British and French Colonies

British and French Colonies

After WWII the British colony wanted to achieve independence in West Africa. In 1947 the establishment, Convention Peoples Party, Kwame Nkrumah became the leader of the Gold Coast. He was put to jail but even so he transformed the CPP into major political party which then Britain granted the Gold Coast full self-government. In Kenya a nationalist Jomo Kenyatta argued the importance for the right of land. In 1963 Kenya become the independent nation with Jomo Kenyatta as the nation’s prime minister. The British and French wanted to join with African colo
nies.

Portuguese and Belgian Colonies

Not as difficult as the British and French colonies the Belgians and Portuguese held on to their African colonies longer than any other European nations until violence forced them to decolonize. After WWII the government prepared the Belgian Congo for self-government which later created much violence to the Belgian settlers. Portugal continued to hold on to its colonies they organized their own armies to fight for independence. The war between the Africans and the Portuguese drained economy making it impossible to support themselves. They withdrew from Africa.

South Africa

South Africa was run by white Afrikaners created no freedom for the nonwhites. Racial discrimination in 1948 the National Party instituted a policy of apartheid. This divided the four racial groups. This law was worse on the blacks and divided them on the way were they could live.

Political Challenges

The African National Congress held protests against South Africa’s apartheid.  A lawyer named Nelson Mandela organized a campaign that urged blacks to break apartheid. The Sharpeville Massacre was a game changer. Democracy in South Africa made progress but most countries still struggled to hold free and fair elections and maintain stability. Military dictatorships adopted a system called one party rule. The Ethnic Conflicts and Civil War also created many problems in many countries.

Economic and Environmental Challenges

After achieving independence Africans had to now fix the struggling economics, disease, and desertification. African nations asked the World Bank for a loan to help with the economics but did very little help. HIV/AIDS disease took control of Africa and the government tried to fix it as much as they could. Desertification threatened the future of Africa by contributing to the cycles of drought and famine that plague many African countries today.

Revival of African Culture