Africa’s history and development have been shaped by its political geography. Political geography is the internal and external relationships between various governments, citizens, and territories.
Historic Issues
The great kingdoms of West Africa developed between the 9th and 16th centuries. The Kingdom of Ghana (Ghana Empire) became a powerful empire through its gold trade, which reached the rest of Africa and parts of Europe. Ghanaian kings controlled gold-mining operations and implemented a system of taxation that solidified their control of the region for about 400 years.
The Kingdom of Mali (Mali Empire) expanded the Kingdom of Ghana’s trade operations to include trade in salt and copper. The Kingdom of Mali’s great wealth contributed to the creation of learning centers where Muslim scholars from around the world came to study. These centers greatly added to Africa’s cultural and academic enrichment.
The Kingdom of Songhai (Songhai Empire) combined the powerful forces of Islam, commercial trade, and scholarship. Songhai kings expanded trade routes, set up a new system of laws, expanded the military, and encouraged scholarship to unify and stabilize their empire. Their economic and social power was anchored by the Islamic faith.
Colonization dramatically changed Africa. From the 1880s to the 1900s, almost all of Africa was exploited and colonized, a period known as the “Scramble for Africa.” European powers saw Africa as a source of raw materials and a market for manufactured goods. Important European colonizers included Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy.
The legacy of colonialism haunts Africa today. Colonialism forced environmental, political, social, and religious change to Africa. Natural resources, including diamonds and gold, were over-exploited. European business owners benefitted from trade in these natural resources, while Africans labored in poor conditions without adequate pay.
European powers drew new political borders that divided established governments and cultural groups. These new boundaries also forced different cultural groups to live together. This restructuring process brought out cultural tensions, causing deep ethnic conflict that continues today.
In Africa, Islam and Christianity grew with colonialism. Christianity was spread through the work of European missionaries, while Islam consolidated its power in certain undisturbed regions and urban centers.
World War II (1939-1945) empowered Africans to confront colonial rule. Africans were inspired by their service in the Allies’ forces and by the Allies’ commitment to the rights of self-government. Africans’ belief in the possibility of independence was further supported by the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian independence leader who began his career in South Africa, said: “I venture to think that the Allied declaration that the Allies are fighting to make the world safe for the freedom of the individual and for democracy sounds hollow so long as India, and for that matter Africa, are exploited by Great Britain.”
By 1966, all but six African countries were independent nation-states. Funding from the Soviet Union and independent African states was integral to the success of Africa’s independence movements. Regions in Africa continue to fight for their political independence. Western Sahara, for instance, has been under Moroccan control since 1979. The United Nations is currently sponsoring talks between Morocco and a Western Sahara rebel group called the Polisario Front, which supports independence.
Contemporary Issues
Managing inter-ethnic conflict continues to be an important factor in maintaining national, regional, and continent-wide security. One of the chief areas of conflict is the struggle between sedentary and nomadic groups over control of resources and land.
The conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region, for example, is between nomadic and sedentary communities who are fighting over water and grazing rights for livestock. The conflict also involves religious, cultural, and economic tensions. In 2003, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), groups from Darfur, attacked government targets in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum.
The SLA and JEM were from different religious and cultural backgrounds than the government of Sudan. The Darfurians were mostly Christians, while the Sudanese government is mostly Muslim. Darfurians are mostly “black” Africans, meaning their cultural identity is from a region south of the Sahara. The Sudanese government is dominated by Arabs, people from North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The SLA and JEM were mostly farmers. They claimed their land and grazing rights were consistently being trespassed by nomadic Arab groups.
The Sudanese government responded violently to the attacks by the SLA and JEM. Many international organizations believe the government had a direct relationship with the Arab Janjaweed. The Janjaweed are militias, or independent armed groups. The Janjaweed routinely stole from, kidnapped, killed, and raped Darfurians to force them off their land. The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died as a result of war, hunger, and disease. More than 2.7 million people have fled their homes to live in insecure and impoverished camps.
The international community’s response to this conflict has been extensive. Thousands of African Union-United Nation peacekeepers remain in the region. Other groups have organized peace talks between government officials and JEM, culminating in a 2009 peace deal signed in Qatar. The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
As a result of ethnic conflicts like the one in Darfur, Africa has more internally displaced people (IDPs) than any other continent. IDPs are people who are forced to flee their home but who, unlike a refugee, remain within their country’s borders. In 2009, there were an estimated 11.6 million IDPs in Africa, representing more than 40 percent of the world’s total IDP population.
Regional and international political bodies have taken important steps in resolving the causes and effects of internal displacement. In October 2009, the African Union adopted the Kampala Convention, recognized as the first agreement in the world to protect the rights of IDPs.
Future Issues
Africa’s most pressing issues can be framed through the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). All 192 members of the United Nations and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to meet the goals by 2015. These goals are:
1) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger;
2) achieve universal primary education;
3) promote gender equality and empower women;
4) reduce child mortality rates;
5) improve maternal health;
6) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases;
7) ensure environmental sustainability;
8) develop a global partnership for development.
These issues disproportionately affect Africa. Because of this, the international community has focused its attention on the continent.
Many parts of Africa are affected by hunger and extreme poverty. In 2009, 22 of 24 nations identified as having “Low Human Development” on the U.N.’s Human Development Index were located in Sub-Saharan Africa. In many nations, gross domestic product per person is less than $200 per year, with the vast majority of the population living on less than $1 per day.
Africa’s committee for the Millennium Development Goals focuses on three key issues: increasing agricultural productivity, building infrastructure, and creating nutrition and school feeding programs. Key goals include doubling food yields by 2012, halving the proportion of people without access to adequate water supply and sanitation, and providing universal access to critical nutrition.
Scholars, scientists, and politicians believe climate change will negatively affect the economic and social well-being of Africa more than any other continent. Rising temperatures have caused precipitation patterns to change, crops to reach the upper limits of heat tolerance, pastoral farmers to spend more time in search of water supplies, and malaria and other diseases to spread throughout the continent.
International organizations and agreements, such as the Copenhagen Accord, have guaranteed funding for measures to combat or reduce the effects of climate change in Africa. Many African politicians and scholars, however, are critical of this funding. They say it addresses the effects of climate change after they occur, rather than creating programs to prevent global warming, the current period of climate change. African leaders also criticize developed countries for not making more of an internal commitment to reducing carbon emissions. Developed countries, not Africa, are the world’s largest producers of carbon emissions.
What is certain is that Africa will need foreign assistance in order to successfully combat climate change. Leaders within Africa and outside it will need to seek greater international cooperation for this to become a reality.
Historic Issues
The great kingdoms of West Africa developed between the 9th and 16th centuries. The Kingdom of Ghana (Ghana Empire) became a powerful empire through its gold trade, which reached the rest of Africa and parts of Europe. Ghanaian kings controlled gold-mining operations and implemented a system of taxation that solidified their control of the region for about 400 years.
The Kingdom of Mali (Mali Empire) expanded the Kingdom of Ghana’s trade operations to include trade in salt and copper. The Kingdom of Mali’s great wealth contributed to the creation of learning centers where Muslim scholars from around the world came to study. These centers greatly added to Africa’s cultural and academic enrichment.
The Kingdom of Songhai (Songhai Empire) combined the powerful forces of Islam, commercial trade, and scholarship. Songhai kings expanded trade routes, set up a new system of laws, expanded the military, and encouraged scholarship to unify and stabilize their empire. Their economic and social power was anchored by the Islamic faith.
Colonization dramatically changed Africa. From the 1880s to the 1900s, almost all of Africa was exploited and colonized, a period known as the “Scramble for Africa.” European powers saw Africa as a source of raw materials and a market for manufactured goods. Important European colonizers included Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy.
The legacy of colonialism haunts Africa today. Colonialism forced environmental, political, social, and religious change to Africa. Natural resources, including diamonds and gold, were over-exploited. European business owners benefitted from trade in these natural resources, while Africans labored in poor conditions without adequate pay.
European powers drew new political borders that divided established governments and cultural groups. These new boundaries also forced different cultural groups to live together. This restructuring process brought out cultural tensions, causing deep ethnic conflict that continues today.
In Africa, Islam and Christianity grew with colonialism. Christianity was spread through the work of European missionaries, while Islam consolidated its power in certain undisturbed regions and urban centers.
World War II (1939-1945) empowered Africans to confront colonial rule. Africans were inspired by their service in the Allies’ forces and by the Allies’ commitment to the rights of self-government. Africans’ belief in the possibility of independence was further supported by the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian independence leader who began his career in South Africa, said: “I venture to think that the Allied declaration that the Allies are fighting to make the world safe for the freedom of the individual and for democracy sounds hollow so long as India, and for that matter Africa, are exploited by Great Britain.”
By 1966, all but six African countries were independent nation-states. Funding from the Soviet Union and independent African states was integral to the success of Africa’s independence movements. Regions in Africa continue to fight for their political independence. Western Sahara, for instance, has been under Moroccan control since 1979. The United Nations is currently sponsoring talks between Morocco and a Western Sahara rebel group called the Polisario Front, which supports independence.
Contemporary Issues
Managing inter-ethnic conflict continues to be an important factor in maintaining national, regional, and continent-wide security. One of the chief areas of conflict is the struggle between sedentary and nomadic groups over control of resources and land.
The conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region, for example, is between nomadic and sedentary communities who are fighting over water and grazing rights for livestock. The conflict also involves religious, cultural, and economic tensions. In 2003, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), groups from Darfur, attacked government targets in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum.
The SLA and JEM were from different religious and cultural backgrounds than the government of Sudan. The Darfurians were mostly Christians, while the Sudanese government is mostly Muslim. Darfurians are mostly “black” Africans, meaning their cultural identity is from a region south of the Sahara. The Sudanese government is dominated by Arabs, people from North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The SLA and JEM were mostly farmers. They claimed their land and grazing rights were consistently being trespassed by nomadic Arab groups.
The Sudanese government responded violently to the attacks by the SLA and JEM. Many international organizations believe the government had a direct relationship with the Arab Janjaweed. The Janjaweed are militias, or independent armed groups. The Janjaweed routinely stole from, kidnapped, killed, and raped Darfurians to force them off their land. The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died as a result of war, hunger, and disease. More than 2.7 million people have fled their homes to live in insecure and impoverished camps.
The international community’s response to this conflict has been extensive. Thousands of African Union-United Nation peacekeepers remain in the region. Other groups have organized peace talks between government officials and JEM, culminating in a 2009 peace deal signed in Qatar. The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
As a result of ethnic conflicts like the one in Darfur, Africa has more internally displaced people (IDPs) than any other continent. IDPs are people who are forced to flee their home but who, unlike a refugee, remain within their country’s borders. In 2009, there were an estimated 11.6 million IDPs in Africa, representing more than 40 percent of the world’s total IDP population.
Regional and international political bodies have taken important steps in resolving the causes and effects of internal displacement. In October 2009, the African Union adopted the Kampala Convention, recognized as the first agreement in the world to protect the rights of IDPs.
Future Issues
Africa’s most pressing issues can be framed through the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). All 192 members of the United Nations and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to meet the goals by 2015. These goals are:
1) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger;
2) achieve universal primary education;
3) promote gender equality and empower women;
4) reduce child mortality rates;
5) improve maternal health;
6) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases;
7) ensure environmental sustainability;
8) develop a global partnership for development.
These issues disproportionately affect Africa. Because of this, the international community has focused its attention on the continent.
Many parts of Africa are affected by hunger and extreme poverty. In 2009, 22 of 24 nations identified as having “Low Human Development” on the U.N.’s Human Development Index were located in Sub-Saharan Africa. In many nations, gross domestic product per person is less than $200 per year, with the vast majority of the population living on less than $1 per day.
Africa’s committee for the Millennium Development Goals focuses on three key issues: increasing agricultural productivity, building infrastructure, and creating nutrition and school feeding programs. Key goals include doubling food yields by 2012, halving the proportion of people without access to adequate water supply and sanitation, and providing universal access to critical nutrition.
Scholars, scientists, and politicians believe climate change will negatively affect the economic and social well-being of Africa more than any other continent. Rising temperatures have caused precipitation patterns to change, crops to reach the upper limits of heat tolerance, pastoral farmers to spend more time in search of water supplies, and malaria and other diseases to spread throughout the continent.
International organizations and agreements, such as the Copenhagen Accord, have guaranteed funding for measures to combat or reduce the effects of climate change in Africa. Many African politicians and scholars, however, are critical of this funding. They say it addresses the effects of climate change after they occur, rather than creating programs to prevent global warming, the current period of climate change. African leaders also criticize developed countries for not making more of an internal commitment to reducing carbon emissions. Developed countries, not Africa, are the world’s largest producers of carbon emissions.
What is certain is that Africa will need foreign assistance in order to successfully combat climate change. Leaders within Africa and outside it will need to seek greater international cooperation for this to become a reality.
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