As the colonial powers became wealthier, there was a high demand for labour, needed to work on the land and produce agricultural and manufacturing output. Although the slave trade existed prior to colonialism, it rapidly became one of Africa’s major industries, becoming known as the Atlantic slave trade (Le Monde Diplomatique, 1998). ‘It is estimated that between 1601 and 1870, 15,200,000 left Africa’. (Meltzer, 1993: 232)This immense depopulation greatly affected productivity and technological advances, by reducing the labour force. The mixing of people from different cultural and religious backgrounds also created severe racial tension in regions of previously homogenous race and the slaves themselves were subjected to harsh and brutal conditions. ‘Approximately 8 million Africans were killed during their storage, shipment and initial landing in the ’ (MSN Encarta). When the slave trade was abolished, many small regions, which benefited from the slave trade because of a lack of natural resources, suffered from economic hardship. This was due to their dependency on the industry and failure to find suitable substitutes to bring in capital from exports. Some argue that the slave trade was the first step towards modern Africa’s current status as a region where technological advancement is yet to match those of industrialised nations.
Apart from the economy, one of the key factors which influenced colonies during the colonial period was the political control. In Nigeria, a country where there were as many as 400 different ethnic groupings (Matthews, Martin P. 2002), although the British authority at first allowed separate governmental systems, by 1914 all the regions were amalgamated under one central ruling. This neglect to consider the diverse cultural and religious background of Nigeria and the removal of almost all traditional policies could be considered as one of the root causes that led to Nigeria’s civil war in 1967 (Uzokwe, Alfred, 2003). Independence meant that all the former ethnic tensions resurfaced, perhaps to a greater extent than before as the division between the Muslim north and Christian south, heightened during and after colonial rule. Furthermore, as in the case of many former colonies, when the British had been in charge of the government and policy making for the last six decades, the re-established local government knew little about how to look after their country, especially in terms of creating a democratic system. This eventually led to great political instability from a series of military coups. Without political stability, future development problems were unavoidable.
However, on the other hand, one can argue that political instability was a cause of development problems altogether separate from the influence of colonial powers. ‘In the colonial period the political power and rent-seeking behaviour of dominant ethnic groups was checked by the colonial administration. However, the situation radically changed once the colonial check on predatory behaviour was removed...The newly established governments destroyed the local, rural institutional frameworks which had been left untouched in the colonial period’ (Ayittey, 1999: ) With the oil boom in the early 1970s came great political corruption. With Nigeria, a country rich in oil, there was hope for significant development, especially as many rich and powerful countries and corporations in the global north, mainly North America, began investing in its oil industry. However, as with many other African nations, corrupt government officials would keep the money for their own self-interest and greed. ‘...the World Bank has estimated that as a result of corruption 80 percent of energy revenues benefit only 1 percent of the population.’ (James, 1998:21)
Corruption has also severely harmed the benefits of foreign aid, both economically and medically. Even though some argue that foreign aid is often harmful, for decades, countries all over the world have been funding Africa and providing economic and medical aid to help reduce their development problems, such as the UN and WTO (World Trade Organization) as well as NGOs such as the Salvation Army. However, once again the governments would use large quantities of the aid for less critical aspects such as creating a greater military defence and sending their people to war instead of saving them. For example in the Sudan, ‘fight for control of southern and central Sudan had killed one in five of the southern Sudanese population - either by warfare, war-induced famine or direct government or rebel policies’ (BBC News, 1998)
While government officials continued to launder money from the country’s savings, there was a lack of interest in policy making in terms of benefitting the country and the people. Education and healthcare, two factors which helped to transform many of the current countries in the global north into the modern, developed and thriving nations that they are today, are still poorly funded in Africa. ‘...the delivery of education in Nigeria has suffered from years of neglect... an ongoing educational sector analysis confirm the poor state of education in Nigeria.’ (DAWODU.com) However, not only is education poorly funded, but studies show that attendance is also very low, which perhaps illustrates that in traditional societies education is not seen as a fundamental necessity.
In Nigeria, it has only been since the start of civilian rule rather than military dictatorship that the government is staring to consider the serious implications of corruption and lack of policy making to benefit not only the economy but the people. ‘Nigeria is expected to be the sixth largest country in the world, in terms of population, by 2050’ (Boone, 2006: 45). This is partly due to poor healthcare and lack of teaching about family planning leading to very high birth rates. Due to Nigeria’s political and economic strife over the last 40 years, subsistence agriculture is still one of the main industries. Families have many children in order to help work on the land and also due to the high infant mortality rate, the birth rate remains high as people have more children to increase chances of survival. Even though the oil industry brings in money, it is only invested in select regions of the country. Overpopulation is a major issue all over the world and has not developed from the colonial period. Overpopulation in Nigeria has led to food shortages and overcrowding in shanty towns leading to the fast spread of diseases, such as polio and HIV Aids, which are endemic across the country. ‘Inhabited by just over 12% of the world's population, Africa is estimated to have more than 60% of the AIDS-infected population’ (BBC News: 2007)
The final point is the environmental and social situation of many poor countries, which is completely disconnected to the effects of colonisation. For example, ‘The countries with the lowest GDP per capita are mostly in sub-Saharan Africa’ (Imperial University, 2006) and the majority of African countries every year are subjected to environmental catastrophes, such as drought or flooding, which has an enormous effect on the economy and the people as it leads to famine and scarcity of resources.
In conclusion, I believe that in many developing countries, although many problems did arise from colonisation, the coloniser also brought with it new technological ideas as well as international trade. In Nigeria, the British created transportation networks as well as basic infrastructure needed for development such as railway lines, roads, and ports. Furthermore, instead of taking advantage of these possible benefits, the new governments squandered their opportunities and led their people into oppression and hardship.
However, many geographers see a colonial past as probably the most important initial condition for underdevelopment. Many of the issues, such as debt, unfair trade and political instability began during the era of colonialism and heightened when the countries were left to their own accord to govern. When the colonial powers took over, especially in Africa, they transformed and shaped the government and the economy to correspond to the customs and modern systems of the Western world without any consideration for the people and the crippling effects that these changes would have in the future. Colonialism in the traditional sense may have ended, but the end results are much the same. Rich countries in the global north have continued to exploit developing countries, for example by opening up trade barriers with no protection, which simply means that these poorer nations are unable to compete in the international market. ‘A series of repressive and corrupt governments in Nigeria have been supported and maintained by western governments and oil corporations, keen on benefitting from the fossil fuels that can be exploited.’ (Shah, 2004)Often foreign aid can be detrimental for the country in need as the aid is actually fuelled by a greater desire to increase wealth and does not stimulate sustainable development.
Whilst in the first half of the last century it would have been much harder for developing countries to become rich without the assistance of the global north, by promoting personal development it has lead to rapid development in many countries in the global south. A number of them are beginning to emerge as great contributors in the world economy, such as India and China, and are industrialising and advancing at a much faster pace than those of the global north had done previously, bringing hope to the people. ‘A new study of more than 65 countries published in the UK's New Scientist magazine suggests that the happiest people in the world live in Nigeria’ (BBC News, 2003)
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Grace Contomichalos
