Africa's Political Geography

Objectives

• Explore political organization and administration in pre-colonial Africa.
• Appreciate African political institutions from pre-colonial through to contemporary times.
• Explain Africa's diversity within and outside the continent.

What is the Political Geography of Africa?

• The physical and conceptual presence of Africa includes its cultures, political systems, and values across time and space.
• Physical geography of Africa refers to the continent as depicted on the map including its peoples, traditions, and political institutions.
• Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is Africa south of the Sahara.
• North Africa is the Maghreb.
• Conceptual geography of Africa includes its people, cultures, traditions, and practices on the continent and in the diaspora.
• African Diaspora locations include Europe, the Caribbean, North America, and South America.
• Time and space refer to the historical and contemporary expansion of Africa and it's values, political and religious systems in the diaspora and on the continent.

Important Facts

• Africa is the second largest continent, after Asia.
• It has a land area of a little over 11,700,000 km².
• Africa stretches approximately 5000 miles from Cape Town to Cairo.
• Africa stretches approximately 3000 miles from Dakar to Mogadishu.
• The distance from the most eastern point to the most western point is about 4,600 miles.
• The population in 2013 was 1,110,635,000 (1.11 billion), with an estimated 1.166 billion in 2015.
• This indicates rapid population growth.
• Africa's land size is about the size of the USA, Argentina, Europe, India, China, and New Zealand combined.
• This is about 3.5 times the size of the United States of America.
• There are 54 modern states, including island republics off its coasts.
• 54 countries are members of the AU.
• There are 55 recognized states including Morocco.
• There are 56 recognized states and de facto states including Somaliland.

Key Facts on African States

• Most African states are multi-lingual except for a few: Somalia, Swaziland, Lesotho, & Botswana.
• Nigeria has over 500 languages, while Kenya has over 100.
• Africa is the cradle of humanity.
• The first humans lived on African soil, or the ancestors of homo sapiens.

Ali Mazrui's View of Africa

• Africa is the first habitat of man, but the last to be made habitable.
• Africans are not the most brutalized of all people but probably the most humiliated in modern history.
• African societies are not the closest to the West culturally but have been experiencing the most rapid pace of westernization.
• Africa is not the poorest of all the regions of the world in resources, but it is the least developed of the inhabited continents; and might be the most fragmented.
• Africa is the most central of all continents in geographical location, but politically and to some extent militarily, it may be the most marginal.

Making of the African Diaspora

• Ancient Voluntary Migration populated the rest of the world, including remote islands.
• Forced Migration/Forcible dislocations include:
  • Trans-Saharan & Trans-Atlantic 'slave trade' (Maafa)
  • Conflicts (escaping conflicts)
  • Colonialism (French Policy)
• Voluntary/Manipulated Migration:
  • Pursuit of economic interests
  • Education (and self improvement)
  • Diplomatic postings

Indigenous State Development & Government

• States and kingdoms came into being as people from different communities came together for purposes of commerce, trade, defence and protection or through conquest and annexation.
• Those under jurisdictions of such confederations or kingdoms found that the breadth and complexity of their political consciousness had increased.
• Large scale empires initially 'rose' out of smaller kingdoms through military expansion or diplomacy, but they eventually fragmented into their component parts.
• Large scale empires usually recognized legitimacy and autonomy of local leaders and communities.
• The 'small' traditions of such local communities usually remained vital and resilient, even during serious disruptions when the 'great' traditions of imperial civilizations were abandoned or destroyed.
• Examples of ancient, medieval, & Early Modern African states:
  • Ancient Egypt
  • Kush/Nubia
  • Axum
  • Ghana
  • Mali
  • The Dahomey Kingdom
  • Songhai
  • Kanem Bornu
  • Buganda
  • The Oyo Empire
  • The Zulu Kingdom
  • Malawi/Maravi [In central & southern Malawi, parts of Zambia, and Mozambique coast]

Indigenous State Structures and Forms of Authority

• State Structure took two forms: Centralized and Decentralized.
• Centralized states had well defined political authority with institutionalized bureaucracy for collecting taxes, supervising ceremonies, maintaining law and order and carrying out the general orders of the political heads .
• Examples of centralized states are the Old Ghana empire, and the Mali Empire.
• Forms of indigenous authority under centralized states include:
  • Hierarchical systems
  • Federated systems
• Highly centralized states had powerful political figures (kings) presiding, with efficient bureaucracy and military arrangement [Coercive force].
• Political heads often had subordinates/officials who assisted in the day-to-day administration of the society, via delegation of authority.
  • Examples: Buganda KIngdom (in Uganda), Dahomey kingdom (in Republic of Benin), and Ankole (in Uganda).
• A federation consists of different levels of semi-autonomous groups with their own chiefs ( 'primus inter pares' or first among equals).
• Placement on a scale and political structure is based on seniority; higher chiefs may or may not have the right to interfere directly in the affairs of lower chiefs.
• In such instances, lower chiefs are expected to show deference to higher ones.
• Yoruba of Nigeria are an example of this.
• Politically, decentralized societies lacked bureaucracies but authority was often based on kinship.
• Maintenance of law and order deferred to elders, age-set groups, or other groups.
• Decentralization includes a gradation from societies without any state structures to transitory forms of state organizations. Their indigenous authority was diffused & segmented with no one really in charge.
• Some societies do not act as a unit, but were segmented on clan/lineage or territorial basis.
• No one person held power & authority as there was no single powerful political figure's whose word was law.
• Segments of the society could be managed by elders, age-sets or councils, associations, etc.
• There was no collective response to community crises.
  • Feuds & self-help could existed in such societies.
• Examples: Tallensi & Konkomba (Northern Ghana), Igbo & Tiv (Nigeria), and Nuer (Sudan).
• Indigenous African political institutions were largely based on kinship and descent/ancestry.
• Rules of procedure were established through custom & tradition as there was/is no written constitution/law.
• In some societies women played active political roles as office holders like queen mothers, queens, royal advisors, ritual experts, and even fighters (the 'Amazons' of Dahomey).
• The indigenous political system featured some democratic features like succession regulated according to descent and merit in some cases.
• Checks and balances existed as well as consensus-building.
• Power and authority in the indigenous political system was both secular and sacred.
• The village or kin-group constituted the basic unit of the indigenous political system.

European Presence in Africa:

• The Portuguese arrived on Gold Coast shores in 1471 and had previously visited other West African shores.
• Other Europeans, including the Dutch, Danes, the English, and French, followed.
• Trade was established between Europeans and Africans.
• Traded items included gold, ivory, beads, and slaves.
• Europeans brought manufactured goods such as cloth, alcohol, guns, and beads.
• Christianity was also introduced.
• The Gold Coast, Ivory Coast, and Slave Coast become labels.

Treaties in African Societies

• Encounters between the Europeans and the local people were formalized with treaties.
• The Bond of 1844 was signed between Fanti Chiefs and the British.
• The Treaty of Butre was between the Netherlands (the Dutch) and the people of Ahanta.

Missionaries in Africa

• There were many Christian Missions in Africa.
• Those active in the Gold Coast:
  • The Protestants (The Anglicans, The Basel Missions, Wesleyan Methodist, etc.)
  • The Catholics
• Main aim was to preach the Gospel and to convert people.
• Missionaries gathered information and laid the groundwork necessary for the subsequent imperialistic ambitions and colonization of Africa by first colonizing minds.

Berlin Conference & Africa's Partition

• France began the European partition of Africa in 1879 with activities in the interior of Senegal.
• German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck requested of Portugal to call a conference of major western powers to discuss and end the confusion over the control of Africa, November 15, 1884.
• Fourteen Western countries attended the conference:
  • Austria-Hungary
  • Belgium
  • Denmark
  • France
  • Spain
  • Great Britain
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • the Netherlands
  • Portugal
  • Russia
  • Turkey
  • the United States of America
  • Sweden-Norway (unified from 1814-1905).
• Major Players were France, Germany, Great Britain, and Portugal.
• The conference closed on February 26, 1885.
• During the three month period colonial powers negotiated geometric boundaries in the interior of the continent, ignoring the cultural and linguistic boundaries established by indigenous African populations.

European Holdings & Colonialism

• Great Britain desired a Cape-to-Cairo collection of colonies and almost succeeded in getting:
  • Egypt
  • Sudan (Anglo-Egyptian Sudan)
  • Uganda
  • Kenya (British East Africa)
  • South Africa
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe (Rhodesia)
  • Botswana.
• The British also controlled Nigeria and the Gold Coast (Ghana).
• France took much of western Africa from:
  • Chad (French West Africa)
  • Gabon
  • the Republic of Congo (French Equatorial Africa)
  • Mauritania.
• Belgium and King Leopold II claimed the Democratic Republic of Congo (Belgian Congo).
• Portugal took Mozambique in the east and Angola in the west.
• Italy claimed Somalia (Italian Somaliland) and a portion of Ethiopia.
• Germany took Namibia (German Southwest Africa) & Tanzania (German East Africa), Togo, and Cameroon.
• Spain claimed Equatorial Guinea (Rio Muni).

Nature of Colonial Rule

• European colonial powers shared one objective: exploitation.
• They differed in their styles of governance over the colonies.
• The British established a system of indirect rule.
• France and the other colonial powers ruled the colonies directly from the metropolitan centres in Europe.
• The French sought to create culturally assimilated elites to represent French ideals in the colonies.
• King Leopold II, who had financed the expeditions that staked Belgium's claim to the Congo, embarked on a campaign of ruthless exploitation associated with mass torture and death of the African people.

Nationalism and Struggle for Independence:

Necessitating factors include:

• exploitation, discrimination and neglect of the colonies by colonial authorities.
• world wars.
• western education.

Political Legacies of Colonial Rule

• New State Structures came into being.
• The new state structures were carved out without regard to pre-existing conditions.
• They were mostly centralized.
• Subordination of indigenous political institutions and systems of authority was a thing.
• Different Systems of Governance bestowed include Presidential Systems, Parliamentary Systems, and Hybrid Systems.
• Different Political Institutions bestowed include the Legislature, Executive, Judiciary, and Competitive Elections.

Pan-Africanism

• It is a perception by some Africans (at home and abroad) that they share a common destiny and interest as a people of African descent.
• This concept was a result of slavery and colonialism in Africa.
• It can be traced to the first pan-African conference of July 1900 in London.
• The conference was convened by Henry Sylvester Williams and the African Association (AA), founded by him in 1898.
• The conference set up the Pan-African Association (PAA) which later metamorphosed into the Pan-African Movement (PAM).
• The Pan-African Movement sought to form the United States of Africa (USA), which would include Caribbean countries which would also ensure closer ties between peoples of the African Diaspora. It also seeks create friendlier relations between people of African descent and other races and secure civil rights of all Africans in the world plus promote African businesses globally.
• Some members of Pan-African Movement:
  • H. S. Williams (1869-1911)
  • W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963), father of pan-Africanism.
  • Marcus Garvey (1887-1940), who said "Africa for the Africans."
  • George Padmore (1902-1959)
  • Kwame Nkrumah (c. 1909-1972)- the father of pan-Africanism on the African continent.
  • Haile Selassie I (1892-1975)- first Chairman of Africa Unity 1963/64
  • Cheikh Anta Diop (1923-1986)
  • Julius K. Nyerere (1922-1999)
  • Malcolm X (1925-1965)
• Legacies of Pan-Africanism:
  • The Independent African/Caribbean states
  • Formation of the OAU and later AU
  • Global civil rights for people of African descent
  • African Studies/Afrocentrism

Quest for Continental Government

• The Early Debate around Regionalism versus. Continentalism.
• Despite broad agreement among African leaders about the importance of pan-Africanism as a foreign policy goal, there was disagreement about the proper path to achieve such unity.
• Three factions emerged because of this disagreement:
  • Brazzaville Group
  • Casablanca Group
• Monrovia Group
• The Brazzaville Group was named for the capital of Congo-Brazzaville, which had members that were mainly the francophone countries.
• The Brazzaville Group used a minimalist and and standard diplomatic means/practices to coordinate national economic policies, but paid little consideration to the idea of continent-wide institutions.
• The Casablanca Group was named after the Moroccan city and was led by Nkrumah.
• They argued that the success of pan-Africanism required a political union of all independent African countries, patterned after the federal model of the United States.
• The Monrovia Group rejects political union as both undesirable and unfeasible.
• It was named after the capital of Liberia.
• The Monrovia Group was led by Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Belewa, the Prime Minister of Nigeria.
• They believed that African leaders would jealously guard their countries' newfound independence.
• They Monrovia Group sought a greater degree of cooperation than the Brazzaville Group.
• It called for the creation of independence African states to promote growing cooperation in functional areas such as economic, scientific, educational and social development.
• Organization of African Unity (OAU), the first Pan-African, intergovernmental org of independent African countries based on African soil, was formed on May 25, 1963 by thirty-one African Heads of State and embrace the Monrovia vision.
• The OAU sought to gain freedom and liberation from colonial rule.
• Contemporary Efforts to continue these aims include:
  • The AU was launched in 2002 to replace the OAU.
  • Was inspired by the ideals of Pan-Africanism to promote unity, solidarity, cohesion and cooperation among Africans.
  • NEPAD is a merger of the Millennium Partnership for the Africa's Recovery Programme (MAP) and the OMEGA Plan.
  • It was mooted by Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal as a new partnership under UN supervision.
• The merger of OMEGA & MAP was finalized on July 3, 2001 which led to creation of NAI.
• Its policy framework was finalized on 23rd October 2001, forming NEPAD (The New Partnership for Africa's Development).
• The OMEGA plan is a finance-driven plan which partners with the rest of the world, managed by a "global authority" under the responsibility of the UN Secretary General.
• It aims to secure financing for educational, healthcare, and agricultural resources for African nations.
• NEPAD provides a strategic framework for the socio-economic upliftment of Africa, integrating the continent into the global economy and placing it on the path to sustainable development.

Explore Africa's political geography, including its conceptual aspects, size comparisons, linguistic diversity, and population trends. Understand the African Diaspora and its influence on political systems. Analyze the number of recognized states and member states in the African Union.