The African Inheritance

Africa is a continent gripped by civil wars, refugees and widespread famine. A significant number of the causes of these crises are deep rooted, many extending back to the continent’s colonial past when Africa was partitioned between European powers, partitions that survived as the former colonies became separate sovereign states. The African Inheritance discusses pre-colonial Africa, the increasing European interest in the continent, the European partition and the subsequent colonial rule and de-colonization, and examines the consequences of this inheritance: the large number of very small and weak states, the geographically marginal capital cities, contentious international boundaries, dependent land-locked states, destructive secessionist movements and African imperialism. Africa has attempted to tackle these problems through abortive political union of states, economic groupings and a re-orientation of infrastructural development away from a colonially-based system. Yet individual development is inhibited by the colonially imposed strait jacket of political geography. In developing the theme of the colonial inheritance of Africa, The African Inheritance is essential in gaining a better understanding of the current problems of the continent. To look for immediate causes alone can be misleading, and this book directs the reader to a broader and deeper understanding of the contemporary map of the continent.