than 50,000 people.
forces retaliated and took over the Rwan- Life in refugee camps in Africa can be al-
dan capital in April, Hutus, including many most unimaginably difficult for those peo-
of those who had participated in the ple forced to live in them; people arrive
genocide, fled. By August more than two with little more than the clothes on their
million people had left Rwanda, and one backs and live in crowded, squalid condi-
and a half million were internally dis- tions. Despite international aid, food and
placed. water are often scarce, sanitation is mini-
Between 1989 and 2003, civil war in mal, and crime and disease are rampant.
Liberia spilled over into Sierra Leone, Women and girls are often victimized in
Guinea, and Cote d’Ivoire, leaving more the camps, forced to trade sex for food.
than a quarter of a million people dead and Refugees who escape civil war often find
1.5 million uprooted. Hundreds of thou- that the camps themselves are targeted by
sands of these refugees took asylum in combatants, so that the bloodshed they
Guinea, despite efforts of Liberian rebels tried to flee comes to them. Many refugees
and Guinean soldiers to prevent them from are unable return home—for a variety of
crossing the border. reasons—and may end up living in camps
Beginning in 2003 in Darfur, a region in for years, with no prospect of a better life
western Sudan, attacks by a government- or a way home.
sponsored militia known as the Janjaweed
forced 1.8 million residents to flee to See also: Civil Wars; Migration; Rwanda;
neighboring countries, some of which Sudan; Tutsis and Hutus.
were facing crises of their own. In 2007,
civil war in the Central African Republic FURTHER READING
displaced more than 200,000 people, Browne, Peter. The Longest Journey: Resettling
many of whom fled to Darfur. Some also Refugees from Africa. Sydney, Australia: UNSW
escaped to Chad, which was embroiled in Press, 2006.
its own civil war. By some estimates, more Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent.
than 2.5 million people in Darfur, Chad, New York: Vintage, 1999.
Religion
In addition to providing moral guidance and helping explain the meaning of existence, re-
ligious beliefs and practices in Africa, as elsewhere, act as catalysts for social change.

RELIGION 105
Three major religious systems dominate the African continent: African traditional reli-
gions, Islam, and Christianity.
TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS God is considered, in a sense, beyond hu-

There is no one African traditional religion; man understanding.
in fact, there are nearly as many religions African traditional religions also con-
as there are ethnic groups, because African ceive of the Supreme Being as the source
traditional religions never became institu- of all moral decisions; that is, they believe
tionalized as other religions did. They pos- that God sees all and metes out rewards
sess no written scripture like the Bible or and punishments as appropriate.
Koran, and religious leaders tend to be Another common characteristic of
tribal elders in each village. Nevertheless, African traditional religions is animism, a
some religious scholars insist that there are word from the Latin meaning soul that
so many similarities among African tradi- denotes the belief that everything has a
tional religions that they can be under- spirit and that spirits are active in every-
stood as one faith with many different day life. Thus, many African traditional re-
expressions. ligions invest thunder, lightning, trees,
African traditional religions share a mountains, and other natural phenomena
number of characteristics. For one thing, with a spiritual dimension. An African
they are uniformly monotheistic, as are hunter therefore might make a small sac-
Christianity and Islam; that is, they are all rifice to the spirit of an animal he has
based on a belief in a single supreme be- killed, as an act of gratitude for the ani-
ing who created the heavens and earth. In mal’s sacrifice.
fact, this belief in one god made the con- Adherents of African traditional religions
version of many Africans to monotheistic believe that everything has a spirit or soul,
religions easier than it might have been if and that death is not final. While the body
they had been believers in many gods, or dies, the spirit lives on. Africans believe
polytheistic. In African traditional reli- that the spirits of dead ancestors are with
gions, God is unknowable and mysterious. them every day and actively involved in the
While he (or she—in some African cultures lives of the living. Many rituals are con-
the supreme being is feminine) created nected with honoring or appeasing these
everything, the supreme being is consid- spirits.
ered by most Africans to be, in the words African traditional religions teach that
of religious scholar John Mbiti, “com- everything that happens to an individual
pletely other.” God does not intervene in has meaning—that everything happens for
everyday life, as the Judeo-Christian deity a reason. If a person becomes ill, for exam-
does. Still, adherents pray to and express ple, adherents of native faiths do not at-
love for God. In various native religions, tribute the cause of the illness to bacteria
God is referred to as Friend, Father (or or viruses. Rather, they believe the illness is
Mother), Giver of Children, God of Ances- caused by offended spirits. The only way to
tors, Ruler of the Universe, Savior, Shep- cure the sufferer is to find out which spirit
herd, the Everlasting, the Great Spirit, and has been offended and why. Once the
the Just One. Africans never attempt to spirit’s concerns have been dealt with, the
make images of the Supreme Being, as illness should be cured.
Western artists often do, because they do Many Africans also believe in magic and
not conceptualize the deity as existing in a sorcery. They believe that some people
single form or as being like themselves. have a special connection to the spirit

106 RELIGION
AFRICAN RELIGIONS, 1324–2005
1324 Mansa Musa of Mali makes a hajj, or 1864 Samuel Ajayi Crowther named first black
pilgrimage to Mecca Anglican Bishop
15th Century Portuguese missionaries come to 1928 Muslim Brotherhood, an organization

the Kongo Kingdom that advocates making Egypt an
Islamic state, founded
1518 King Nzinga’s grandson Henrique named
first African bishop of the Catholic Church 1939 Two African Catholic bishops
appointed
1830s Sierra Leone and Liberia become centers
for Christian missionaries 2005 Muslim Brotherhood wins
seventy-six seats in Egyptian
1834 Abolition of the slave trade by Great Parliament
Britain motivates missionaries from
Europe and the United States to
come to Africa to convert freed slaves
world and can intervene on behalf of oth- many Western people do. Every aspect of
ers. Magic is generally considered good in life is influenced and informed by religion.
African society, while sorcery is regarded
as evil. When something bad happens to a Vodun
person, for example, one of the causes may Vodun, often referred to as “voodoo,”
be that a sorcerer has cast an evil spell. A comes from a word in the Fon language for
magician may be called on to counteract “spirit.” This African traditional religion was
the spell. practiced by many West African ethnic
Another common characteristic of groups and may be more than 6,000 years
African traditional religion is a strong old. As practiced in Africa, vodun holds
sense of community. Because of the com- that there is a “god-creator,” who does not
munal nature of African religion, there are interfere in human affairs, and several vo-
many rites and ceremonies designed to dun, or “god actors,” who govern the uni-
bring people into the fold and keep them verse. Vodun came to the Americas with
connected. Chief among these are initia- enslaved people and today is especially
tion rites by which adolescents are trans- prevalent in Haiti. More than 60 million
formed into adults. While some ethnic people practice vodun, which has been the
groups, such as the Krobo of Ghana, hold official religion of Benin since 1989. During
initiation rites for girls, most focus on boys. the colonial period, vodun was actively
During the initiation rites, the boys learn suppressed and many priests were killed.
what it is to be a man in their particular
community. ISLAM
Adherents of African traditional religions The first Muslims came to Africa in 615, dur-
do not separate religion and daily life, as ing Mohammad’s lifetime. This group had

RELIGION 107
In the town of Kosheh,

about 500 miles
(814.67 km) south of
Cairo, Egypt, a
mosque’s minaret
towers over the dome
and spires of a Coptic
Christian church. (Amr
Mahmoud/AFP/Getty
Images)
escaped persecution in Mecca and took coast of Africa. The Berbers, an ethnic
refuge in Ethiopia. In 639, the Muslim Arab group of northwest Africa, were among the
General Amr ibn al-Asi invaded Egypt, initi- first to convert to Islam. They, in turn, car-
ating the spread of Islam. Although he and ried Islam throughout northwest Africa.
his successors did not force Egyptians to Arab sailors who traded on Africa’s east
convert, non-Muslims were taxed heavily, coast founded colonies on nearby islands,
and many did adopt the new faith. In the particularly Zanzibar, in the ninth century.
seventh and eighth centuries, the From there, traders traveled into the inte-
Umayyads, a powerful Syrian Muslim dy- rior, carrying their religion with them. Mus-
nasty, brought Islam to the Mediterranean lims typically did not force conversion but

108 RELIGION
Islamic Politics in Africa

The Muslim Brotherhood, an organization Muslim Brotherhood might try to become an
founded to protest foreign domination in officially recognized political party, position-
Egypt and other Islamic countries, was out- ing itself to garner enough support to win in
lawed after an abortive assassination attempt 2011.
against Gamal Abde Nasser, a government Many Egyptians worry that if Egypt be-
adviser who became Egyptian president in comes an Islamic state, the country will be
1954. Since then, the brotherhood has helped subject to Islamic law, known as Sharia. Sharia
to form a number of other Islamic fundamen- traditionally has applied only to Muslims.
talist organizations, including Hamas in Pales- Many non-Muslims, however, are concerned
tine. The brotherhood has renounced violence that Sharia-inspired punishments might be
and is considered mainly a religious group, imposed on them, including what is called
but it advocates making Egypt an Islamic “judicial amputation” for crimes. An armed
theocracy. In 2005, the Brotherhood man- robber, for example, would lose his right arm
aged to win seventy-six seats in the Egyptian and left foot as punishment for his crime.
parliament, giving it the right to put forward a Western leaders have expressed concern that
candidate in the 2011 elections, when long- Islamist states in Africa will become safe
time President Hosni Mubarak has said he will havens for Islamic terrorists, as Sudan once
step down. Some experts believe that the was for al-Qaeda’s Osama bin Laden.
rather lived and intermarried with African scholars and an Arab architect who built
people. Thus, conversion was a slow pro- the great mud mosques at Goa and Tim-
cess, taking hundreds of years in some buktu. Songhai, a sixteenth-century empire
cases. Islam was easier for many Africans to centered in Mali, was also a powerful Is-
accept than Christianity because it permit- lamic state. Its greatest king, Sonni Ali (r.
ted a man to have more than one wife, a 1464–1492), expanded the empire by mili-
common practice in many African tradi- tary conquest and gained control of impor-
tional religions. Christianity insisted that tant cities along the trans-Saharan trade
marriage be monogamous. routes, such as Jenne and Timbuktu. He did
Islam spread quickly south of the Sa- not force those he conquered to convert to
hara. Mansa Musa (r. 1307–1332) of Mali was Islam and was tolerant of traditional
the first ruler to make Islam the state reli- African religions.
gion. In 1324, he made a famous hajj, or pil- Today, nearly 40 percent of Africa’s 750
grimage to Mecca, as all Muslims are million inhabitants are Muslim; most are of
supposed to do. Musa’s hajj, however, in- the Sunni sect. The populations of Algeria,
cluded 100 camel-loads of gold, 500 Egypt, Djibouti, Libya, Mauritania, Senegal,
slaves, each carrying a gold staff, thou- Mali, Somalia, and Tunisia are all more than
sands of subjects, and his wife with 500 at- 90 percent Muslim. Half of Nigeria’s 113 mil-
tendants. Musa brought back religious lion people are also Muslim, and there are

RELIGION 109
large Muslim populations in Niger, Sudan, century, only Ethiopia remained primarily
Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, and Christian. Then, in the fifteenth century,
Ethiopia. Christian missionaries came to Africa fol-
In parts of Africa today, Islamic funda- lowing in the footsteps of explorers. The
mentalists call on nations whose popula- first to arrive in sub-Saharan Africa were
tions are largely Muslim to become the Portuguese, who came at the behest of
theocratic Islamic states, much like Iran. In King Nzinga of the Kongo Kingdom. By
the 2005 elections in Egypt, the Muslim 1500, Catholicism had become the official
Brotherhood, an organization founded in religion of the Kongo Empire, and King
1928 that advocates making Egypt an Is- Nzinga’s grandson, Henrique, became the
lamic state, won seventy-six seats in the first black African bishop in the Catholic
nation’s parliament. Church in 1518.
By the beginning of the nineteenth cen-
CHRISTIANITY tury, there were very few Christians in
Christianity came early to Africa. By the Africa, except for some Coptic Christians in
first century, there were Christians in North Egypt, Christians in Ethiopia, and people in
Africa. Legend has it that Mark, one of the the former Kongo Empire. In the 1800s,
four Christian evangelists, arrived in however, a renewed interest in converting
Alexandria, Egypt, in C.E. 60 and began Africans arose in both Catholic and Protes-
converting the inhabitants. The Egyptian tant denominations. The abolition of the
Christian church founded by Mark split slave trade by Great Britain in 1834 moti-
from the Roman Catholic Church after the vated many missionaries from Europe and
Council of Chalcedon in 451 and is known the United States to come to Africa.
today as Coptic Christianity. (“Copt” is the Christian missionary programs in Africa
Arabic word for “Egyptian.”) The dispute were successful largely because they of-
that caused the rift had to do with the na- fered education to the people. Missionaries
ture of Christ and whether or not he was taught Africans to read so that they could
both human and divine. Coptic Christians read the Bible. These same missionaries
believed that Christ had one nature only, were often instrumental in creating the first
intermingling humanity and divinity; Ro- alphabets for indigenous African lan-
man Catholics held that the two natures guages in order to be able to translate the
were separate. This rather esoteric theo- Bible for their new converts.
logical difference created a schism that ex- By the 1830s, Sierra Leone and Liberia,
ists to this day between Coptic Christians colonies established by freed slaves, be-
and Roman Catholics. came significant centers for Christian mis-
From Egypt, Christianity spread to the sionaries. J.R. Roberts, the first president of
west, where indigenous populations em- Liberia, was born in the United States and
braced the new religion as a way of was himself a Christian. Both Protestant
protesting Roman rule. To the east, in the and Catholic churches began to ordain
fourth century, King Ezana of Ethiopia African priests and select African bishops.
made Christianity the official state religion. The first African to be made a bishop in the
In 312, Constantine made Christianity the Anglican Church was Samuel Ajayi
official religion of the Roman Empire. Crowther, a former slave. Crowther was or-
Beginning in the seventh century, Christ- dained as a bishop in 1864. He once met
ian populations began to shrink, while Is- Queen Victoria of England and read the
lamic populations grew. By the end of that Lord’s Prayer to her in the Yoruba language.

110 RELIGION
In 1939, two African Catholic bishops were Roman Catholic. African countries with large
appointed—Joseph Kiwanuka of Uganda Christian populations include Cape Verde,
and Joseph Faye of Senegal. Ghana, Tanzania, and South Africa.
In addition to Catholicism and various
Protestant denominations, Africa is home See also: Colonialism; Culture and Tradi-
to many African Initiated Churches. These tions; Society.
organizations grew out of Protestant de-
nominations as Africans became increas- FURTHER READING
ingly frustrated with the attitudes of some Awolalu, J. Omosade. Yoruba Beliefs and Sacrificial
missionaries toward traditional African Rites. New York: Athelia Henrietta, 1996.
customs and practices. Some African Initi- Bediako, Kwame. Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of
ated Churches are only slightly different Non-Western Religion. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1996.
versions of the protestant denominations Chidester, David. Religions of South Africa. London:
from which they derived, but many inter- Routledge, 1992.
mingle aspects of traditional religion— Lawson, E. Thomas. Religions of Africa: Traditions in
including the practice of polygamy—with Transformation. Long Grove, IL: Waveland, 1998.
aspects of Christianity. Magesa, Laurenti. African Religion: The Moral Traditions
Today there are about 360 million Chris- of Abundant Life. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1997.
tians in Africa, about half of whom are
Rwanda
A landlocked nation in east-central Africa, surrounded by the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi. Although Rwanda is just two degrees south of
the equator, its climate is temperate due to the high elevation of the land. The country
has been plagued by shifts in power and wars of ethnic hatred.
Rwanda was a stable and unified society majority Hutu, they allowed the Tutsis to
before the first European, German Count administer the government on their behalf,
Gustave Adolf Von Goetzen, arrived there in which fueled resentment among the Hutu.
1894. The Hutu and Tutsi inhabitants had In the 1950s, however, when the Belgians
evolved a feudal society in which the ruling began to encourage the growth of demo-
Tutsi herded cattle and the Hutu farmed the cratic institutions, the Tutsis resisted the
land. The two groups shared a language, idea, preferring to retain their superior po-
culture, and regularly intermarried. In 1889, sition. When Hutus rebelled against the
the Tutsi king, known as the mwami, peace- Tutsi government in 1959, the Belgians sup-
fully allowed Rwanda to become a German ported the rebels. The rebels ousted the
protectorate. In 1915, Belgian troops from Tutsis in 1959 and, shortly thereafter, tens of
the Congo drove the Germans out of thousands of Tutsis fled the country.
Rwanda and took control of the region. Rwanda was granted full independence
After World War I, the League of Nations by Belgium in 1962, and its first president
granted Rwanda and Burundi to Belgium as was Gregoire Kayibanda, leader of the
the territory of Ruanda-Urundi. Because Party of the Hutu Emancipation Movement
the Belgians believed that the more Euro- (PARMEHUTU). In 1973, accusing the Kay-
pean-looking Tutsis were superior to the ibanda government of corruption, Major

R WA N D A 111
In 2007, Paul Kagame,

president of the Republic
of Rwanda, spoke before
the United Nations
General Assembly in New
York. Kagame assumed
the Rwandan presidency
in 2000; in 2003, he went
on to win a landslide
victory in the first national
elections since 1994.
(Don Emmert/AFP/Getty
Images)
General Juvénal Habyarimana, a Hutu, led a the president of the neighboring nation of
successful coup and installed himself as Burundi, was shot down while attempting
president. He was reelected in 1983 and to land at Kigali Airport. Both leaders were
again in 1988. killed. Hutu officials suggested that the
In 1990, an organization of Tutsi exiles plane had been shot down under orders
called the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) from the RPF, a suggestion that served as a
invaded Rwanda from its base in Uganda. trigger for a massacre of Tutsis and moder-
The RPF accused the Habyarimana govern- ate Hutus by Hutu officials, civilians, and a
ment of failing to bring democracy to newly formed Hutu militia called Intera-
Rwanda or to help the nearly half million hamwe. More than 800,000 people were
Tutsis who had been forced to flee their na- murdered before the carnage was halted
tive land. War continued for two years until by the RPF’s capture of the capital city of
the signing of the Arusha cease-fire in Kigali. Fearing retaliation, nearly 2 million
1992. Hutus fled the country, many to neighbor-
On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying Presi- ing Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of
dent Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira, the Congo).

112 R WA N D A
In 1994, in an attempt to heal the became the first Tutsi president of

wounds of ethnic hatred, Paul Kagame, the Rwanda. In 2003, Kagame won the presi-
Tutsi rebel leader, took the position of vice dency in the first elections held in Rwanda
president in the new government and in- since 1994. In the same year, Rwandans ap-
stalled a Hutu, Pasteur Bizimungu, as presi- proved a new constitution that established
dent. Rwanda’s involvement in the First a balance of power between Hutus and
and Second Congo Wars (1996–1997 and Tutsis by ensuring that neither group could
1998–2003) stalled progress toward na- hold more than half the seats in Parliament.
tional unity and recovery. Hutu militia The new constitution also forbids the in-
members who had escaped across the citement of ethnic hatred. Under Kagame’s
Rwandan border into Zaire began to attack leadership, Rwanda has struggled to erase
Rwanda from their refugee camps there. In the legacy of ethnic hatred and to rebuild
1996, when Congolese rebel Laurent Kabila its economy, which is primarily based on
launched an offensive against Zaire’s dicta- the export of coffee and tea.
tor Mobutu Sese Seko, Rwanda sent troops
to support him in the hope of ending the See also: Civil Wars; Colonization; Congo;
Hutu threat. Kabila successfully deposed Economic Development and Trade;
Mobutu, and Rwandan forces stayed in Refugees; Tutsis and Hutus.
Zaire to help his government deal with hos-
tile elements in the east, including the Hutu FURTHER READING
militia. In 1998, however, Kabila ordered all Carr, Rosamond Halsey. Land of a Thousand Hills: My
foreign troops out of Zaire. Rwandan and Life in Rwanda. New York: Plume, 2000.
other troops refused to leave, igniting the Dallaire, Romeo. Shake Hands with the Devil.
Second Congo War, which cost the lives of Lancashire, UK: Arrow, 2005.
3.8 million people, making it the bloodiest Gourevitch, Philip. We Wish to Inform You That
conflict in the history of modern Africa. At Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families. New
the close of the four-year war in 2002, York: Picador, 1999.
Rwanda agreed to pull its troops out of Harmon, Daniel E. Central and East Africa. New York:
Zaire, and Zaire agreed to disarm the Hutu Chelsea House, 2001.
militia.
In 2000, President Bizimungu resigned
and was succeeded by Paul Kagame, who

S
Slavery and the Slave Trade

From the sixteenth through most of the nineteenth centuries, some 12 to 15 million human
beings were forcibly taken from their homes in West Africa and transported to the Carib-
bean and the Americas to work on plantations. From the ninth through the early twenti-
eth centuries, Muslim slave traders took almost as many East Africans to parts of the
Middle East, where they worked on clove plantations or as pearl divers, served in the
army, or were used as sex slaves.
EAST AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE The slave trade became highly profitable
Muslim slave traders began taking slaves for the Portuguese, a fact that was not lost
from eastern Africa and took them to places on other European powers. After 1670,
like modern-day Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, and Spain, Britain, France, and the Netherlands
Turkey sometime in the ninth century. De- began to compete for their share of the
spite the horror and brutality of this trade in wealth. Over a period of about 300 years,
human beings, slavery in Muslim countries slave traders made more than 50,000 voy-
was governed by Islamic law and tradition. ages across the Atlantic, a journey of about
Under Islam, slaves were considered people, 4,000 miles (6,400 km) that took about
not property, and had some protection un- three months. Most of the slaves, about 42
der the law. For example, slave owners were percent, ended up working on plantations
not allowed to take children away from their in the Caribbean; another 38 percent went
mothers and slaves could take their masters to Brazil, and about 5 percent were
to court for offenses such as failure to pro- brought to North America.
vide adequate food and shelter. Under Is- By all accounts, the crossing itself was
lam, freeing slaves was considered a great hellish. People were kept below decks
virtue, and freed slaves ordinarily did not where the air was deadly and there was
suffer discrimination. The eastern slave barely room to move. Many died of disease,
trade continued into the twentieth century. malnutrition, or despair. Some committed
Slavery was outlawed in many Middle East- suicide by banging their heads against the
ern nations only when Western powers such floor, refusing to eat, or jumping over-
as Britain and France applied economic and board. Food, while plentiful, was of poor
political pressure. quality and served in buckets, leading to
fights as individuals struggled to get their
ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE share. Although slave traders had an eco-
The Portuguese were the first Europeans nomic investment in keeping their “prop-
to visit Africa and the first to take slaves, erty” alive, about 20 percent of Africans
beginning in about 1440. These slaves were aboard the slave ships died before reach-
transported to the south of Portugal, ing their destination.
where they worked primarily as household In general, the European slavers did not
servants. As the Portuguese colony of procure the slaves themselves. Slaves
Brazil grew, however, laborers were needed were captured in the interior by native
to work in its massive sugar cane planta- traders and brought to ports along the
tions. In 1518, the first of thousands of ships west coast of Africa, in places such as
tightly packed with slaves crossed the At- Guinea and the Gold Coast, where they
lantic destined for the Americas. were sold to European traders. Many
113

114 S L AV E R Y A N D T H E S L AV E T R A D E
THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE, 1700–1810
In the African slave trade, slave on board and sailed for the with raw materials such as gold,
ships left Europe and sailed south Americas. On the return trip to Eu- silver, and sugar cane to be sold
to Africa, where they took slaves rope, the ships were often laden on the European market.

S L AV E R Y A N D T H E S L AV E T R A D E 115
Africans grew rich not only by selling 1863. After the British banned the slave
slaves, but also by trading in the supplies trade in 1807, more and more people be-
needed for the long sea journey. Indeed, gan to think about the evils of slavery and
when Britain banned the slave trade in in turn to pressure their governments to
1807, many African traders and chiefs were end the practice.
angry, feeling that their livelihoods had
been taken from them. CONSEQUENCES
The long-term effects of slavery on Africa
ENDING THE SLAVE TRADE can still be felt today. As the continent lost
Several factors contributed to the end of millions of people and many of its
the slave trade. The first to outlaw the strongest men to slavery, industrial and
practice were the British, who put an end agricultural development was slowed, even
to slave trading in 1807 and outlawed slave halted in some places. Much of the grind-
ownership in 1834. Besides the efforts of ing poverty that one sees in Africa today
British abolitionists such as Granville Sharp, can be attributed to this lack of develop-
Thomas Clarkson, and William Wilberforce, ment. Because slaves were often captured
the Industrial Revolution itself contributed in wars between various African ethnic
to the end of slavery because manufactur- groups, armed conflict was sometimes ini-
ing processes, unlike plantations, worked tiated with the sole aim of taking slaves,
better with free labor; people needed to be creating a legacy of hatred between ethnic
free to go where the work was. In addition, groups that might otherwise never have
there was more wealth to be gained from occurred. Because so many of the most fit
industrial production than from agriculture. men in African societies had been taken,
Furthermore, because the British had lost when Europeans began their colonization
their American colonies in 1783, they no efforts, there were many fewer warriors to
longer had a captive market for the slaves fight back. In a sense, then, many of the
they transported; Americans were free to evils of colonialism can be attributed to
buy slaves from whomever they chose. The slavery, including the loss of identity and
French Revolution, too, with its emphasis culture, political instability, corruption, and
on liberty and equality, gave new impetus the failure of democratic institutions
to those in Great Britain who opposed slav-
ery. Ironically, Britain began to colonize See also: Agriculture; Civil Wars; Coloniza-
Africa in part to try to prevent other nation; Culture and Tradition; Economic De-
tions from taking slaves. They began to velopment and Trade; Society.
move from the coastal areas of West Africa
into the interior, for example, to prevent FURTHER READING
members of the Ashante ethnic group from Cameron, Ann. The Kidnapped Prince: The Life of
continuing to capture and sell slaves. Olaudah Equiano. New York: Yearling, 2000.
Despite the French Revolution’s impact Lovejoy, Paul E. Transformations in Slavery: A History of
on the British, it had little effect at first on Slaves in Africa. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
the French slave trade. The French did not University Press, 2000.
outlaw slave trading until 1818—almost Newman, Shirlee P. The African Slave Trade. London:
thirty years after the revolution. Portugal Franklin Watts, 2000.
outlawed the slave trade in 1830, but trad- Willis, John Ral. Slaves and Slavery in Africa: Islam and
ing actually continued through the 1850s. the Ideology of Enslavement. London: Routledge,
The Dutch outlawed the slave trade in 2006.

116 SOCIETY
Society
The traditional African extended family has always been, in many senses, the basis of all
of African society, the shared culture and institutions that provide a common identity.
Even today, many Africans do not think of themselves as Nigerian or Kenyan, but as
members of particular clans or ethnic groups.
FAMILY STRUCTURE the sense that it is in the West. It simply

A variety of different kinship systems can remains in the family.
be found in traditional African villages. For Older members of the family or clan are
instance, the Ibo of Nigeria have a patrilin- revered for their experience and wisdom
eal system, in which all inheritance is and they often function in place of a formal
passed through the father. When a woman legal system, dispensing advice and justice
marries, she leaves the family village and to erring family members. There is no need
goes to live in her husband’s village. Thus, for nursing homes or pension plans in most
nearly everyone in an Ibo village is related of rural Africa, because children care for
through their fathers. their aging parents as a matter of course. As
On the other hand, the Akan of Ghana Africa becomes more urban, however, the
have a matrilineal system. They are divided old ways of doing things are being replaced
into clans, with children becoming part of by more Westernized systems, and age is
the mother’s clan at birth. Inheritance less revered in the cities than in rural areas.
among the Akan passes from the mother’s
brother to her sons. GENDER ROLES
The most important effect of the kinship Throughout most of Africa, men are consid-
structure in African society is the impact ered to be the breadwinners and heads of
of the extended family on all aspects of households, and women are considered to
life. It was said—before the AIDS epidemic be subordinate to men. In many African na-
hit the continent—that there are no or- tions, even though women do most of the
phans in Africa. This is because it is the farming, they are not allowed to own land,
duty of everyone in the village to care for and children, in the event of divorce, usually
children. If parents die, relatives raise chil- “belong” to the father. Women receive sig-
dren as their own. In some ethnic groups, nificantly less education than men and gen-
particularly those that are matrilineal, in erally are not prepared for work outside the
fact, children are routinely reared not by home. Still, African women work hard, doing
their parents but by members of the ex- almost all of the agricultural work, building
tended family, such as aunts or uncles. So and maintaining homes, cooking, and rear-
important are kinship ties within some ru- ing the children.
ral villages that children often refer to all Many women’s groups in Africa today
women who are the same age as their bio- are demanding Western-style equality—
logical mother as “mother,” and to all men including the freedom to own property and
who are the same age as their biological the freedom to initiate divorce. While many
father as “father.” In addition, the extended nations have enacted such laws, they exist
family, not an individual, owns the land, in conflict with customary laws, which are
and everyone pitches in to cultivate the enforced by individual villages, clans, or
crops. Land is never sold or inherited in ethnic groups.
116

SOCIETY 117
AIDS in Africa
AIDS has been a scourge on Africa like no Johannesburg stock products with names
other. In 2007, there were 22.5 million people such as “Life Extension” and “Ozone Rectal
in sub-Saharan Africa living with AIDS, with Treatment,” which claim to treat AIDS, and
2.8 million new cases that year. Of those in- the government has done nothing to regu-
fected, 13.3 million are women. There were late this practice. Even though South Africa
also 2.1 million children living with AIDS in has finally begun to use antiretroviral drugs
Africa, and 2.1 million people died of AIDS in to treat AIDS, many people prefer the alter-
2006 alone. Since AIDS was first diagnosed native remedies, and people in rural areas
in the late 1970s, nearly 22 million people are completely unaware of the treatment
worldwide have died from it, and 13 million options.
children have lost one or both parents. The high cost of drugs to treat AIDS has
About three-fourths of these deaths oc- also been a problem in Africa. With the proper
curred in Africa, where AIDS is now the pri- treatment, HIV-positive patients in first-world
mary cause of death. In many African countries can live long and healthy lives. How-
countries, 10 to 20 percent of all adults are ever, for many years patients throughout
infected with HIV. Africa have died for lack of treatment because
In South Africa, where AIDS is the leading neither individuals nor governments could af-
cause of death, the situation was made ford to pay for the drugs. Beginning in 2001,
worse by the fact that President Thabo American and British pharmaceutical compa-
Mbeki for years denied that AIDS was a nies, including Bristol-Myers and Merck,
problem and even went so far as to question agreed to cut the price of anti-AIDS drugs
whether HIV and AIDS were actually related. that are sold to Africa. Also in 2001, Cipla, an
He also questioned the safety and efficacy Indian pharmaceutical company, began to sell
of the drugs used to treat the disease and a generic anti-AIDS drug very inexpensively in
diverted funds from AIDS treatment to com- Africa, providing patients themselves were
bating crime. In 2003, health activists sued not charged. In 2007, the William J. Clinton
the government to force it to distribute AIDS Foundation struck a deal with Cipla and
drugs, but it was not until 2006 that the another Indian pharmaceutical company, Ma-
Mbeki government acknowledged the crisis. trix, to provide what are called “second-line”
Because so many in South Africa and antiretroviral drugs (drugs that are used when
other parts of sub-Saharan Africa are des- a first treatment stops working) at a signifi-
perate, quacks have been able to make cantly reduced cost to Africa and other devel-
money selling dubious cures. Pharmacies in oping nations.
LEGAL SYSTEMS those two systems are at odds, such as in

Most of Africa operates with a dual legal the case of women’s rights. For most
system that includes civil law—that which is Africans, the customary law is the more rel-
enacted by the legislature—and customary evant of the two, but as it is not written
law—the system of rules that governs tradi- down or subject to judicial review, abuses
tional life in rural Africa. In many cases, are possible if local chiefs choose to be

118 SOCIETY
unfair or arbitrary. Vivek Maru, founder of African health professionals, infected

Timap for Justice, a non-profit organization women, who understand that they should
that provides free legal services for the poor not nurse their babies, may nevertheless do
in his native Sierra Leone, recalls an instance so as part of birth rituals—because it is ex-
in which a local chief imposed a large fine pected of them. Circumcisions are frequently
on a witness for answering a question be- performed on large groups of boys at the
fore a very slow clerk had finished writing same time, and the knife is not sterilized be-
his answer to a previous question. tween uses. Very young girls are often mar-
ried to much older men who have had many
CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL sexual partners and who may transmit the
PROBLEMS disease to their young wives. Mothers fre-
Africa today is in the grip of a number of quently transmit AIDS to infants through the
thorny social issues. It is the poorest conti- birth process because they do not know
nent, and the effects of poverty permeate about or cannot get the necessary medica-
all aspects of African society today. The tion to prevent the transmission. Polygamy,
HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa, which has dev- practiced in many parts of Africa, also con-
astated the continent, is directly related to tributes to the spread of the disease. Young
poverty and the growth of a culture of people in urban areas, cut off from the tradi-
poverty. Treatment for AIDS is expensive, tional support systems of villages, may en-
and many African countries cannot afford to gage in unsafe sexual practices.
treat their infected populations. While most While condom use is clearly on the rise
AIDS patients in Africa are heterosexuals, in Africa, many more people could benefit
the fact that homosexuality is taboo in most from consistent use. A study by ADVERT,
of Africa also contributes to the spread of an international AIDS charity, found that
AIDS in part by discouraging treatment. between 2001 and 2005, eight of eleven
Slavery still exists in parts of Africa. More- countries in sub-Saharan Africa reported
over, rapid urbanization has created many increases in condom use. However, in many
problems, as people torn from traditional countries, condom use is limited by eco-
cultures struggle to survive in a modern en- nomic considerations. In Uganda, for exam-
vironment. ple, where 120 to 150 million condoms are
needed each year, only 40 million are avail-
HIV/AIDS and Other Diseases able. In addition, in many countries, large
The spread of AIDS in Africa is unprece- numbers of people still do not understand
dented and has decimated the African popu- that the disease is often sexually transmit-
lation. As of the 2007, 22.5 million people in ted and do not, therefore, understand the
sub-Saharan Africa were living with HIV; one importance of condom use.
person there dies every thirteen seconds, Moreover, because discussion of sex is
and one person contracts HIV every nine taboo in many African ethnic groups, peo-
seconds. The way in which AIDS is transmit- ple may not seek out the help that is avail-
ted in Africa is different from the way it is able. People with AIDS are stigmatized in
transmitted in the rest of the world, and few African society, so many attempt to hide
strategies have been developed to deal with their illness. Homosexuality is also taboo in
these differences. For example, there are most African cultures, and many gays will
several traditional rituals that may be spread- not seek help for fear of reprisals.
ing AIDS without sexual contact. HIV-positive AIDS has wiped out entire families, and
mothers who nurse their babies may trans- the traditional system of caring for children
mit the disease. Despite the warnings of in Africa has broken down completely in

SOCIETY 119
many areas. With parents, aunts, uncles, with no thought to what the people of
and grandparents dead, young children, Africa might need to develop viable
possibly also infected, are left to care for economies after the European colonizers
younger siblings, some of whom also have left in the twentieth century.
AIDS. These children barely survive, and Corruption of government officials is also
few can afford an education, virtually guar- a cause of poverty in Africa. Over the years,
anteeing impoverished adulthoods, assum- billions of dollars of aid money sent to Africa
ing they survive that long. by governments and nongovernmental or-
HIV/AIDS is not the only disease to ganizations (NGOs) have been appropriated
plague Africa. Many diseases are caused by by corrupt leaders, rather than being spent
unsanitary drinking water. More than one on the needs of the people. Corrupt govern-
African child dies every minute from diar- ments also have caused the international
rheal diseases, such as typhoid fever, business community to be hesitant about
caused by bad water. One child also dies investing in Africa. Fearing that bribes will
each minute from measles, a disease that is have to be paid at every step of the process,
easily preventable by a vaccine costing less many multinational companies have de-
than $1 per child. Malaria kills 3,000 children cided to invest elsewhere in other regions of
a day and more than a million people each the world.
year. Sleeping sickness, a parasitic infection While the causes of poverty in African
that spreads to the brain and covering of are many, the effects are devastating. One
the spine, is caused by the bite of the tsetse in six African children dies before the age
fly. Untreated, the infection kills. Today, of five of illnesses that are easily preventa-
nearly 500,000 people in Africa are in- ble in developed countries. One-third of all
fected with sleeping sickness. children in sub-Saharan Africa are under-
weight, and one-third of all Africans suffer
Poverty from malnutrition. Only about half of all
The reasons for poverty in Africa are many. African children receive even a primary ed-
The continent has not been successful in ucation. Half of all the people in sub-
using the land that is suitable for farming to Saharan Africa survive on the equivalent of
feed its people. Much arable land is in pri- one U.S. dollar per day. Further, about 300
vate hands and is not used to grow crops. million Africans do not have access to safe
Modern farming techniques, such as crop water.
rotation, have not found their way into rural Many who migrated to Africa’s cities live
areas, where the majority of Africa’s food is in grinding poverty. According to the UN-
grown. Water, while plentiful on the conti- Habitat Executive Director, Anna K. Tibai-
nent, is often unavailable where it is needed juka, urban “slums are places where hunger
to irrigate crops. prevails, and where young people are
The legacy of colonialism also has con- drawn into anti-social behavior, including
tributed to poverty in Africa. For much of crime . . . for lack of better alternatives.” Ur-
the nineteenth century, while Europe and ban families live in shacks with no toilet fa-
America were benefiting from the Indus- cilities, no running water, and none of the
trial Revolution, Africa was prized only for basic services—such as trash removal—that
the raw materials it could provide, and people living in Europe or the United
colonial powers generally prevented the States take for granted.
development of industry on the continent. There have been some successful pro-
Colonial powers also tended to build only grams to combat poverty. These include
the infrastructure that met their needs, micro-loans, especially those given to

120 SOCIETY
women. A micro-loan is a small amount of heleen. A database compiled between

money, sometimes only $200 or $300, 2001 and 2003 by the Rift Valley Institute,
which may allow a women to buy the seed an NGO headquartered in Great Britain,
and tools she needs to grow crops to feed listed 11,000 known abductees, only 500 of
her family, with some surplus to sell at mar- whom eventually found their way out of
ket. In general, homegrown antipoverty captivity. About 60 percent of those ab-
programs in Africa have had greater suc- ducted were under the age of eighteen.
cess than many Western aid programs. For Many have been subjected to forced con-
example, Ghanan Patrick Awuah runs a pri- version to Islam, branding, and rape.
vate university that saves half the spaces in Some Christian groups have begun a
its freshman class for students too poor to process known as “redemption,” in which
attend otherwise. Awuah feels strongly they buy slaves from the Arab slave
that education can be a major factor in traders and return them to their villages.
easing poverty in Africa. In Western Kenya, While the intentions of these individuals
a nongovernmental organization has been are good, they have, at the same time,
successful in ensuring that schoolchildren made the slave trade more profitable. Be-
are well fed and have the textbooks they cause slave traders can command top dol-
need, resulting in improved attendance lar from these “redeemers,” it is believed
and test scores. that some engage in slave raids for the
sole purpose of capturing slaves to sell to
Slavery them. Although the government of Sudan
Although the slave trade in Africa was has pledged to prosecute slave traders, no
banned in the early 1800s, forced labor is one has yet been brought to trial.
still practiced in parts of west and central
Africa today. Many children from Benin and Urban Life
Togo, abducted by members of warring Many African urban areas are growing so
factions, are sold as domestic workers, rapidly that by 2020, more than half of the
agricultural laborers, or sex slaves to continent’s population will live in cities; in
wealthier neighbors in countries such as fact, the rate of urbanization in Africa is the
Nigeria and Gabon. For instance, it was re- highest in the world. Because many of those
vealed in 2002 that almost half of all the cities are burdened by overpopulation and
chocolate produced in the United States inadequate infrastructure, migrants do not
was made from cocoa beans harvested by easily find work and must live in ramshackle
Ivorian children who were virtual slaves. Hu- housing on the edge of the city. Poor sanita-
man trafficking is also prevalent in many tion and insufficient drinking water lead to
parts of Africa. Trafficking occurs when infection and disease, and because of over-
people are forced, threatened, or deceived crowding, disease spreads easily.
by others and then placed in a situation Young men without work, torn from
where they are treated like slaves. A report their extended families, often turn to crime
from the Women’s Consortium of Nigeria and violence. In South Africa, a serious
notes that there are 10,000 Nigerian crime is committed every seventeen sec-
women working as prostitutes in Italy, most onds. Some have even begun to call South
of whom were initially victims of trafficking. Africa the “crime capital of the world.”
In Sudan, a twenty-year civil war has led Many people in Johannesburg have taken
to tens of thousands of ethnic Dinkas being to living in walled, gated communities, and
captured and enslaved by government- tourists are warned of the danger of armed
supported tribal militias known as mura- robberies near hotels and banks.

SOMALIA 121
In Accra, Ghana, the fastest growing See also: Agriculture; Culture and Tradi-
slum—Fadama—is called Sodom and Go- tions; Economic Development and Trade;
morrah by the locals. Unsupervised children Migration; South Africa; Slavery and the
play in the streets, young men gamble, litter Slave Trade; Sudan.
is everywhere, and frequent fires destroy
what little residents own. Overall, sub- FURTHER READING
Saharan Africa has the world’s highest rate Chazen, Naomi, Peter Lewis, Robert Mortimer, Donald
of slum growth, and it has been estimated Rothchild, Stephen John Stedman. Politics and
that 72 percent of all people who live in Society in Contemporary Africa. Boulder, CO:
Africa’s cities live in poverty, lacking many Westview Press, 1999.
of the basic necessities of life. Fox, Louise, and Robert Liebenthal, eds. Attacking
While there is much to lament in the Africa’s Poverty: Case Studies from a Global
growth of Africa’s cities, there is also much Learning Process. Washington, D.C.: World Bank
to celebrate. African cities, like cities the Publications, 2006.
world over, are centers of education, cul- Schraeder, Peter J. African Politics and Society: A
ture, business, and technological innovation. Mosaic in Transformation. New York: Palgrave
It is in the city that the future of Africa’s Macmillan, 1999.
economic growth lies, particularly in the de- Steady, Filomina. Women and Collective Action in
velopment of manufacturing and service in- Africa: Development, Democratization, and
dustries. Empowerment. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
Somalia
A country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti. Somalia,
which has the longest coastline of any nation in Africa, is bordered on the north by the
Gulf of Aden and on the east and south by the Indian Ocean. The land was home to an an-
cient people known as Kushites.
Beginning in about C.E. 600, Arab torate to Italy to govern for ten years. This
traders from Yemen began making regular was done in order to allow Somalia time to
trips across the Gulf of Aden, leading the prepare to govern itself. In 1960, Italy
two populations to intermarry and develop granted southern Somalia its indepen-
a shared culture that included a common dence, and Great Britain declared its hold-
language and mutual devotion to Islam. ings independent as well. British and Italian
Unified during the Middle Ages as the Sul- Somaliland agreed to form the United Re-
tanate of Adal, Somalia by 1500 had disin- public of Somalia. French Somaliland, to-
tegrated into a number of small kingdoms day the nation of Djibouti, remained under
and city-states. French control until it became indepen-
In the nineteenth century, during the dent in 1977.
Scramble for Africa, Somalia was carved When Somalia’s second president, Abdi-
into three European territories: French So- rashid Ali Shermarke, was assassinated in
maliland and British Somaliland in the 1969, General Mohammed Siad Barre led a
north and Italian Somaliland in the south. coup and declared Somalia a socialist
After World War II, the United Nations state to be governed by a twenty-member
granted southern Somalia as a protec- Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC) with

122 SOMALIA
himself at the head. Barre allied himself (USC). By 1988, the entire country was em-
with the Soviet Union and accepted mili- broiled in a bloody civil war. In 1991, Barre
tary and other forms of aid from that was deposed by the United Somali Con-
nation. gress. Since then, there has been no effec-
In 1977, Somalia invaded Ogaden tive central government in Somalia, and
Province in Ethiopia, which in precolonial various factions continue to fight one an-
times had been Somali territory and was other. The country descended into anarchy,
home to many displaced Somali people. In leaving many people homeless, others
many African countries, European powers starving, and the nation’s infrastructure in
forced warring tribes and clans into an un- disrepair.
easy coalition and kept the peace only by In 1992, the United States and several
exercising strong central authority. This other nations launched Operation Restore
was not the case in Somalia; it had once Hope, an effort to bring enough stability to
been a unified territory that was torn Somalia to allow for the delivery of human-
apart by colonialism. Thus, after indepen- itarian aid to the people. Peacekeeping
dence, it was the policy of the Somali forces from the United States were sent to
government to try to reunite its people Somalia to try to quell the violence that
and territories. During the assault on had plagued the nation since Barre was de-
Ogaden Province, the Somali army suc- posed. In 1993, the United Nations
ceeded in retaking it. Within a year, how- mounted another effort to deliver aid.
ever, Ethiopian forces with the help of However, the situation was so chaotic, with
Cuba and the Soviet Union defeated and various factions still battling one another,
drove out the Somali army. Despite Soma- that both operations were forced to with-
lia’s alliance with the USSR, the Soviet draw. As of 2007, there was no functioning
Union chose to side with Ethiopia in this government.
conflict, believing that a true Marxist-
Leninist state was more likely to arise in See also: Civil Wars; Colonization.
Ethiopia than in Somalia.
After the war, various clan-based rebel FURTHER READING
groups, including the Isaaq, the Majeer- Clarke, Walter, and Jeffrey Herbst, eds. Learning
teen, and the Hawiye, attacked the Barre from Somalia: The Lessons of Armed Humanitarian
government. Barre violently suppressed Intervention. Jackson, TN: Westview Press,
dissent. Rather than reduce opposition, 1997.
however, Barre’s attempts at suppression Korn, Fadumo. Born in the Big Rains: A Memoir of
increased it. The 1980s saw the growth of a Somalia and Survival. New York: The Feminist Press
number of resistance movements, includ- at CUNY, 2006.
ing the Somali National Movement (SNM), Peterson, Scott. Me Against My Brother: At War in
made up primarily of members of the Isaaq Somalia, Sudan and Rwanda. London: Routledge,
clan, and the United Somali Congress 2001.
South Africa
A nation on the southernmost tip of Africa, bordered on the north by Namibia, Botswana,
Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Swaziland. South Africa’s economy is the most developed
in all of Africa, and its infrastructure the most modern.

SOUTH AFRICA 123
SOUTH AFRICA, 1488–PRESENT
1488 Portuguese explorer Bartholomew Dias 1914 National Party founded by Afrikaner
becomes the first European to sail around nationalists
the Cape of Good Hope at the
southernmost tip of Africa 1948 First laws instituting the system of racial
discrimination known as “apartheid”
1652 Dutch East India Company establishes a enacted
resupply station on the Cape of Good
Hope that eventually becomes known as 1960 South African police fire on unarmed
Cape Town demonstrators in Sharpeville, provoking
international outrage
1806 British take over Cape Town
1986 South African government initiates
1836 Afrikaner farmers called Boers begin the secret talks with Nelson Mandela of the
“Great Trek” north and east of Cape Town ANC in order to bring about an end to
to escape British rule racial conflict
1870 Diamonds discovered in Kimberly in 1990 South African president F.W. de Klerk
Afrikaner territory removes ban on ANC
1885 Gold discovered in Witwatersrand in 1991 Laws governing apartheid are repealed
Transvaal
1994 Nelson Mandela elected president of
1899–1902 British forces defeat Afrikaners in the South Africa in first elections in which
Boer War blacks voted
1910 Union of South Africa formed from Cape 1999 Mandela steps down and Thabo
and Natal colonies, as well as the republics Mbeki elected president of South
of Orange Free State and Transvaal Africa
1912 African National Congress (ANC) founded 2004 Mbeki reelected president of South
to obtain equal treatment for blacks Africa for a second five-year term
South Africa is home to more than 47 British settlers, who speak English. There is
million people. Major ethnic groups include also a large Indian population, many of
the Zulu, Xhosa, Basotho, Bapedi, Venda, whom are descended from indentured ser-
Tswana, Tsonga, Swazi, and Ndebele. All of vants brought to South Africa during the
these groups speak Bantu languages. The nineteenth century.
minority white population can be divided South Africa is diverse in religion as well,
into descendents of the original Dutch and with Christians making up about 79 per-
German settlers, whose native tongue is cent of the population. There are also sig-
Afrikaans, and descendents of the original nificant numbers of adherents of African

124 SOUTH AFRICA
THE BOER WAR AND THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA, 1899–1910
Tensions grew between the the British government would Transvaal and Orange Free State
original Dutch settlers of South deprive the Boer colonists of their were taken over by the British. In
Africa, known as Boers, and the independence. Fighting broke out 1910, the British Crown unified all
British colonists who arrived later. in 1899. By the time the war ended its South African colonies into the
The Boers feared that eventually in 1902, the Boer republics of Union of South Africa.
traditional religions, as well as Muslims and THE SCRAMBLE FOR

Hindus. SOUTH AFRICA
Although South Africa’s economy is In 1488, the Portuguese navigator
among the strongest in Africa, most of the Bartholomew Dias sighted what he called
development is based in four major urban the “Cape of Storms” as he sailed around
areas—Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, the African continent on his successful at-
and Cape Town. Rural parts of the country tempt to find a sea route to India. The
are significantly underdeveloped. cape was later renamed the Cape of Good

SOUTH AFRICA 125
MODERN WEAPONS
Nuclear Testing
South Africa is a nation rich in uranium, one threats. The arrival of Cuban forces in Angola
of the major components of nuclear weapons. in the mid-1970s only increased South
The nation has admitted that it began its first Africa’s sense that its very existence was
nuclear research project in 1959 with the threatened.
stated goal of building a nuclear reactor. Al- By 1989, South Africa reportedly had six
though the South African government ini- nuclear devices. In the same year, Cuban
tially claimed to be developing peaceful forces left Angola and F.W. de Klerk was
nuclear explosives (PNEs), by 1982 it had elected president of South Africa. De Klerk
built its first bomb and was working to de- immediately embarked on a plan to end
velop missiles to deliver it. Because of its pol- apartheid and bring South Africa back into
icy of apartheid, South Africa was isolated the international community. In 1991, South
from the international community, and the Africa signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation
development of nuclear weaponry was part Treaty and dismantled its nuclear arsenal,
of a strategy the government believed was the only nation ever to voluntarily give up
necessary to protect itself from potential nuclear weapons.
Hope by his patron, Henry the Navigator the option of owning slaves. In 1836, many
of Portugal, because it became the gate- Afrikaner farmers, also called Boers, began
way to the riches of India—the only sea what has come to be called the “Great
route until the opening of the Suez Canal Trek,” a northern and northeastern migra-
in 1869. In 1652, the Dutch East India Com- tion to escape British rule. Along the way,
pany established a station on the Cape they encountered several African groups
where its ships could stop and resupply. hostile to them, especially the Zulu, led by
Over the next century, French Huguenot the powerful Shaka Zulu.
refugees and Dutch and German immi- The Boers prevailed over the hostile na-
grants arrived and settled the area around tives and created two independent re-
the Cape and eastward to the Great Fish publics, the Transvaal and the Orange Free
River. (Huguenots are French Protestants State. Already shaky relations between the
who suffered religious persecution at the Afrikaners and the British were further
hands of French Catholics.) Descendents strained when diamonds were found in
of this group are today referred to as Kimberly in 1870 and gold was discovered
Afrikaners. in the Witwatersrand region of the Trans-
In 1806, during the Napoleonic Wars, vaal in 1885, both Boer-controlled areas.
Britain took the colony from the Dutch East When the Boers attempted to place re-
India Company in an attempt to protect its strictions on British immigration and in-
trade with India. The Afrikaner settlers were vestment, the British struck back. The Boer
not happy with British rule and particularly War began in 1899 and ended in 1902 with
disliked that the British abolished slavery in a British victory. In 1910, Transvaal, the Or-
1834, because they did not want to give up ange Free State, and the British colonies of

126 SOUTH AFRICA
In 1990, then African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela was released from prison after spending
27 years in jail. With fist raised in victory, he is joined by his wife, Winnie Mandela. In 1994, Nelson
Mandela became the first democratically president of South Africa. (Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images)
Cape Town and Natal united to form the separation known as apartheid. (Apartheid
Union of South Africa. Although the popu- —pronounced apart-ate—is the Afrikaner
lation of the new nation was primarily word for “separateness.”) As the South
African, whites held all of the political African economy grew and its white popu-
power; blacks were not allowed to vote and lation prospered, the policy of apartheid
were restricted in terms of where they guaranteed that the African population
could live and what jobs they could hold. In would not share in the prosperity. Africans
1912, the African National Congress (ANC) suffered from widespread discrimination in
was founded to work for legal and political every aspect of their lives, forced to live in
rights for Africans. less desirable areas, carry identification
cards, use separate facilities, and take the
THE ERA OF APARTHEID least desirable jobs.
In 1914, Afrikaner nationalists founded the On March 21, 1960, a group of between
National Party. It first gained power elec- 5,000 and 7,000 protesters converged on
torally in 1924, with J.B.M. Herzog as the the police station in Sharpeville in northeast-
nation’s prime minister. In 1948, with the ern South Africa, protesting legislation that
National Party again at the helm, the South required blacks to carry identification
African legislature began passing laws to passes. Police fired on the unarmed protest-
enforce a policy of racial domination and ers, killing sixty-nine people, including

SOUTH AFRICA 127
TURNING POINT
1994 Free Elections

For the first time in its history, on April 27, F.W. de Klerk, and the Inkatha Freedom
1994, South Africa held free elections in Party headed by Zulu leader Mangosuthu
which all of its people were allowed to vote Buthelezi. A total of nineteen parties partic-
for the National Assembly, provincial legisla- ipated in the election.
tures, and president. Until that time, blacks As many as 16 million of those who cast
had been completely excluded from the their ballots in the election had never voted
electoral process. before. The Independent Electoral Commis-
The voting took three days, with more sion (IEC) that supervised the election did
than 22 million South Africans casting their not require formal voter registration, but al-
ballots. The nation chose Nelson Mandela to lowed people to vote if they had proof of
head a coalition government, which in- citizenship. Even so, about 2.5 million voters
cluded the top three vote-getting parties: did not have proof and were issued tempo-
Mandela’s African National Congress, the rary identification cards to allow them to
Afrikaner National Party of former president participate.
women and children. The Sharpeville Mas- 1986. In 1990, F.W. de Klerk, who had been
sacre, as the incident came to be called, elected president of South Africa the previ-
sparked riots and protests throughout the ous year, lifted the ban on the ANC and
country, prompting the government to de- other anti-apartheid groups and freed
clare a state of emergency and to arrest Mandela from prison. In 1991, the South
more than 18,000 people. The ANC was African government repealed the most op-
banned and forced underground. Interna- pressive apartheid laws and created a new
tional reaction was swift and clear; many constitution. In the same year, South Africa
nations and the United Nations (UN) con- signed a nuclear nonproliferation treaty
demned South Africa. and banned the manufacture of nuclear
South Africa became progressively weapons. Then, in 1994, the first election in
more isolated from the rest of the world which blacks were allowed to participate
and believed that its national security was was held, and Nelson Mandela was elected
threatened. In 1979, a blast over the Indian president of South Africa.
Ocean detected by an American satellite Mandela served as president of South
was believed to be the result of a South Africa for five years. During his tenure, he
African nuclear test, but this could not be worked to resolve the many problems that
proven. had arisen from decades of neglecting the
Despite the government’s ban of the majority black population’s needs. Among
ANC, protests and popular uprisings these were unemployment, housing short-
continued—as did international pressure, ages, and crime. Mandela also tried to
including boycotts of South African bring South Africa back into the global
products—leading the South African gov- marketplace with an economic plan
ernment to begin secret talks with Nelson known as Growth, Employment and Redis-
Mandela, the jailed leader of the ANC, in tribution (GEAR). In 1995, Mandela at-

128 SOUTH AFRICA
tempted to heal the wounds of apartheid AIDS epidemics. By the end of 2005, about
and unify the nation. He appointed South 5.5 million South Africans were infected
African Anglican archbishop Desmond with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and as
Tutu to head the Truth and Reconciliation many as 1,000 people were dying from
Commission (TRC), a body charged with AIDS every day. The government has been
gathering testimony from both the victims widely criticized for its slow response to
and the perpetrators of violence during the epidemic.
the period of apartheid. The TRC heard South Africa is a place of many contra-
more than 7,000 petitions for amnesty dictions. It is at once the wealthiest coun-
from those who had committed acts of try in Africa and the home to many very
violence, and it granted amnesty to 849 poor people. South Africa is the continent’s
individuals. Although the TRC was widely most industrialized nation and one of
criticized for not being harsh enough, it Africa’s few successful democracies.
brought peace and closure to many indi-
viduals. See also: Apartheid; Boer War; British
In 1999, Nelson Mandela’s term as presi- Colonies; Colonization; Technology and In-
dent ended and he did not seek reelection. ventions.
He was succeeded by Thabo Mbeki, who
was elected to a second five-year term in FURTHER READING
2004. Mbeki’s primary goal has been to fo- Deegan, Heather. The Politics of the New South Africa.
cus the government’s efforts on improving New York: Longman, 2000.
South Africa’s economic situation. He has Hamilton, Janice. South Africa in Pictures. Minneapolis:
worked hard to increase foreign invest- Lerner, 2003.
ment in South Africa and has advocated Mandela, Nelson. Long Walk to Freedom: The
free-market capitalism over socialism, Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. New York:
even though that policy has not been pop- Holt & Rinehart, 2000.
ular with poor blacks. Mbeki has contended Roberts, Martin. South Africa, 1948–1994: The Rise and
that economic prosperity must precede Fall of Apartheid. New York: Longman, 2001.
any kind of redistribution of property, as Schiff, Ben. Heart of Whiteness: Afrikaners Face Black
advocated by many socialists. Many black Rule in the New South Africa. New York: Scribner,
South Africans still live in dire poverty, and 1995.
the nation faces one of the world’s largest
Sudan
The largest country in Africa, with an area of more than 2.5 million square miles (6.5 mil-
lion sq km), and one of the most ethnically diverse. Located directly south of Egypt along
the Nile River, Sudan comprises hundreds of ethnic and language groups. It is bordered
on the north by Egypt and Libya; on the west by Chad, Central African Republic, and
Democratic Republic of the Congo; on the south by Uganda and Kenya; and on the east
by Ethiopia and Eritrea, as well as the Red Sea.
Until being conquered by Egypt in 1821, unify the northern part of the country, but
Sudan was a collection of small kingdoms. the south remained under tribal rule. In 1881
The new Egyptian leadership was able to a Muslim religious leader named Muham-

S U DA N 129
Darfur
Just as the civil war in Sudan was winding sion to pursue their own desire to gain
down, another conflict broke out in a region more land.
of Western Sudan known as Darfur. In 2003, The conflict in Darfur came to interna-
rebel groups, including the Sudan Liberation tional attention because of the brutality of
Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equal- the Janjaweed attacks on the civilian popu-
ity Movement (JEM), began attacking gov- lation. The Janjaweed have regularly carried
ernment targets. out raids against farming villages, killing,
The rebels were motivated by a belief raping, and kidnapping women as sex
that the largely Arab Sudanese govern- slaves. No one knows for sure how many
ment ignored the needs of the black farm- people have died, but some estimates are as
ers of Darfur and actively discriminated high as 400,000. More than 2 million have
against them. The Sudanese government fled their homes and are living in refugee
retaliated with air strikes against the rebels. camps in Sudan and Chad. The international
The conflict worsened when local militias, community has labeled what is happening
known as the Janjaweed, began attacking in Darfur “genocide.”
villages in coordination with the air strikes. Although the Sudanese government
The Janjaweed, a term that means “devils claims to support neither side in the conflict,
on horseback,” represent Arab pastoralists there is evidence from official documents
who want Dinka farmland and water that the government has, in fact, armed and
sources for their herds. In the past, Arab recruited for the Janjaweed. Despite cease-
herders and Dinka farmers had lived peace- fires, peace agreements, and numerous UN
fully side by side in Darfur. However, as resolutions, no end to the fighting was in
populations increased, the groups came sight as of 2007. In overcrowded refugee
into more frequent conflict over scarce nat- camps, millions of people lacked sufficient
ural resources. Thus, the Janjaweed appear food or water. Children starved to death
to be using the Darfur rebellion as an occa- while families waited for the conflict to end.
mad ibn Abdalla declared himself the Sudan was then ruled jointly by Egypt
Mahdi, or “expected one,” and led a suc- and Great Britain. After Egyptian indepen-
cessful rebellion against the Egyptians that dence in 1952, Britain and Egypt agreed to
ended with the fall of the capital city, Khar- allow Sudan self-government. In 1954, the
toum, in 1885. Thanks to the Madhi’s rebel- first parliament was inaugurated. Then, in
lion, Sudan was again an independent 1956, with the consent of both Great
nation. Although he died shortly after the Britain and Egypt, Sudan was granted full
rebellion, his successor, Abd Allah, was able independence. The leaders of the new na-
to rule an independent Sudan until 1898. In tion (a five-person Sovereignty Council)
that year, the territory was reconquered, promised to create a federal system in
this time by an Anglo-Egyptian force led by which the south had equal representation
the British general, Lord Kitchener. with the north in Parliament. When the

130 S U DA N
More than 4 million people have been displaced by the civil war in Sudan. Most refugees are from
Sudan’s Christian south, but another one-half million refugees have come to Sudan fleeing famine and
strife in neighboring countries. (Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images)
Sovereignty Council, made up primarily of and, in so doing, affronted both Islamists

northern Arabs, failed to keep their prom- and his communist allies. His Islamic allies
ise, southern soldiers rebelled, beginning a expected him to declare an Islamist state;
seventeen-year civil war. his communist friends expected him to
The differences between north and declare a communist state. Having alien-
south Sudan have been, and remain, pro- ated these two powerful groups and, in the
nounced. The north is primarily urban and process, the Soviet Union, Nimeiry looked
populated by Arabic-speaking Muslims, to rebel forces in the south for support. In
while the south is rural and populated 1972, he signed an agreement to grant au-
largely by poor farmers, many of whom are tonomy to that region. However, when oil
black Africans. Throughout the civil war was discovered in the south in 1979,
(1955–1972), the Sudanese government Nimeiry went back on his agreement, de-
continued to advocate domination by Arab clared Arabic the national language, and
Muslims and to deny self-determination to returned control of the southern military to
the south. the central command. Nimeiry also
In 1969, a group of communist and changed the nation’s legal code to follow
socialist officers led by Colonel Gaafar Sharia, or Islamic law, which was opposed
Muhammad Nimeiry took over the govern- by non-Muslims in the south.
ment. Nimeiry proclaimed a socialist state In 1985, Nimeiry was overthrown and re-

SUEZ CANAL 131
placed by a civilian government—a called for the north and south to share
fifteen-person council that took steps to both power and wealth. Umar al-Bashir
reconcile the north and south by exempt- was sworn in as president of Sudan in July
ing the south from Islamic law. This action 2005, with SPLM leader John Garang as
angered Islamists in the north, who his first vice president. Garang was killed in
formed their own party, the National Is- a helicopter crash three weeks after his in-
lamic Front led by General Umar al-Bashir, auguration. Officially, the crash was
which overthrew the government. Having caused by bad weather, but some of
taken over several political offices, includ- Garang’s supporters believe the crash was
ing that of chief of state and the prime not accidental. There was rioting after
ministry, Bashir aligned Sudan with inter- Garang’s death, but the peace has held
national Islamic terrorist movements and nevertheless.
provided safe haven for militant groups,
including the international terrorist group See also: British Colonies; Civil Wars;
al-Qaeda. Communist Movements; Language; Reli-
Throughout the 1990s, a number of region.
gional organizations tried to find a way to
end the civil war. Finally, in July 2002, the FURTHER READING
Sudanese government and the major rebel Deng, Benson, Alephonsion Deng, Benjamin Ajak,
organization, the Sudan People’s Libera- with Judy A. Bernstein. They Poured Fire on
tion Movement/Army (SPLM/A), reached a Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost
historic agreement. The agreement estab- Boys from Sudan. New York: Public Affairs,
lished a government of national unity and 2007.
Suez Canal
A large artificial waterway west of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt that connects the Mediter-
ranean Sea with the Red Sea. The canal allows ships to travel between Europe and Asia
without having to sail all the way around the African continent. This, in turn, allows for
trade between Europe and the Middle and Far East. At 101 miles (163 km) in length, the
canal is the longest in the world without locks.
The modern Suez Canal is not the first cluded that the difference would cause
Suez Canal. Pharaoh Necho of Egypt, who large tracts of land to be flooded. They
reigned during the sixth century B.C.E., is thus abandoned the idea.
believed to have built a canal that con- In the 1850s, a retired French diplomat,
nected the Nile River with the Red Sea. En- Ferdinand de Lesseps, who had read about
gineers working for Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon’s idea for a canal, proposed the
who occupied Egypt from 1798 to 1801, project to Egypt’s viceroy (similar to a gov-
suggested that a canal be dug through the ernor), Said Pasha, who supported the
narrow neck of land that separated the plan. De Lesseps then sought financial sup-
Mediterranean and the Red Sea. However, port from many sources, including the
they miscalculated the water levels of the British government, and finally managed to
two bodies of water and incorrectly con- secure the money he needed from French

132 SUEZ CANAL
emperor Napoleon III and others. Con- Israel all invaded Egypt in October of that
struction began in 1859, and the canal was year to protect their access to the canal,
opened in 1869. Said Pasha granted De resulting in the 1956 Suez Crisis. When
Lesseps’s La Compagnie Universelle du the Soviet Union threatened to intervene
Canal Maritime de Suez permission to run on behalf of Egypt, the United Nations
the canal for ninety-nine years after its sent a peacekeeping force to the region
completion. In 1875, the next viceroy, Is- and the United States pressured the in-
mai’l Pasha, sold Egypt’s shares of the vaders to withdraw.
canal to the British. France, however, re- During the 1967 Six-Day War, the Israelis
mained the majority shareholder. The Con- captured and held the Sinai Peninsula.
vention of Constantinople (1888), signed Egypt, in turn, closed the canal to trade. As
by Great Britain, Germany, Austria- tensions between the two nations less-
Hungary, Spain, France, Italy, Russia, and ened, Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat
the Ottoman Empire—but not Egypt— presided at the canal’s grand reopening in
declared that the Suez Canal was a neutral 1975. Today, more than 20,000 ships pass
zone under British protection. The treaty through the canal annually. Since it was
also guaranteed right of passage for all constructed in 1867, the canal has been
ships through the canal. deepened and widened several times in or-
In 1956, Egypt’s first president, Gamal der to accommodate ever larger ships.
Abdel Nasser, announced his intention to
nationalize the Suez Canal. He made this See also: Aswan High Dam; Egypt.
decision after British, French, and Ameri-
can leaders refused to lend Egypt the FURTHER READING
money to build the Aswan Dam across Karabell, Zachary. Parting the Desert: The Creation of
the Nile River. Nasser intended to use the Suez Canal. New York: Vintage, 2004.
revenue from the canal to pay for the con- Varble, Derek. The Suez Crisis 1956. Oxford, UK: Osprey,
struction of the dam. France, Britain, and 2003.

T-U
Technology and Inventions

While ancient Africa was home to many important inventions (scientists believe that the
very first tools used by humans were made in Africa 70,000 years ago, for example), a
number of factors has left modern Africa far behind other parts of the world in techno-
logical and scientific development. In many ways, Africa has been the victim of modern
Western technology.
EARLY EUROPEAN CONTACT The race to colonize Africa, known as the

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to Scramble for Africa, began with the
visit Africa, arriving in 1441. They were aided 1884–1885 Berlin Conference, in which the
in their explorations by a new kind of ship, European powers divided Africa among
known as the caravel, which could withstand themselves. The Industrial Revolution cre-
long sea voyages. Thanks to the caravel, the ated a need for raw materials that were
Portuguese were able to establish trading plentiful in Africa, such as palm oil, which
ports in West Africa. During the sixteenth was used to lubricate machines, as well as
century, having sailed around the Cape of rubber, various metals, wood, and cotton.
Good Hope, the Portuguese conquered re- Africa also became a market for manufac-
gions of East Africa as well. tured materials. In fact, during the period
During the years of the Atlantic slave of heavy colonization, Africans were for-
trade, from the beginning of the sixteenth bidden to compete with their European
century to the beginning of the nineteenth colonizers; they were not allowed to manu-
century, Europeans bribed African kings to facture the same goods as the European
help enslave their own people, offering powers. This, in turn, meant that during the
them European-produced goods, which years of colonization, African nations did
were superior in many ways to locally pro- little or nothing to develop the technology
duced goods. Kings acquired jewelry, cloth, and skills needed for an industrial econ-
and weapons—including guns—in return omy, leaving them far behind the rest of
for slaves. The impact of the slave trade the world.
has echoed through the centuries. Africa’s Also during the nineteenth and early
population was decimated and hundreds twentieth centuries, modern weapons,
of thousands of young, able-bodied work- modes of transportation, and medicines al-
ers were lost to the continent. African lowed Europeans to continue their coloniza-
slaves helped to create the economic sys- tion of Africa, moving from coastal areas
tem known as capitalism in the West, into the interior. The invention of the steam-
which in turn led to the Industrial Revolu- boat in 1803 by the American inventor
tion. As people grew rich from the labor of Robert Fulton was a crucial step that led to
slaves, they had more money to invest. the European penetration of Africa. Be-
Much of the capital was invested in facto- cause the steamboat could travel easily
ries and new technologies for the mass both upstream and downriver, it allowed
production of goods. Europeans to navigate Africa’s great inter-
nal waterways. According to historian David
SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA Headrick, steamboats “carried the power
Western technology also led to the colo- that European ships had possessed on the
nization of Africa in the nineteenth century. high seas for centuries” into Africa. “Indeed,
133

134 T E C H N O LO GY A N D I N V E N T I O N S
TECHNOLOGY IN AFRICA
70,000 B .C . E . Earliest tools made by humans 1880s Scientists discover that malaria is
in Africa transmitted by mosquitoes
1441 Portuguese sailors arrive in Africa 1885 Scramble for Africa begins; Europeans
aboard caravels, ships built to be able conquer Africa easily because of modern
to withstand long sea voyages weapons
18th Century Beginning of Industrial 1897 Railroad from Kimberly, South Africa, to
Revolution Northern Rhodesia completed
19th Century Design of the breech-loading rifle 1960–1970 Construction of the Aswan
is perfected; Europeans use this weapon High Dam in Egypt
effectively to conquer Africa
1970s Worldwide recession slows Africa’s
1820s Scientists discover an effective method progress in developing new technology
to extract quinine from the bark of the
chinchona tree; quinine is used to treat 2001 Africa becomes first region of the world
malaria in which cell phones outnumber landlines
no single piece of equipment is so closely and people and manufactured goods in.
associated with imperialism as is the armed South Africa’s Cecil Rhodes dreamed of a
shallow draft steamer.” (A shallow draft railroad linking Cape Town to Cairo, Egypt,
steamer is one designed to navigate inland and in 1897 saw a railroad built from
rivers, as opposed to oceangoing steam- Kimberley in South Africa to Northern
ers.) The steamer was particularly useful in Rhodesia.
bringing the Congo under the domination One of the great barriers to exploring
of Belgium’s King Leopold II. Steamboats the interior of Africa was disease, espe-
could easily navigate the Congo River, and cially malaria. Many Europeans died of the
their armed crews could easily defeat any disease. Although it had been known for
native people who tried to stop their hundreds of years that the bark of the chin-
progress. In the mid-1880s, the invention of chona tree, which contains quinine, was ef-
the inflatable rubber tire by John Boyd Dun- fective in treating malaria, it was not until
lop in Belfast, Ireland, helped make the 1820s that the active ingredient was
Leopold’s rubber plantations valuable. Be- extracted from the bark. In the 1880s, sci-
fore that invention, rubber had not been entists discovered that malaria was caused
widely used and was a less desirable com- by a protozoan and then that the disease
modity. was transmitted by mosquitoes. This new
European colonists in Africa also set knowledge allowed Europeans to explore
about building railroads to link various parts the interior of the continent with a greater
of the continent—to bring raw materials out degree of safety.

T E C H N O LO GY A N D I N V E N T I O N S 135
In 1901, British soldiers landed on the southern coast of Nigeria to defeat the Aro people. With their
superior weapons, the British easily defeated the Aros by early 1902. (Hulton Archive/Stringer/Getty Images)
Although breech-loading rifles were 1960s—Africa seemed to have a bright

used as far back as the fifteenth century, future with respect to technology and in-
it was only in the nineteenth century that novation. The Cold War between the
the mechanism was perfected, making United States and the Soviet Union led
widespread use possible. Before the both powers to finance various develop-
breech-loading rifle, most weaponry was ment projects in Africa. The Soviet Union,
muzzle-loaded; that is, the powder and shot for example, provided much of the financ-
were loaded into the barrel of the gun from ing for the construction of the Aswan High
the front. With breech loading, the shot was Dam in Egypt, a multimillion-dollar con-
loaded into the back, or breech, of the gun, struction effort designed to help control
making reloading much quicker. In Africa, and direct the annual flooding of the Nile
battles between Europeans and Africans River. Construction began in 1960 and was
pitted these new rifles against spears and completed in 1970. As the years passed,
swords, making it very difficult for Africans however, that future grew dimmer. Along
to defend their lands. In essence, then, the with development funding, there were bil-
colonization of the continent was facilitated lions to be made in weapons sales to
by superior European technology. Africa. The United States alone sold more
than $1.5 billion in weapons to Africa. The
POST-INDEPENDENCE AFRICA nations that bought most of the weapons—
Immediately after independence—which Liberia, Somalia, Sudan, and Zaire (later
for most of the continent came in the known as the Democratic Republic of the

136 T E C H N O LO GY A N D I N V E N T I O N S
Congo)—were also the nations most dis- Lack of water is another problem facing
rupted by armed civil conflict in the years Africa today that will require innovative so-
since independence. lutions. More than 300 million Africans
Among the factors that prevented have no access to safe drinking water. By
African development of technology since 2025, for example, some scientists esti-
the latter part of the twentieth century has mate that half the capacity of Africa’s
been civil conflict. Other factors are the reservoirs will be lost to sedimentation.
worldwide recession of the 1970s, the fail- (Sedimentation happens when rain causes
ure of democratic institutions, and the dirt and other particles to run off the land
many corrupt dictators—such as Idi Amin into rivers and streams.)
of Uganda, Charles Taylor of Liberia, and Africa also lacks the means by which to
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe—who pil- educate young people in science and tech-
fered government treasuries for their own nology. According to UNESCO’s 2005 Sci-
enrichment while neglecting economic and ence Report on Africa:
technological development. Universities that once served as beacons of
In the early part of the twenty-first cen- hope, including the universities of Ibadan
tury, Africa was in desperate need of im- in Nigeria, Dakar in Senegal, Dar-es-Salaam
proved technology in a number of areas. A in the United Republic of Tanzania and
2007 UNESCO report, “Science in Africa,” Khartoum in Sudan, have been turned into
outlines several kinds of scientific and tech- shells of their former selves. Buildings are
nological initiatives that are needed to help poorly maintained, modern laboratory
the continent develop economically. One of equipment is rarely available, and faculty
Africa’s great treasures, its biodiversity, is and staff go underappreciated and some-
rapidly disappearing, and methods must times unpaid.
be developed to preserve what is left. In addition, many African engineers, sci-
There are today seventy-one biosphere re- entists, and doctors leave the continent
serves in Africa, protected areas that are and emigrate to Europe and the United
designed to preserve biodiversity. As many States, creating a “brain drain” that leaves
of these reserves cross national boundaries, Africa without the talent and training to
they also assist African nations in finding solve many problems that could be solved
ways to develop cooperative preservation by improved technology.
efforts. One technological bright spot in Africa
Also under way are efforts to bring elec- today is the spread of the cell phone. In
tricity to parts of the continent that are 2001, Africa became the first region of the
without it. In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 92 world in which cell phone users outnum-
percent of rural Africans and about half of bered those with landlines, with more than
urban Africans lack access to modern en- 2 million subscribers; experts estimate
ergy services. UNESCO has been active in that the number could reach more than
creating “solar villages” in rural areas in 140 million before 2010. According to a
Burkina Faso and Mali, using solar technol- British study, economic growth rates tend
ogy to provide enough electricity for a vil- to be higher in countries with greater cell-
lage’s basic needs. While solar energy is phone use. Among the other benefits
expensive to install, the cost to operate brought to developing countries by cell
such systems is relatively low. Much work in phones are a means for poor rural families
this area remains to be done, especially in to stay in contact with relatives who live in
research and development to find ways to urban areas.
bring costs down.

TO O L S A N D W E A P O N S 137
See also: Agriculture; Aswan High Dam; Science and Technology to 2010.” New York:
Colonialism; Imperialism; Society; Suez UNESCO, 2007.
Canal. Zeleza, Paul Tiyambe, and Ibulaimu Kakoma. Science
and Technology in Africa. Lawrenceville, NJ: Africa
FURTHER READING World Press, 2004.
Schneegans, Susan, and Anne Candau, eds. “Science in
Africa: UNESCO’s Contribution to Africa’s Plan for
Tools and Weapons

The development of tools and weaponry in Africa has a long history. As Europeans estab-
lished colonies across the continent, they brought with them their tools and, most signifi-
cantly, their advanced weaponry, giving them a notable military advantage over African
natives. Until the twentieth century, most African weapons were not mechanized and were
designed for African warfare, which involved hand-to-hand combat at close range.
IRON TOOLS Ironworking was such an important part

In Africa, ironworking has a long and of many African cultures that it took on
venerable tradition, beginning sometime symbolic significance. The process of iron
before 900 B.C.E. Many scholars believe smelting was often associated with procre-
that knowledge of how to smelt iron arose ation, because when very high heat is ap-
independently in several parts of Africa, plied to the iron ore, a “bloom,” or mass of
including Egypt and the Great Lakes Re- iron free from other elements, appears to
gion of East Africa. Other scholars believe grow out of the ore, much as a child grows
that the technology was brought to Africa in the mother’s womb and is then born.
by the Phoenicians when they founded Among many African ethnic groups, such as
the North African city of Carthage in 814 the Bassari of western Togo, iron furnaces
B.C.E. Regardless of how the technology were designed to look like women. Because
arrived, African smiths made it their own. iron smelting is difficult and unreliable, the
Some of the pre-colonial techniques used process is sometimes associated with magic,
in Africa to smelt iron are so specialized and blacksmiths themselves are often con-
that they cannot now be duplicated, even sidered to have supernatural powers. Black-
with modern techniques. Museums around smiths often associate elaborate rituals with
the world have magnificent collections the process of iron smelting and lead
of African ironwork, often as functional prayers and dances to ensure the success of
as it is beautiful. Major collections can the process. Among the Bassari, when a site
be found at the Museum of International for the furnace is chosen, it is marked with a
Folk Art, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the branch to keep away evil spirits, then the
Field Museum of Natural History in iron maker prays and pours chakpa (beer
Chicago, and at the University of Iowa Mu- made from millet) as an offering to the an-
seum of Art and Project for the Advanced cestors. As the furnace is built, offerings and
Study of Art and Life in Africa. Objects in potions are added to the construction ma-
these collections include everything from terials. When the furnace is complete, the
knives and swords to coins and musical master smelter and his workers share a cel-
instruments. ebratory meal. Everyone associated with

138 TO O L S A N D W E A P O N S
MODERN WEAPONS
The Military Innovations

of Shaka Zulu
Shaka Zula was a great military leader of allowed them to attack swiftly and without
South Africa. He expanded his territory in warning. Zulu also introduced a larger,
the early years of the nineteenth century heavier shield made of cowhide and re-
and, by the time of his death in 1828, ruled placed light spears with heavier, shorter
over more than 250,000 people and could thrusting spears. He commanded his forces
command as many as 50,000 warriors. from high ground, using a formation known
Part of Shaka Zulu’s military success as the “buffalo” or “bull horn,” in which a
came from his unusual tactics. At the time, large central force, flanked by “horns”—two
most African warfare was a simple matter quicker flanks—would surround the enemy
of two groups attacking each other head and cut off any means of escape as the
on, throwing spears, with little maneuver- central force continued to advance. Zulu
ing or planning. Shaka Zulu trained his sol- drilled his army regularly and simply killed
diers, making them run without shoes to those who would not obey, with the result
toughen their feet. Eventually, his force being a highly disciplined fighting force.
could run 50 miles (80 km) in a day, which
the process must abstain from sexual inter- to assume the victims had been killed by
course before and during smelting. animals.
Iron throwing-knives are among the Iron was so valuable in pre-colonial
most distinctive and beautiful objects African societies that tools often served as
made by African weapons makers from money in tribal communities of western
several ethnic groups, including the and central Africa. The hoe in many sub-
Azande of north central Africa, the Sara Saharan societies is among the most im-
of Chad, and the Marghi and Kapsiki of portant tools, as it is used to till the hard
Cameroon. These knives, meant to be earth, scrape the soil, and hack weeds. It is
thrown overhand, have several cutting sur- also used during the harvest to chop down
faces; no matter their orientation when stalks and dig up sweet potatoes and other
they strike the target, they cut. The multi- tubers. Because of its many uses, the hoe
ple blades allow for all sorts of design op- symbolizes agricultural work in general. It is
tions, and many have a curved and birdlike this symbolic connection that gives it value
shape. Ornamental tools—including knives, as currency. In many cultures, such as that
adzes, and axes—were often signs of sta- of the Afo people of northern Nigeria, bun-
tus kept by higher-ranking or wealthier in- dles of hoe-like objects served as currency.
dividuals. Among the Shu of the Congo, Real hoe blades were often given as the
blacksmiths crafted razor-sharp claws that bride price when a man decided to marry.
were used in guerrilla warfare against Many iron tools were also used to honor
colonists. The wounds they left led many the gods. Ceremonial swords, in particular,

TO O L S A N D W E A P O N S 139
MODERN WEAPONS
NeoStead 2000
The NeoStead 2000 is a shotgun developed is only 27 inches (68.5 cm) long, meaning
in early 1990s by two South African engi- that the NeoStead 2000 can be used in situ-
neers, Tony Neophytou and Wilmore Stead. ations where there is not a great deal of
In 1991, they patented a pump-action shot- room.
gun with forward-sliding barrel, and later The NeoStead has a switch that allows
modified it for a dual feed tube magazine. the shooter to switch from bullets to baton
Production began in 2001, and it became rounds, a kind of shotgun shell that is not
known as one of the most technologically lethal. It is a pump-action shotgun, meaning
advanced shotguns ever developed. it has a sliding mechanism that ejects the
It is a lightweight weapon designed pri- spent round while cocking the gun for the
marily for handling civil disturbances. Al- next shot. The United States does not allow
though it is built like a shotgun with a importation of the NeoStead 2000.
22.5-inch (57-cm) barrel, the weapon itself
were dedicated to particular deities, such as zebra, wildebeest, and antelope, were
as Ogun among the Yoruba. An umbrella- stitched together to form shields. The Zulu
shaped object known as an asen, elabo- people of South Africa used the hides of
rately decorated, adorns the tombs of the cows, wildebeest, and kudus to make their
Fon and Nago people of southern Benin. shields. Besides leather, shields were made
of wicker and wood. The Musgu of central
SHIELDS Africa carried wicker shields, while the
Until the coming of the Europeans, most Songye, also of central Africa, carried
warfare in Africa was conducted at close carved wooden shields. Shields were often
quarters, on the ground, with spears, clubs, elaborately decorated, carved, or painted.
and knives. Thus, shields were a very im- Maasai warriors of Kenya often had their
portant part of any warrior’s suite of equip- war exploits depicted on their shields. The
ment. Shields came in many different backs of shields had handles and were of-
shapes and sizes—round, oblong, some as ten grooved to hold an extra lance or
large as a person. The Dinka, an ethnic spear. Like iron weapons, some African
group from what is now southern Sudan, shields were intended as ornaments, sym-
used objects that looked like bows as a bols of a king or warrior’s status.
kind of shield, deflecting and parrying Despite the relative primitiveness of
blows from clubs and sticks. African weapons in comparison with Euro-
Shields were made of many different pean guns, colonial military forces did not
materials. Large animals with thick hides, win every battle. African warriors were
such as buffalo, rhinoceros, elephant, and brave, and many were excellent tacticians.
giraffe, were the most prized for making Shaka Zulu, a South African chief, expanded
shields. The hides of smaller animals, such territory with innovative battle tactics, such

140 TO O L S A N D W E A P O N S
as the buffalo formation, and new weapons, nations have a populace that is better
such as a short stabbing spear. armed than the police. Violent crime has
been a growing problem in South Africa
WEAPONS TODAY since free elections began in 1994; one of
One of the reasons that Europeans were the weapons in the hands of many criminals
able to make inroads into Africa during the is a local invention—a small pump-action
period of colonization is superior weapons shotgun called the NeoStead 2000.
technology. In an ironic twist of fate, how-
ever, much of contemporary Africa is awash See also: Colonization; Congo; Religion;
in modern small weapons, including guns, South Africa; Sudan.
grenade launchers, and portable anti-tank
and anti-aircraft weapons. With weak gov- FURTHER READING
ernments unwilling or unable to stem the Westerdijk, Peter. African Metal Implements: Weapons,
flow of weaponry into the hands of thugs, Tools, and Regalia. New York: C.W. Post, 1984.
rebels, warlords, and gang members, many
Tutsis and Hutus

African ethnic groups located in present-day Rwanda and Burundi. The original in-
habitants of Rwanda and Burundi were the Twa, a tribe of hunter-gatherers. Begin-
ning in the eleventh century, the Bantu-speaking Hutus arrived in the territory and
gradually came to dominate. The Hutus were agriculturalists who cleared the land for
farming and grazing. Sometime during the sixteenth century, the Tutsis, a group of
cattle-herding warriors, arrived from Ethiopia. As the Hutu dominated the Twa, so the
Tutsis came to dominate the Hutu. Theirs was a stable, feudal society, with the Tutsis
as lords and the Hutu and Twa as serfs. The three groups developed a shared culture,
spoke the same language—Kinyarwanda—and lived peacefully together for hundreds
of years.
COLONIAL ERA AFTER INDEPENDENCE

When the Belgians colonized the area Hutus came to resent this system and in
beginning in 1916, they made sharp distinc- 1959 precipitated a series of riots in Rwanda,
tions between the minority Tutsis and the during which more than 20,000 Tutsis were
majority Hutus. They favored the Tutsis be- slaughtered. Many Tutsis fled Rwanda and
cause they apparently looked more “Euro- settled in the neighboring nations of Bu-
pean,” with thinner noses, lighter skin, and rundi, Tanzania, and Uganda. In 1962, when
taller stature than the Hutus. In fact, the Rwanda was granted independence, Hutus
line dividing the group was not racial; dominated the political system.
a person born a Hutu might be classified Exiled Tutsis in Uganda and Burundi
as a Tutsi if he or she had the “right” phys- formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front
ical characteristics. During the colonial pe- (RPF), which invaded Rwanda in 1990.
riod, those classified as Tutsis got better During three years of fighting, both Hutus
jobs and better education than their Hutu and Tutsis committed atrocities, including
neighbors. the murders of thousands of civilians. In

TUTSIS AND HUTUS 141
A government soldier oversees Tutsi refugees in Rwanda. By July 1994, the genocide in Rwanda left more
than one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead. (Scott Peterson/Getty Images)
August 1993, however, Rwanda’s President prised of more than 30,000 men, called the
Juvénal Habyarimana and RPF com- Interhamwe (“those who attack together”),
mander Paul Kagame signed an agree- also carried out attacks on Tutsis across the
ment to end the war. In April of the same nation. Soldiers, police, and government ra-
year, a plane carrying Habyarimana and dio all encouraged civilians to exterminate
Burundi’s President Cyprien Ntaryamira their Tutsi neighbors, sometimes offering
was shot down while landing in Rwanda’s them bribes of food or Tutsi land as encour-
capital city of Kigali. No one knows who agement. Civilians were also forced by the
was responsible for the crash, but some military to help with the killing. Hutu offi-
suspect that radical members of Habyari- cials distributed lists of people to be killed
mana’s own government were behind the and provided weapons to civilians. As many
attack, believing that the president’s death as 800,000 people were slaughtered in
would serve as a convenient excuse for about 100 days of violence lasting from
ethnic cleansing. early April to mid-July 1994—and more than
Indeed, almost immediately, the presi- a quarter of a million women were raped,
dential guard attacked members of the op- according to United Nations estimates.
position party and then began a systematic The slaughter ended in July 1994, when
campaign to rid the nation of Tutsis and RPF forces captured the Rwandan capital
moderate Hutus. An unofficial militia com- city of Kigali. Fearing for their lives, 2

142 TUTSIS AND HUTUS
million Hutus fled to Zaire, including many and the speed with which you were being
who were responsible for the atrocities. engulfed by this unimaginable terror.”
Shortly after the fall of Kigali, a new Violence between Tutsis and Hutus in
multi-ethnic government was established Burundi has flared as well. As in Rwanda,
with Pasteur Bizimungu, a Hutu, as presi- the Tutsis are the minority but, unlike
dent and former members of the RPF as Rwanda, Tutsis run the Burundi govern-
cabinet members. Even though many of the ment. In 1965, a Hutu rebellion was put
leaders of the Hutu death squads escaped down and 5,000 Hutus were executed by
justice, more than 500 people have been Tutsi officials. In 1972, 100,000 Hutus were
tried and sentenced to death for their role killed in a civil war, and between 1994 and
in the violence, and 100,000 are in prison. 2006, more than 300,000 died in conflicts
between the two groups. Peace talks be-
INTERNATIONAL INACTION tween the government and the rebels
The international community did little to ended the civil war in 2006.
stop the carnage in Rwanda, and the United
Nations has since apologized for its inaction. See also: Civil Wars; Colonization;
When ten UN soldiers were killed early in the Rwanda; Uganda.
conflict, the UN withdrew most of its troops
and did not provide those that remained FURTHER READING
with the necessary equipment or a mandate Hatzfeld, Jean. Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda
to stop the violence. In 1999, UN Secretary- Speak. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.
General Kofi Annan issued a statement ex- Khan, Shaharyan M. The Shallow Graves of Rwanda.
pressing “deep remorse” for the inaction of London: I.B. Tauris, 2001.
the body. In 1998, President Bill Clinton apol- Mjuawiyera, Eugenie. The Rwandan Tutsis: A Tutsi
ogized for the United States’s failure to act. Woman’s Account of the Hidden Causes of the
He told the Rwandan people, “All over the Rwandan Tragedy. London: Adonis & Abbey, 2006.
world there were people like me sitting in of- Semujanga, Josias. Origins of Rwandan Genocide.
fices who did not fully appreciate the depth Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 2003.
Uganda
A landlocked nation located in east-central equatorial Africa. Uganda is populated by
Bantu speakers, who form the majority of the population and live in the southern and
western parts of the country, and non-Bantu speakers, including the Lani, Acholi, and
Madi, who live in the eastern and northern regions. The Bantu-speaking Buganda are the
largest ethnic group in the country. In fact, “Uganda” is the Swahili name for “Buganda.”
About 85 percent of Ugandans are Christian.
In the 1860s, British explorers searching Britain granted Uganda its indepen-
for the source of the Nile River first entered dence in 1962. The first president of the
the area. By 1894, Britain had declared the new nation was Edward Muteesa, leader of
region a protectorate. After annexing a the Buganda people, with politician Milton
number of nearby territories, Britain uni- Obote serving as his prime minister. In
fied them in 1894 and named the resulting 1966, Obote overthrew the government
colony “Uganda.” and proclaimed himself president. He, in

U G A N DA 143
GREAT LIVES
Idi Amin
One of the most infamous and brutal dicta- supporters, including members of the Acholi
tors in the modern world, Idi Amin was born and Lango ethnic groups. Over the years,
in about 1925 near Koboko in what is now Amin’s killer squads are believed to have
Uganda. He was a member of the Kakwa been responsible for between 300,000 and
ethnic group, a small Muslim tribe in a ma- 500,000 deaths. Amin personally ordered
jority Christian nation. the execution of Uganda’s Anglican arch-
In 1946, Amin joined the King’s African Ri- bishop, its chief justice, the chancellor of
fles (KAR), African troops under British com- Makerere College, the governor of the Bank
mand, as an assistant cook. He became an of Uganda, and a number of members of Par-
army private, slowly advancing through the liament. He even is believed to have mur-
KAR’s ranks. Amin also gained a reputation dered and dismembered one of his six wives.
for cruelty. Sent to suppress cattle theft by In 1978, when Amin tried to annex
Turkana tribesmen from Kenya, for example, Kagera, a province of Tanzania, Tanzanian
Amin’s troops beat, tortured, and buried the president Julius Nyerere counterattacked.
thieves alive. Nevertheless, he continued to Aided by Ugandan rebels, Tanzanian forces
rise through the ranks, eventually being captured the Ugandan capital of Kampala
named major general. In January 1971, while and drove Amin into exile in Libya. Ten years
Ugandan president Milton Obote was in Sin- later, Amin relocated to Saudi Arabia where
gapore at a Commonwealth meeting, Amin he lived until his death in August 2003. Pro-
took over the government in a military coup. tected by the Libyan and Saudi Arabian
He began releasing political prisoners, many governments, Amin was never tried for his
of whom were his supporters, and estab- crimes against humanity.
lished “killer squads” to track down Obote
turn, was overthrown in 1971 by Idi Amin, freedom of the press, and instituted eco-
who ruled Uganda until 1979. Amin was a nomic reform, but his government has also
brutal dictator, responsible for 300,000 to been accused of corruption and embezzle-
500,000 deaths of his own people. In 1979, ment of public funds.
Amin invaded Tanzania, which retaliated Beginning in 1986, Uganda was besieged
and eventually forced Amin into exile. He by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a
was succeeded by Milton Obote, who was cult-like organization led by Joseph Kony,
deposed six years later by General Tito who claims to be a medium (someone who
Okello. Okello ruled for only six months, can receive messages from the spirit
until his government was felled by the world). The LRA, whose goal has never
National Resistance Army (NRM), led by been clear, has murdered, mutilated, and
Yoweri Museveni. Museveni rose to power kidnapped thousands of people, including
in 1986 and remained president into the children, who have been forced into armed
early 2000s. He put an end to the human combat. More than 1.7 million people have
rights abuses of his predecessors, allowed been displaced by LRA violence. In July

144 U G A N DA
2006, the Ugandan government began ternational Monetary Fund estimated

peace talks with the LRA, and a peace Uganda’s per capita gross dometic prod-
treaty was signed the following month. uct (GDP) at $300, only half of that of
There are more than forty ethnic groups most sub-Saharan countries.
in Uganda with no group forming a major-
ity. There are also forty different languages See also: British Colonies; Civil Wars; Colo-
spoken by its people, with Luanda being nization.
the most prevalent. Uganda is primarily a
Christian nation, with about 85 percent of FURTHER READING
the population practicing some form of Harmon, Daniel E. Central and East Africa. New York:
Christianity. About 12 percent of the popu- Chelsea House, 2001.
lation is Muslim. Ingram, Scott. History’s Villains—Idi Amin. Chicago:
Although Uganda is a country blessed in Blackbirch Press, 2003.
natural resources, including extensive fer- Ofcansky, Thomas P. Uganda: Tarnished Pearl of Africa.
tile land for agriculture (coffee is a major Jackson, TN: Westview Press, 1996.
export crop) and large stores of copper, Otiso, Kefa M. Culture and Customs of Uganda.
cobalt, oil, and natural gas, years of misrule Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006.
have left the country poor. In 2004, the In-

Glossary
THE HISTORIAN’S TOOLS
These terms and concepts are commonly used or referred to by historians and other researchers
and writers to analyze the past.
cause-and-effect relationship A paradigm history of science and technology Study of

for understanding historical events where the evolution of scientific discoveries and
one result or condition is the direct technological advances
consequence of a preceding event or
condition history, cultural An analysis of history in
terms of a people’s culture, or way of life, in-
chronological thinking Developing a clear cluding investigating patterns of human
sense of historical time—past, present, and work and thought
future
history, economic An analysis of history in
cultural history See history, cultural terms of the production, distribution, and
consumption of goods
economic history See history, economic
history, political An analysis of history in
era A period of time usually marked by terms of the methods used to govern
a characteristic circumstance or event a group of people
historical inquiry A methodical approach to history, social An analysis of history in terms

historical understanding that involves ask- of the personal relationships between peo-
ing a question, gathering information, ex- ple and groups
ploring hypotheses, and establishing
conclusions patterns of continuity and change A
paradigm for understanding historical
historical interpretation/analysis An ap- events in terms of institutions, culture, or
proach to studying history that involves ap- other social behavior that either remains
plying a set of questions to a set of data in consistent or shows marked differences
order to understand how things change over time
over time
periodization Dividing history into distinct
historical research An investigation into an eras
era or event using primary sources (records
made during the period in question) and political history See history, political
secondary sources (information gathered
after the period in question) radiocarbon dating A test for determining
the approximate age of an object or artifact
historical understanding Knowledge of a by measuring the number of carbon 14
moment, person, event, or pattern in his- atoms in that object
tory that links that item to a larger
context social history See history, social
145

146 G LO SSA RY
KEY TERMS FOUND IN A TO Z ENTRIES

The following words and terms appear in context in boldface type throughout this volume.
animism A belief that spirits inhabit natural communism An economic system based on
objects, including animal life and land for- communal ownership of resources and the
mations use of those resources for the good of
the community
annex To attach or incorporate a territory
into another existing political entity coup (coup d’état) A takeover of military
or leadership power; often describes a
antiretroviral A type of drug used to treat vi- transfer of political power using military
ral infections, such as AIDS force
arable Fit for cultivation desertification The transformation of previ-

ously fertile land into desert
asylum Protection or sanctuary, particularly
political immunity granted to a refugee disenfranchised Not having the right to
vote
autocratic Characterized by having unlimited
power domestic On a private level, relating to a
family or household; on a national level, re-
bas-relief A kind of sculpture that is not free- lating to affairs within the country rather
standing and is only slightly raised from its than outside exchanges
background
elite A group or class of people enjoying su-
biodiversity Biological variety in an environ- perior social or economic status
ment, relating to the number of different or-
ganisms within an area emir A Middle-Eastern term for a prince or
governor of a territory
bureaucracy Administration or management
of a government or business through fascist Relating to fascism, a system of gov-
a network of departments ernment involving a strict central authority,
typically intolerant of opposition, using tac-
capitalism An economic system based on tics of terror or censorship, and often based
private ownership, investment of profits, on nationalism or racism
and free or unregulated trade
federation A joining together of states into
coalition An alliance of people, groups, or na- a larger league or political union
tions, particularly for purposes of leadership
fundamentalist A person upholding a reli-
Cold War The period between the end of gious movement or point of view character-
World War II and 1989 when the United ized by strict adherence to certain
States and the Soviet Union coexisted in principles, often attended by intolerance of
a state of political and military tension other points of view

G LO SSA RY 147
genre A type, as of literature, sculpture, or art Marx, Fredrich Engels, and Vladimir Lenin
involving the evolution of a capitalist soci-
gerrymandering To divide up an area into ety into a classless socialist society
voting districts in a manner that gives an
unfair advantage to one party over another matrilineal Tracing descent through the ma-
in an election ternal or mother’s line
glottochronologist Someone who studies monotheistic Characterized by belief in one

how languages evolved from a common deity or god
“parent” language
nationalization Takeover by government, as
gross domestic product (GDP) The total in the case of resources, industry, or other
market value of all goods and services pro- assets
duced in a country in a given year
pagan A term used to describe native or tra-
guerrilla Describing a type of irregular, unof- ditional religions
ficially organized warfare, typically involving
surprise attacks pastoralist Describes an economic or social
system based on herding of livestock
hydroelectric power Electricity generated
by the power of running water patrilineal Tracing descent through the pa-
ternal or father’s line
ideology A set of beliefs that form a political
or economic system polygamy Referring to a social arrangement
in which a husband may take more than one
imperialist One who advocates a policy of wife or (less often) a wife more than one
extending a nation’s power and wealth by husband
acquiring territory and/or ruling other na-
tions polytheistic Characterized by the belief in
several deities or gods
indigenous Originating within or native to
an area protectorate A colony or region under the
partial control and protection of a powerful
Industrial Revolution A period of time from nation
the mid-1800s to about 1930 during which
the manufacture of goods went from a pro- referendum A public measure or action of-
cess of making one object at a time to mass fered for popular vote
production
republic A political order in which voting
infrastructure Basic facilities necessary to
citizens elect their representatives and their
connect or serve a community or society,
head of state
such as transportation, communication, and
supply systems
rule of law The concept that no person is
above the law and that all people are sub-
Marxist-Leninist A person that holds to the
ject to the law
political and economic doctrine of Karl

148 G LO SSA RY
secede To withdraw formally from an tariff Tax on imported goods

organization, association, or alliance
temperate Referring to climate, characterized
socialist Relating to socialism, the stage by moderate temperatures
between capitalism and communism char-
acterized by control by a centralized
textiles Woven fabrics or cloth
government rather than ownership by
a collective
theocratic Of or relating to a theocracy
sovereignty Supreme authority or power to
rule theocracy A government subject to religious,
rather than secular, authority
stigmatized Identified or marked with some-
thing considered disgraceful, such as totalitarian Having a form of government in
a disease which one central authority exercises total
control over all aspects of citizens’ lives
subordinate A person secondary to or sub-
ject to the control of another person ultimatum A final statement of terms
subsistence A level sufficient to merely sustain

utopian Characterizing an ideal society
life, without extra comfort or commodities

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Index
A painting, 19
Abacha, Sani, 46, 99 sculpture, 15–17
Abiola, Moshood, 46 textiles, 17, 18p
Achebe, Chinua, 92, 92p timeline, 16t
Addis Ababa, Treaty of, 81 See also Architecture
Adulthood, 41–42 Ashante federation, 22
Adwa, Battle of, 81 Ashante palace, 17–18
Africa Association, 22 Aswan High Dam, 19–20, 20p
African Democratic Rally, 76–77 effect on water quality, 61
African Growth and Opportunity Act, 7 funding for, 135
African National Congress, 11, 13, 14, 44–46, 79–80, 126–127 Asylum, 97
African Party for the Independence of Guinea & Cape Atlantic Charter, 76
Verde, 79
African socialism, 34
B
African Union, 1–4, 2p
Babangida, Ibrahim, 46, 99
Afrikaners, 10, 125–126
Bantu, 86, 90
Afro-Asiatic language family, 84
Bantu Authorities Act, 11
Afwewerki, Isaias, 62
Bantu Homelands Citizens Act, 11
Agriculture, 4–8, 6p
Barre, Mohammed Siad, 121–122
cash vs. food crops, 67, 119
Bas-relief, 17
climate change, 7–8
Bassari, iron furnaces, 137–138
colonialism’s effect on, 75
Battle of Adwa, 81
desertification, 60–61
Battle of Waterberg, 72
economic sector, 52
Belgium, Rwanda and, 110
pesticides, 60
Ben Bella, Ahmed, 9
poor yields, 5–7, 67
Bendjedid, Chadi, 9
poverty and, 119
Benin Bronzes, 17
See also Water
Benin Palace, 18
AIDS. See HIV/AIDS
Berbers, 9
Air pollution, 58–60
Berlin Conference, 31, 32m, 33, 74
Aksum Obelisk, 83
Beti, Mongo, 95
Al-Bashir, Umar, 131
Biafra, 98
Al-Qaeda, 89
Biafran War, 99
Algeria, 9–10, 31, 33, 70, 78
Biko, Steve, 13
Ali Pasha, Muhammad, 55, 56
Biodiversity, 136
Amharic language, literature written in, 92
Biosphere reserves, 136
Amin, Idi, 143
Birth, 41, 118
ANC. See African National Congress
Bismarck, Otto von, 31, 33
Ancestors, 40
Biya, Paul, 47–48
Angola
Bizimungu, Pasteur, 112, 142
civil war, 27, 103
Blacks, discrimination of. See Apartheid
colonization, 102
Blood diamonds. See Diamonds
independence movements, 78–79, 103
Bluefin tuna, 61
socialist government, 36, 79
Boer War, 11, 21–22, 124m, 125
Animal masks, 15–16
Boers, 21–22, 125
Animal tricksters, 91
Bokero, 72
Animals, xii
Botha, Louis, 11
poaching, 60p
Botha, P.W., 11
Animism, 105
Botswana, 24m, 44
Apartheid
Boudiaf, Mohamed, 9
end of, xiv, 14–15, 127
Boumarafi, Lembarek, 9
healing from, 128
Boumédienne, Houari, 9
literature about, 94
Bouteflika, Abdelaziz, 10
origins, 10–11, 126
Brain drain, 96, 136
resistance, 11–14, 44–45, 126–127
Buganda, 142
timeline, 12t
Burkina Faso, agriculture, 8
world reaction, 14
Burundi, 140, 142
Arab socialism, 57
Architecture, 16t, 17–19
See also Art C
Art Cameroon
characteristics of, 15 agriculture, 8
153

154 INDEX
Cameroon (continued) Mozambique, 103

colonization, 23, 73 Sudan, 130
democratic movements, 47–48 See also Cold War
Camp David Accords, 57 Community, sense of, 106
Canary Islands, 96 Concentration camps, 21
Cape Town, colonization, 23 Condom use, 118
Capitalism, 133 Congo. See Democratic Republic of the Congo; Republic
Carnation Revolution, 79, 103 of Congo
Cell phones, 136 Congo Wars, 112
Central African Republic, 104 Coptic Christianity. See Christianity
Central Orange Free State. See Orange Cote d’Ivoire, 71
Free State Cotton, Egyptian, 56
Ceremonies. See Rites & rituals Creation stories, 90
Chad, refugees in, 104 Creole language, 87–88
Chemical weapons, 82 Crime, 120
Children Crowther, Samuel Ajayi, 109
diseases affecting, 119 Cultural superiority, 74
forced labor, 120 Culture & tradition
initiation rites, 41–42, 42p, 106 colonialism’s effect on, 75
marriage, 40 family life, 40–43, 116
role of, 40, 41 urban life, 43, 120–121
Christianity, 84, 109–110 See also Rites & rituals
Churches, 107p, 110 Currency, 138
Circumcision, 42, 118
Civil Concord Policy, 10 D
Civil rights, 102 Dams, 19–20
Civil wars See also Aswan High Dam
effect on economy, 50 Darfur, 104, 129
map of, 29m De Gaulle, Charles, 78
migration and, 96 De Klerk, F.W., 14, 46, 80, 127
reasons for, 27–30 Death, 43
refugee crisis and, 104 DeBeers diamonds, 25
Clean Diamond Trade Act, 28 Defiance Campaign, 44, 79–80
Click languages, 85 Delegates, African Union, 2p
Climate change, xii, 7–8, 49 Democratic movements
Climate map, 59m Cameroon, 47–48
Climate zones, xii Congo, 48
Coalitions, democratic movement, 46 Egypt, 46–47
Coastal erosion, 61 Nigeria, 46
Coetzee, J.M., 94–95 South Africa, 44–46
Cold War, xiv, 35 timeline, 45t
Angola and, 79 Democratic Republic of the Congo, 27, 36–39
Mobutu Sese Seko and, 37–38 Denmark, slave trade, xii
technology & innovations, 135 Derg, 64
See also Communism Desertification, 60–61
Colonization, xiii, 21, 32m Diagne, Ahmadou Mapaté, 95
apartheid and, 10 Diamonds, 23, 27, 28
British, 22–26, 30–31, 33, 62, 97–98, 115 Dictators, xiii–xiv, 27, 47, 143
civil war and, 27 Dictator’s club, 3
direct rule, 33, 70 Direct rule, 33, 70
Dutch, 125 Disease, xiv, 118–119
effects of, 33–34, 50, 75, 119 climate change and, 8
French, 9, 31, 68–71, 69m colonization and, 134
German, 31, 71–73 effect on agriculture, 7
indirect rule, 23, 33 effect on economy, 53
Italian, 80–83, 121 HIV/AIDS, xiv, 7, 53, 67, 117, 118–119
literature about, 95 Divorce, 40
motive for, 30–31 Doe, Samuel K., 89
Portuguese, 78–79, 102–103 Dogon, use of masks, 15–16
Scramble for Africa, 24m, 31, 74–75, 133–135 Drilling, 53
technology and, 133–135 Drought, 8, 48–49, 52, 67
types of, 31–33 Drums, talking, 86
See also Imperialism; Independence Du Bois, W.E.B., 101
Communism, 34–36, 64 Dube, John, 11
Angola, 103 Dutch colonialism, 125

INDEX 155
E Federations, Nigeria, 98
East Africa Figurines, 16
colonization, 23 First Congo War, 112
German, 72–73 FIS. See Islamic Salvation Front
slave trade, 113 Folk tale, 90
Economy, xiv France
civil war and, 27, 50 colonialism, 9, 31, 68–71, 69m
economic sectors, 52–53 slave trade, 115
future developments, 53–54 See also French language
gross domestic product, 51m, 52, 54, 96 Freetown, 22
influences on, 50–52, 53 French language, 87
migration and, 96–97 literature written in, 95
socialist, 50, 70 French West Africa. See West Africa
See also Trade Fru Ndi, Ni John, 47
Education, 136 Funeral customs, 43
Egypt, 54–58 Fuze, Magema ka Magwaza, 91
Christianity, 109
colonization, 23, 24m, 31, 55 G
cotton, 56 Gandhi, Mahatma, 75
democratic movements, 46–47, 58 Garang, John, 131
Islam and, 108 Gender roles, 116
Nile River delta, 6p Genetically modified crops, 8
relations with Israel, 55–57 Genital mutilation, 42
resort hotel/pyramids, 55p Genocide, 129
Sudan and, 129 Geography, xii
Suez Crisis, 55–56, 132 Germany, colonialism, 31, 71–73
Elders, 41, 116 Gerrymandering, 14
Elections Ghana (Gold Coast)
Cameroon, 47–48 colonization, 22, 24m
democratic, 10, 44, 46–47 independence movements, 25, 77–78
Egypt, 46–47, 58 slums, 121
Eritrea, 62 socialist economy, 50
Ethiopia, 66 Global warming. See Climate change
Ghana, 78 Glottochronologists, 85
Liberia, 89 Gold, 21, 22
Nigeria, 46, 98–99 Gold Coast. See Ghana
Rwanda, 111, 112 Gordimer, Nadine, 94
South Africa, 14, 46, 127–128 Gowon, Yakubu, 98
See also Democratic movements Great Britain
Electricity, 136 Boer War, 11, 21–22
English language, 87 colonialism, 22–26, 24m, 30–31, 32m, 33, 97–98, 115
literature written in, 92–95 imperialism, 74
Environmental issues, 58–61 slave trade, xii–xiii, 115
Eritrea, 62–63, 81 soldiers, 135p
Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), 62 Ultimatum of 1890, 103
Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), 62 Great Lakes refugee crisis, 104
Ethiopia, 63–66 Great Mosque, 18
Aksum Obelisk, 83 Great Trek, 10
Christianity, 109 Great Zimbabwe, 17
communism, 35 Green revolution, 5
Eritrea and, 62, 65 Gross domestic product (GDP), 51m, 52, 54, 96
famine, 67 Groud, Gilbert, 19
independence, 81, 82–83 Group Areas Act, 11
Italy’s invasion of, 62, 63, 64, 81, 82 Guerrilla warfare
Somalia’s invasion of, 122 Algeria, 9, 78
Ethnic hatred, 27, 30, 112 Angola, 78
slavery and, 115 apartheid-based, 13
Everything But Arms (EBA), 7 Eritrea, 62
Exploitation colonies, 31–33 Guinea, 71, 104
Extended family, 116 Guinea-Bissau, 79, 103
F H
Family life, 40–41, 116 Habyarimana, Juvénal, 111, 141
Famine, 67–68, 68p Hausa language, literature written in, 91
Farms. See Agriculture Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty, 72

156 INDEX
Herero Wars, 72 J
HIV/AIDS, xiv, 7, 53, 67, 117, 118–119 Jameson Raid, 25
Hoe, 138 Janjaweed, 104, 129
Homelands, 11
Homosexuality, 118 K
Hotels, 55p Kabila, Joseph, 39
Houphouët-Boigny, Félix, 71, 76, 76t Kabila, Laurent-Desiré, 38–39, 112
Human capital, xiii Kagame, Paul, 111p, 112, 141
Human trafficking, 120 Kano literature, 91
Human waste, 61 Kasavubu, Joseph, 36–37, 38
Hutu, 38–39, 104, 110–112, 140–142 Kayibanda, Gregoire, 110
Hydroelectric power, 19, 61 Kente, 17, 18p
Kenya
I colonization, 24m
Idia’s Mask, 16 literature & writing, 94
Imperialism, 73–75 Khoisan language family, 84–86
See also Colonization Kifaya, 47
Imperialists, 25, 75 Kimberly Process Certification Scheme,
Independence, xiii–xiv, 23–26 28
Algeria, 9, 78 Kinship, 116
Congo, 36 Kipling, Rudyard, 74
economic development after, 50–52 Kitchener, Herbert, 23
Eritrea, 62 Kleptocracy, 38
Ethiopia, 81, 82–83 Knives, throwing, 138
French West Africa, 71 Kony, Joseph, 143
Nigeria, 98 Kwangware, Peter, 19
Rwanda, 110
Sudan, 129 L
technology & inventions after, 135–136 Lagos
Uganda, 142 British annexation of, 97
See also Independence movements colonization, 23
Independence movements Lake Nasser, 20
African Democratic Rally (RDA), 76–77 Land, ownership of, 116
Angola, 78–79, 103 Language
Ghana, 77–78 Bantu, 86
Guinea-Bissau, 79, 103 characteristics, 86
influences on, 75–76 classifications, 84–86
Mozambique, 79 click, 85
South Africa, 79–80 European, 86–87
timeline, 76t extinction of African, 88
See also Independence map of, 85m
Indirect rule, 23, 33 pidgins & creoles, 87–88
Industrial emissions, 58 See also Literature & writing
Industrial Revolution, slave trade and, Legal system, 117–118
115 Leopold II, 31, 33, 36
Infrastructure, lack of, 5, 50 Lettow-Vorbeck, Paul Emil von, 73
Initiation rites, 41–42, 42p, 106 Liberia, 88–90
Interhamwe, 38, 111, 141 Christianity, 109
Inventions. See Technology & inventions refugees from, 104
Iron tools, 137–139 Libya, colonization, 82
Irrigation. See Water Literature & writing
Islam in African languages, 91–92
depicted in art, 18 in English, 92–95
fundamentalists, 108, 109 in French, 95
Muslim law, 100, 108, 130–131 landmarks in, 93t
slavery, 113 oral, 90–91
spread of, 106–109 Livingstone, David, xiii
Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), 9 Lobengula, 25
Israel, relations with Egypt, 55–57 London Manifesto, 101
Italy Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), 143–144
colonialism, 80–83, 121 Lüderitz, Adolf, 72
invasion of Ethiopia, 62, 63, 64, 81, 82 Lugard, Frederick, 23
sovereignty over Eritrea, 62 Lumumba, Patrice, 36, 37, 38
Ivory tusks, 60p Lusaka Accord, 39

INDEX 157
M Natural resources
Magic, 105–106 civil war and, 27–28
Maji Maji Rebellion, 73 depletion of, 5
Malaria, 7, 8, 119, 134 an economic sector, 53
Malawi, agriculture, 8 Négritude, 71
Malcom X, 102 NeoStead 2000, 139
Mali, Islam, 108 New Rice for Africa (NERIC), 8
Malnutrition, 4, 119 New Testament, 84
Mandela, Nelson, xiv, 13, 92p, 126p, 128 Ngugi wa Thiong’o, 91, 94
arrest of, 12, 80 Niger-Congo language family, 86
elected president, 14, 46, 127 Nigeria
release of, 14, 127 civil war, 98, 99
Mandela, Winnie, 126p colonization, 23, 24m, 97–98
Manufacturing, 53, 54, 58 democratic movements, 46
Maponya Mall, 52p elections, 98–99
Marriage, 40–41, 43 independence, 98
Masks, 15–16 literature & writing, 92–94
Matrilineal systems, 116 migration & economy, 96
Mauritius, democracy in, 44 sectarian violence, 99–100
Mbeki, Thabo, 117, 128 slavery & slave trade, 97
McCarthy, Sir Charles, 22 soldiers in, 135p
Measles, 119 Nile River, 6p
Menelik II, 63, 66, 81 Aswan High Dam, 19–20, 20p
Mengistu Haile Mariam, 64–65 Nilo-Saharan language family, 84
Micro-loans, 119–120 Nimeiry, Gaafar Muhammed, 130
Migration, 96–97 Nkrumah, Kwame, 77–78, 77p, 101
Migration, illegal, 96 Nour, Ayuman, 47
Military tactics, 138 Nuclear testing. See Weapons
Mineral resources, xiii
Mining, 53, 60 O
Missionaries, Christian, 109, 110 Obasanjo, Olusegun, 98, 99
Mkumba, 19 Obelisk, Aksum, 83
Mobutu, Joseph-Désiré. See Mobutu Sese Seko Obote, Milton, 142–143
Mobutu Sese Seko, 37–38, 37p, 44, 48 Obsanjo, Olusegun, 46
Mofolo, Thomas, 91 Ogot, Grace, 94
Monotheistic religions, 105 Oil, 53
Morocco, Organization of African Unity and, 2 Nigeria, 98, 98p, 99
Mosques, 18, 107p spills, 60
Mozambique Ojukwu, Odumegwu, 99
civil war, 103 Okello, Tito, 143
colonization, 102 Okri, Ben, 94
communism, 36 Oral traditions, 90–91
independence movements, 79 Orange Free State, 10, 21, 124m, 125
refugees crisis, 104 Organization of African Unity, 2–4, 77p, 102
Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO), 79 See also African Union
Mqhayi, Edward Krune Loliwe, 91 Oyono, Ferdinand, 95
Mubarak, Hosni, 46–47, 58
Muhammed, Murtala, 98 P
Musa, Mansa, 108 Pagan religions, 74
Museveni, Yoweri, 143 Painting, 19
Muslim Brotherhood, 108 Palaces, 17–18
Muslim law. See Islam Pan African Congresses, 80, 101, 102
Mustard gas, 82 Pan-African Movement, 3, 75–76, 101–102
Muteesa, Edward, 142 Pan-Africanist Congress, 12, 45, 46, 80
Mythology, 90 Pass laws campaign, 45, 80
Pastoralists, 129
N Paton, Alan, 95
Names, 41 Patrilineal systems, 116
Nasser, Gamal Abdel, 46, 55–56, 57 Pesticides, 60
National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), 46 Petroleum. See Oil
National Liberation Front, 9, 78 Pidgin language, 87
National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), 78, 79 Plaatje, Sol, 11
National Party, 126 Poaching, 60p
National Union for the Total Independence of Angola Polygamy, 40
(UNITA), 79 AIDS and, 118

158 INDEX
Polygamy (continued) Sharpeville massacre, 12, 45, 80, 126–127

Islamic, 108 Shields, 139
in literature, 91 Shonekan, Ernest, 99
Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, 79 Shopping malls, 52p
Portugal Shotguns, 139
colonialism, 78–79, 102–103 Sierra Leone
slave trade, 102, 113, 115 Christianity, 109
Poverty, 27, 119–120 civil war, 27, 29m
Praise songs, 90 colonization, 22, 24m
Principle of Effectivity, 33 Sirleaf, Ellen Johnson, 89–90
Privatization, 50 Six-Day War, 56, 132
Proverbs, 91 Slavery & slave trade, xii–xiii, 113–115
capitalism and, 133
R effect on economy, 50, 115
Rabat Plan, 96 Nigeria, 97
Racial discrimination. See Apartheid Portugal, 102, 113
Racial superiority, 74 present day, 120
Red Terror, 64 shipping routes, 114m
Redemption, 120 Sleeping sickness, 119
Referendum, 10 Slums, 121
Refugees, 103–104, 130p, 141p Socé, Ousmane, 95
Religion, xii, 104–110 Social Democratic Front, 47
Christianity, 84, 109–110 Social problems, xiv–xv, 118
conversion, 74 Socialism, 34–36, 57
Islam. See Islam Socialist economies, 50, 70
literature, 92 Soil depletion, 5
pagan, 74 Soil Fertility Management Unit (UGFS), 8
timeline, 106t Solar energy, 136
traditional, 105–106 Somalia, 121–122
See also Rites & rituals colonization, 24m, 121
Republic of Congo, communism, 35 literature & language, 92
Rhodes, Cecil, 23, 25 Sorcery, 105–106
Rhodesia, 23, 24m, 25 Sotho language, literature written in, 91
Riddles, 91 South Africa, 122–128
Rites & rituals agriculture, 8
art and, 15–16 AIDS, 117
birth, 41 apartheid. See Apartheid
death, 43 Boer War, 11, 21–22, 124m, 125
initiation, 41–42, 42p, 106 colonization, 23, 24m, 124–125
ironworking, 137–139 crime, 120
marriage, 43 democratic movements, 44–46
Robert, Shaaban, 92 economy, 52, 124, 128
Rwanda, 110–112 ethnicity & religion, 123–124
civil war, 27 free elections, 127
Hutu/Tutsi conflict, 38–39, 104, 110–112, 140–142 independence movements, 79–80
international inaction, 142 literature & writing, 91, 94–95
Rwandan Patriotic Front, 111, 140 Maponya Mall, 52p
nuclear testing, 125, 127
S Organization of African Unity and, 3
Sadat, Anwar, 46, 56–58 South African Party, 11
Salim, Salim Ahmed, 3 Southern African Development Community, 8
Salisbury, Robert, xiii Southwest Africa, German, 72
Saro-Wiwa, Ken, 93–94 Sovereign National Conference, 48
Schreiner, Olive, 94 Soviet Union, xiv, 35, 122
Science in Africa, 136 See also Cold War
Scramble for Africa, 24m, 31, 74–75, 133–135 Soweto uprising, 14
Second Congo War, 112 Soyinka, Wole, 93, 93t
Sékou Touré, Ahmed, 70, 71 Spear of the Nation, 13, 45, 80
Selassie, Haile, 1, 62, 64, 64p, 65, 82 Stanley, Henry Morton, xiii
Senegal, 69, 69m, 71 Steamboats, 133–134
Senghor, Léopold, 71, 95 Sudan, 128–131
Separate Amenities Act, 11 civil war, 27, 130–131
Settlement colonies, 31–33 colonization, 23, 24m, 31
Shagari, Alhjai Shehu, 98–99 famine, 68p
Sharia. See Islam, Muslim law Islam, 130–131

INDEX 159
refugees, 68p, 130p W

slavery, 120 Waste
Suez Canal, 23, 31, 55–56, 131–132 human, 61
Swahili language, literature written in, 92, 93t toxic, 58, 60
Water
T drought, 8, 48–49, 61
Taboo, 118 irrigation, 5–6, 119
Talking drums, 86 pollution, 60, 61
Tani, Shine, 19 unsanitary, 61, 119, 136
Taxes, corruption and, 28 Waterberg, Battle of, 72
Taylor, Charles, 89 Weapons 135p
Technology & inventions, 133–137 chemical, 82
Textiles, 17, 18p iron, 138
Throwing-knives, 138 modern, 134t, 140
Togoland, 23, 73 NeoStead 2000, 139
Tolbert, William, 89 nuclear, 125, 127
Tonal languages, 86 rifles, 134t, 135
Tools, 137–138 sale of, 135
See also Weapons shields, 139
Totalitarian rule, 64 See also Tools
Toxic waste, 58, 60 West Africa
Trade British, 22–23
agricultural, 7, 8 French, 68–71, 76–78
geographic limitations, 53 German, 72
See also Economy; Slavery & slave trade Williams, Henry Sylvester, 101
Tradition. See Culture & tradition Women
Transvaal, 10, 21, 25, 124m, 125 and agriculture, 7, 8, 67
Treaty of Addis Ababa, 81 AIDS and, 67, 117, 118
Treaty of Vereeniging, 21–22 genital mutilation, 42
Treaty of Wuchale, 81 human trafficking, 120
Tshisekedi, Étienne, 48 marriage, 40–41, 43, 116
Tshombe, Moise, 37 micro-loans, 119–120
Tubman, William, 89 rights of, 43, 116, 117
Tutola, Amos, 92–93 role of, 43, 116
Tutsi, 38–39, 104, 110–112, 140–142 World Diamond Council, 28
refugees, 141p World War II, independence movements and,
Tutu, Desmond, 14–15, 128 76
Writing. See Literature & writing
U Wuchale, Treaty of, 81
Uccaile, Treaty of. See Treaty of Wuchale
Uganda, 142–144 X
colonization, 23, 24m, 142 Xasan, Sayyid Maxamed Cabdulle, 92
Uhuru decade, xiii Xhosa language, literature written in, 91
Ultimatum of 1890, 103
UNESCO, 20, 136 Y
United Gold Coast Convention, 77 Yar’Adua, Umaru, 46
United Nations Yom Kippur War, 56
on blood diamonds, 28 Yoruba language, literature written in,
Organization of African Unity and, 3 91, 92–93t
reaction to apartheid, 14
Trust Territories, 62 Z
United States Zaire, 37, 38, 39, 135
African Growth and Opportunity Act, 7 Hutu refugees in, 111, 112, 142
civil rights, 102 Zambia, agriculture, 8
Clean Diamond Trade Act, 28 Zanzibar, 25, 72, 107
Liberia and, 88 Zenawi, Meles, 65
weapons sales, 135 Zewditu, 64, 65
See also Cold War Zimbabwe
Urban life, 43, 120–121 architecture, 17
economy, 52
V refugee crisis, 104
Vereeniging, Treaty of, 21–22 Zula, Shaka, 90, 125, 138, 139
Vodun (voodoo), 106 Zulu language, literature written in, 91, 93t

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The Modern World

Vol. 1: Civilizations of Africa

Vol. 2: Civilizations of Europe

Vol. 3: Civilizations of the Americas

Vol. 4: Civilizations of the Middle East and Southwest Asia

Vol. 5: Civilizations of Asia and the Pacific

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M.E. Sharpe, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Printed and bound in Malaysia

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List of Illustrations vii Famine 67

Aswan High Dam 19 Al-Qaeda in Africa 89

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Tools and Weapons 137

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Photos Kwame Nkrumah signing

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Places Society, Religion, and Way of Life

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In 2004, African heads

the foundation of the Organization of was disbanded in 2002, fifty-three of Africa’s

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90 percent of Africa’s agricultural produc- to keep prices of domestic produce up

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AIDS See Society.

Conquered by Phoenicians, Romans, and creasingly autocratic and overly focused

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Angola See Portuguese Colonies.

EARLY DISCRIMINATION Beginning in 1795, British settlers moved

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RISE AND FALL OF APARTHEID

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existed partly because of gerrymandering, as police squads continued to crack down

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See also: Colonization.

Art and Architecture

Another common characteristic of One of the sculptural objects common to

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MODERN AFRICAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE

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