Effects of Decolonization

1. Effects of Decolonization Lasting Legacy of Imperialism

2. Factors that Impacted the Economic and Political Success of Newly Liberated Nations: • Did the nation fight to become free? • How enlightened had the colonizing power been? Had it educated a native elite, leaving behind politicians, economists, and trained personnel with practical skills? • Were there serious ethnic, cultural, or religious divisions? • Did a country have natural resources to exploit? Did the government exploit them efficiently or were they unable to diversify its economy? • Did a newly liberated country take sides in the Cold War, i.e. the United States or the Soviet Union? Superpowers often intervened in the affairs of decolonized nations.

3. Left Side Activity • Pairs: Look at the following political cartoon on Modern Africa. • What is the message of the political cartoon? • How can you tell? • What problems are identified? • How do you think they are tied in to imperialism?

5. Overview of Why Modern African Nations Facing So Many Problems: • Unity • inherited borders drawn up by imperial powers, split ethnic groups and tribes • Finding Professionals • before independence Europeans dominated professions • few Africans had training as educators, doctors, scientists, engineers, etc… • Maintaining Government: • When independence came, Africans had little experience running a government

6. Economic Problems Facing Modern Africa

7. Struggling Economies Farming, Mining Development Loans • After independence most African nations’ economies fragile • Depended on only one, two exports for support • African nations not industrialized, depended on farming, mining raw materials • Example: Ghana depended on cocoa; Nigeria, oil • For loans, turned to international organizations, like World Bank; bad planning, corrupt leaders left nations with huge debts, no infrastructure Economic Challenges After achieving independence, many African nations faced economic challenges that came with their new status.

8. Economic Problems • Structural Legacies --Economies based on raw material exports --Aid/dependency --Migrant labor/labor compounds --Tension between “tradition” and “modernity”

9. Economic Problems • During imperialism European nations set up export type economies. • Economies depended on the export of raw materials. Cash Crops Raw materials

10. Economic Problems • Many African nations still relied on these export goods. • Problem • When no demand/prices fall/countries become poor.

11. Economic Problems • African nations relied on buying manufactured goods and had no industrial base.

12. Economic Problems • Economic Policies • Failed socialist economy • Cash crops instead of food crops • Lack of funding for rural areas.

13. Economic Problems • African nations have to import manufactured goods and incurred a large debt.

14. Economic Problems • Economic Dependence • Need for foreign aid • Need for imported goods • High debt

15. Debt and Structural Adjustment

16. Origins of African Debt • For some countries (Ghana, for example), debt began with ambitious development projects in the 1960s • In most cases, however, serious indebtedness began in the early 1970s • Oil crisis dramatically increased the price of imports • Worldwide recession decreased the willingness of the US and former colonial powers to distribute aid in grants

17. Origins of African Debt • World prices for exports (especially agricultural exports) fell • The public sector grew, especially with increased bureaucracy (in Ghana, for example, by 150 percent between 1957 and 1979) • Between 1970 and 1976, Africa’s public debt quadrupled

18. State Contraction in the 1980s: Trying to Pay Off Debt • Debt servicing began to take a substantial portion of many countries’ GDPs • Ambitious development plans were largely scrapped • Governments tended to focus on maintaining power and preserving order

19. Structural Adjustment: Trying to Pay Off Debt • Implemented by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank beginning in roughly 1981 • Required substantial cuts in state services • Tended to promote industrialization as a path to economic growth • Often involved the devaluation of currency

20. Debt, Structural Adjustment and Legitimacy • The demands of debt and structural adjustment often rendered governments less able to supply the needs of their people and less able to claim grassroots legitimacy • Debt seen as attached to a country, not to a particular government—transferred even when a government was deemed illegitimate

21. International Aid to Help African Debt • Since the 1970s, the general trend has been a decrease in aid to Africa—monetary aid fell by almost half in the 1990s • A large proportion of what is counted as aid by donor countries is known “phantom aid”—for example, some 50% of all technical assistance is said to be wasted because of inappropriate usage on expensive consultants, their living expenses, and training • Aid frequently carries restrictions with regard to its use

22. Aid Donors to Africa • Most donor countries use aid as part of a broader foreign policy focused on “national interests” • The US has directed aid to regions where it has concerns related to its national security, e.g. Middle East • Sweden has targeted aid to “progressive societies” • France has sought to promote maintenance or preserve and spread of French culture, language, and influence, especially in West Africa, while disproportionately giving aid to those that have extensive commercial ties with France

24. African Trade Imbalance • Many aid packages require receiving countries to purchase goods from the donor country, often in a way that disadvantages the economy of the recipient • Reports have suggested that aid tied with conditions cut the value of aid to recipient countries by some 25-40 percent, because it obliges them to purchase imports from the richer nations at uncompetitive prices • As of 2000, over two-thirds of United States aid was tied to requirements to purchase goods and services from the US • Aid generally fails to increase the export side of receiving countries’ economies

26. Economic Realities of Contemporary Africa • The Combined Gross Domestic Product for all of Sub-Saharan Africa in 2000 was US$322.73 Billion—less than the GDP for the Netherlands (and considerably smaller than the GDP for the state of California) • Between 1990 and 2000 GNP per capita declined .7 per cent in Sub-Saharan Africa • However, since 2000 a number of African countries have experienced a annual growth rate of around 5% • Nearly 40% of Africa’s GNP is from agriculture, less than 15% from manufacturing: lowest of any region in the world. • Africa counts for less than 2% of global trade • In 1960 average service debt of an African country was 2% of exports; in 2000 239% of exports

27. Economic Realities of Contemporary Africa: Poverty(Numbers and Percent of People living on $1 or less a day)

28. Economic Realities of Contemporary Africa: Poverty(Numbers and Percent of People living on $2 or less a day)

29. Economic Realities: Congo Congo: • Mineral Rich: Copper, Cobalt, Coltan, Diamonds, Tin • Agriculture: wide variety of food and cash crops including coffee, tea, rubber and commercial lumber. • Industry: very little manufacturing, mineral processing • Yet: GDP per Capita is $88 compared to an average of $541 in Sub-Saharan Africa; Per Capita Income $110 per capita compared to $600 for Sub-Saharan Africa

30. Economic Problems in Africa • Population and Poverty • Population explosion • Widespread hunger

31. Political Problems

32. Left Side Activity • Pairs: Look at the following political cartoon. • What is the message of the political cartoon? • How can you tell?

34. Political Problems in Africa • Political Problems • Power hungry and greedy leaders • Military takeovers • Harsh dictators • Ethnic and regional conflict.

35. Bribery and Corruption One–Party System • Some corrupt officials required bribes for government contracts, licenses • Also ran government enterprises for personal profit • New generation of dictators robbed countries of wealth • Mobutu Sese Seko, dictator of Congo, amassed personal fortune of about $5 billion, while his people fell into poverty • End of 1960s, nearly all newly independent African nations adopted one-party system • Single political party controls government • Elections rarely competitive • Opposition parties outlawed in many countries • Dictators ruled many nations, maintained power through patronage, giving loyal followers well-paid positions in government Military Dictatorships

37. Elections Results • Many Africans saw weakness as opportunity to create democratic governments, demanded elections • By 2005, more than 30 African countries had abandoned one-party systems, held elections • Election results mixed • Some former dictators resorted to fraud, intimidation to win elections • Others elected because people preferred them to alternatives Democracy for Some • Despite conflicts, war throughout late 1900s, many African countries still dictatorships • Cold War: U.S., Soviets gave large amounts of money to dictators friendly to their side • Cold War ended, money dried up; weakened some dictators’ governments

40. Political “Realities” of Contemporary Africa:Regime Types Today: Africa’s Second Revolution/Independence

41. Impact of Cold War Funding on Africa

42. Results for Africa of aid from U.S. and the West during the Cold War • US gave at least $1.5 bill weapons to Africa during Cold War (1950-89) • - incl $400 mill to dictator Mobutu in Congo • $250 mill to Jonas Savimbi’s UNITA movement Angola • Half the US aid went to governments with known human rights abuses including Congo, Rwanda, Uganda atrocities (perhaps 3 million)

43. Militarization Across Africa Portuguese soldiers planting and unearthing land mines in Angola, 1970s

44. Militarization Across Africa: Curse of landmines • Angola: more than 70,000 amputees and more than 16,000 killed. • Estimates of total number of land mines = 10-20 million • Angola is the one most heavily impacted by 1-2 land mines per person • Whatever you want to do, whether it's plant a field or rehabilitate a school or open a road, you've first got to clear away the mines. The threat of mines has paralyzed the country • More than 70 types of mines - manufactured in at least 22 countries - have been planted in Angola during recent decades. • Mines were installed by the government military, the South Africans, the Cubans, the Russians, UNITA, the police, by neighboring governments, and several other Angolan armed groups. • The numbers of mine layers makes demining - which includes understanding the strategy and patterns of mine laying - even more complicated. • Mine clearance experts say only the Cubans made accurate maps of their mine fields. • Tens of thousands of one-legged Angolans hobbling around their country on crutches provide graphic evidence that most of the mines laid here are small anti-personnel mines designed to maim rather than kill. • Yet the explosives are often targeted at civilians, most often women and children, rather than soldiers. • Planted near water sources and under shade trees in the savannah, they are designed to terrorize, often with the goal of depopulating the countryside.

45. Militarization in Africa—The Cost • An average of $22 billion is being spent each year by the nations of Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Latin America on arms. • If this were redirected, it would be enough to reach the UN targets of Universal Primary Education • And reducing infant and maternal mortality. • And Meeting all of the Millennium Development Goals

46. Militarization of Africa –Arms Sales Out of Control • The U.S., France, Russia, China and the UK together account for 88% of all the world’s conventional arms exports. • There are 639 MILLION small arms and light weapons in the world • Today, eight million more are produced every year. • From 1996-2001, the USA, UK, and France earned more income from arms sales to developing countries than they gave in all kinds of emergency, disaster, and economic assistance aid.

48. Tribalism and Nationalism Causing Civil Wars and Genocide

50. Tribalism and Nationalism • African boundaries had been set by imperialistic nations not African nations • Berlin Conference 1885.