The Fortunes of Africa by Martin Meredith
A 5000-Year History of Wealth, Greed, and Endeavor. A remarkable story of the making or, should I say, the unmaking of Africa!! How do you summarize 700 pages of history in a few words? Capturing all the stories and “facts”? As I doubt there is a way one can successfully sum up the history of Africa in a few words, I encourage you, beyond this summary, to read the book. I can safely say that Martin Meredith has provided a well-written time travel to different places and times across Africa.
NB: My personal reflection and response to The Fortunes of Africa will be published in a separate article in the near future.
Ever since the era of the pharaohs, Africa has been coveted for its riches. The pyramids of the Nile Valley dazzled the rest of the world not just because of the ingenuity of their architects and builders but as symbols of the wealth of Egypt’s rulers who commissioned them as stepping stones to the afterlife.
The author starts by showing that the unification of Egypt nearly 5,000 years ago marked the emergence of the world’s first nation-state. It’s rulers - a succession of dynasties of pharaohs that lasted for 3,000 years – acquired the status of gods and devoted their time to demonstrating their divine authority and omnipotence. The pharaohs’ preoccupation with eternal life eventually spread to other sections of the Egyptian population. No longer was the pharaoh regarded as having the sole right to an afterlife in the company of gods. Senior official and eventually everyone wanted the afterlife. This frenetic search to secure the afterlife resulted produced a wealth of inscriptions on tombs and coffins which have helped modern generations know and understand life in Egypt during these ancient times.
In the early days of Africa, innovation and new technologies were more driven by the desire to escape or survive death.
The Romans relied on their colonies in north Africa for vital grain shipments to feed the burgeoning population of Rome; they named one of their coastal provinces Africa after a Berber tribe known as the Afri who lived in the region of modern Tunisia.
Legends about Africa’s riches endured for millennia, drawing in explorers and conquerors from afar. Stories in the Bible about the fabulous gifts of gold and precious stones that the Queen of Sheba brought to Salomon during her visit to Jerusalem in the tenth century BCE grew into folklore about the land of Ophir that inspired European adventurers in their quest for gold to launch a war of conquest in Africa 3,000 years later.
With limited available written accounts from Africa, the modern history of Africa is mainly known through stories of explorations and power struggles. The history of explorations are indeed stories of a scramble for rare and needed commodities including precious stones, ivory, rubber, slaves, land and later on national prestige. While commerce in these areas existed but on a lower scale across Africa for centuries, the industrial revolution took heightened it to a large scale in a rush to rapidly amass wealth causing deaths in millions and the destruction of early African societies.
In the space of twenty years, mainly in the hope of gaining economic benefit and for seasons of national prestige, European powers claimed possession of virtually the entire continent. Europe’s occupation precipitated wars of resistance in almost every part of the continent. Scores of African rulers who opposed colonial rule died in battle or were executed or sent into exile after military defeat. By the end of the scramble, European powers had merged some 10,000 African separate communities into colonies. The new territories were almost all artificial entities, with boundaries that paid little attention to the myriad of monarchies, chiefdoms and other societies on the ground.
Colonial rule was expected to last for hundreds of years, but turned out to be only an interlude in Africa’s history, lasting for little more than seventy years. Facing rising tide of anti-colonial protest and insurrection, European governments handed over their African territories to independence movements with little planning and absence of vision for the future.
The independence era beginning in the 1950s, prompted much jubilation and enjoyed the world’s applause. Africa seemed to hold so much promise. African leaders stepped forward with energy and enthusiasm to tackle the tasks of development. The honeymoon, however, was brief. The new states of Africa were not “nations”. They possessed no ethnic, class or ideological background to hold together. Once the momentum to oust colonial rule had subsided, older loyalties and ambitions came thrusting to the fore, often exploited by politicians for their own ends resulting in tribal and civil wars.
With little preparation to take over complex systems and with the colonial master still heavily interfering in their former colonies, siding with factions that remained loyal to them; African leaders became preoccupied with gaining a monopoly of power, preferring to rule through systems of patronage to enforce their control. Ruling elites seized every opportunity for self-enrichment, looting state assets at will. Decades were lost in internal conflicts, mismanagement and corruption.
Despite the high level risk and hassle, the lure of Africa’s riches remains as strong in the twenty-first century as in the past. As well as the activities of Western corporations, new players have entered the field. The rising economic might of China and other Asian countries has stimulated a boom in demand for Africa’s oil and mineral resources. Land too has become a prized commodity once more. To secure supplies, foreign corporations have acquired huge landholdings in Africa under the watch or in collaboration with African leader, just as the Romans did.
But much of the wealth generated by foreign activity and local production flows out of Africa to destinations abroad. Africa’s ruling elites further drain their countries of funds, stashing huge sums in bank accounts and property overseas. The World Bank estimates that 40 percent of Africa’s private wealth is held offshore.
My personal refection and response to The Fortunes of Africa will appear here (in the near future).
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