The impacts of British imperialism in Africa

When talking about the impacts of British imperialism in Africa, it's only fair to speak of both the positive and negative sides of it. One can also not forget to mention colonialism before closing on the past influence of the British government in Africa. In a nutshell, imperialism can be thought of as an idea behind a country's domination over the other(s) while colonialism is the practice resulting from the idea.

A map showing the partitioning of Africa.

With that definition and compliance with the principle of non-interference, imperialism can today be regarded as a breach of International Laws. It will further be better to term it as evil, no matter the benefits it brought along. It should also be remembered that during the 1878 Berlin Conference where European powers met to partition Africa amongst themselves, native Africans were not represented. 

The conference resulted in what historians today term 'the scramble for Africa'. According to History Crunch: "It is referred to as a ‘scramble’ due to the way in which the European nations raced to capture territory to expand to their empires." It is crystal clear that imperialism was mainly motivated by the selfish interests of the colonial governments. 

Some of the negative impacts won't be known to the world today because the colonial governments carried out thorough purges to erase that side of history. This means that the colonial governments knew that what happened on their watch was very shameful, then why allow it to happen in the first place?

British journalist George Monbiot in one documentary exclusively speaks about the evils of the British colonial government in Kenya - the concentration camps and the thorough purge carried out after. He further adds:

It's not the bad stuff in history that they don't want us to see. It is also the good stuff. The massive role of slave revolts and rebellions.

 

Negative effects of imperialism in Africa

The negative impacts of British domination over African countries are numberless, some can be observed to date. They range from political interference, erosion of culture, economic exploitation and deaths of innocent African people.

#1. Political interference caused by British imperialism in Africa

When the Whiteman came to Africa, our ancestors had their own governance system - their own council of elders, Chiefs or Chieftesses, Kings or Queens and Emperors or Empresses. In short, before the arrival of the Imperialists, Africa was self-governed.

In the case of the Kenyan Agiriama people and their heroine, Mekatilili, the British colonial government imposed chiefs in place of the council of elders which was common among many African societies. This alien system of governance invoked a mass resistance movement from the people. 

The imperialists believed that some ethnic groups or races are superior to others and therefore more ‘fit’ to rule over those that are less ‘fit’.​ This philosophy is known as social dwarfism. It largely informed their decision to rule over African societies. In most cases by treachery means or by force. 

Apart from destroying the governance structure, British imperialism also disrupted the social organization of the African people. The British being a capitalistic government, forced its system on the African people who were initially a socialistic people. The idea of African Socialism can be confirmed by many African traditions and practices among them the African principle of Ubuntu - "I am because we are".

#2. Cultural erosion caused by British imperialism in Africa

The effects of cultural erosion caused by imperialism can be witnessed to date. The imperialists when visiting Africa were primarily guided by ethnocentrism. They did not value the culture of the people that they encountered during the Age of Imperialism.

With this mean policy and immense pressure brought by the colonial governments, European cultures were emphasized over African cultures. The African people lost their traditions, language and spiritual system. According to Chancellor Williams in The Destruction of Black Civilization, the worst that Africans saw in the colonial era was seeing their rulers become westernized.

Culture is important to any group of free people. It gives you purpose. Marcus Garvey said that "a people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots". Without something to hold on to, someone will fall for anything and this explains why we were easily colonized later.

#3. Economic exploitation of Africa by the British colonial government

It is widely agreed that the colonial governments did not have African interests as their priority during the colonial era. They were mainly focused on finding cheap labour and extracting mineral resources such as gold, diamond, copper, ivory, rubber etc., from Africa.

Even when the British in East Africa decided to build the Kenya-Uganda railway, the development was mainly motivated by the interests of the colonial government. Critics of colonialism in Africa suggest that this is the reason why most railways and roads built by the colonial governments face the exterior of Africa. They were established primarily to transport raw materials outside of Africa. 

In most instances, those materials were not rightfully acquired. The colonial governments used treachery methods to get the minerals. Something else to note is that the raw materials benefitted the colonizer's home countries greatly, but stalled or harmed the economies of the African countries.

British Empire's violent atrocities on Africa in conclusion

Far much worse by British imperialism in Africa was the loss of lives. The list is led by those who died fighting for the continent's independence. It is sad that the British colonial government in Kenya when faced with opposition from the MauMau between 1952 and 1960, the government branded them as a 'terrorist group'. What was their crime? Speaking to an inhuman government in the only language that it could understand? 

Mau Mau fighters were heroes of Kenya and a source of inspiration to other freedom fighters across Africa. South Africa's anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was also inspired by the Mau Mau. During his visit to Kenya in 1990, Mandela is quoted as saying: "In my 27 years of imprisonment, I always saw the images of fighters such as Kimathi, China and others as candles in my long and hard war against injustice. It is an honour for any freedom fighter to pay respect to such heroes”.

Mau Mau Veteran, Gitu Wa Kahengeri, alongside Harvard Historian Caroline Elkins.
Image Credits: The Guardian 

To those who are prepared to attack us for focusing on the negative impacts of British imperialism in Africa, we will always use all historical pieces of evidence to inform you. Before all that, we should not forget that colonialism and its driving force, imperialism were in the first place evil undertakings!

>>> Listen to a related conversation on Tuti Talk Time Show <<<

Furthermore, in the movie Cry Freedom (1987), the dramatization of Steve Biko's life, when Mr Biko is falsely charged with inciting violence in his country, he complains more to the magistrate about the atrocities of the South African apartheid government. When asked about the good side of the apartheid government, he confidently say that it was barely noticeable.

Learn more about Pan-Africanism from the author:

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