Development can be defined as the ability of a society to optimally harness and enhance its natural resources at its disposal for its growth and development. Africa, as a continent, has long been actualizing this feat before foreign invasions truncated it.
Ancient Egypt
According to Falola & Fleming (2000) in their paper titled “African Civilization: From the Precolonial to Modern Day”, by 4000 BCE ancient Egyptians had begun cultivating and irrigating crops. And, five hundred years later, these people evolved into early Egyptian states and formed the great Egyptian civilization (with the unifying of lower and upper Egypt) in 3200 BCE.
In other words, Africans were the earliest people to cultivate a variety of crops and were able to develop a centralized system of government and unite other vassal states.
Noteworthy, ancient Egypt (Kemet), before the Almoravid Arabs invaded it in the 12th century AD and destroyed some of their achievements that did not fit Almoravid beliefs and convictions, had long attained reasonable levels of development in areas like geometry, architecture, medicine, arts & crafts, sport, and music – to mention but a few. However, this was when most Europeans were still living in caves. Little wonder, Egypt is known as the cradle of human civilization.
In other words, human-known civilization began in ancient Egypt. Among the achievements of Kemet was the building of the pyramid of Giza, which still stands as one of the wonders of the world. It baffles scientists how ancient Africans were able to cut lime stones of giant and even sizes to build such massive edifices that beat human imagination.
Herodotus, the Greek philosopher and purported father of history, also witnessed the building of these great pyramids. He recorded these events in his diary by identifying that black “slaves” were used to build such structures.
The same Kemetians were the first to invent the writing material known as papyrus which later metamorphosed into what is known as paper today. There are heliographs written all over the pyramid walls that attest to their artistic creativity with insights into how life was lived in the past.
They were also the first to invent the comb, chariot, footwear, and irrigation. They also invented artificial teeth, toes and fingers, and they domesticated birds. Their height of ingenuity and creativity attracted the attention of neighbouring nations who came to learn from them. The founding fathers of Greek civilization all came to ancient Egypt to study. Thus scholars like Pythagoras, Aristotle, Herodotus, Solon, and Plato, among others, all studied in Kemet.
Western Africa
As it is well-known, civilizations rise and fall. This happened to ancient Egypt when the Almoravid Arabs invaded and destroyed Egypt’s cities. But coming down to Western Africa, we also see the light of great civilizations.
The University of Sankore, which was the first in Africa, was founded in Timbuktu in the 14th century. And so the ancient Mali Empire witnessed beehives of Islamic and academic excellence to the extent that it attracted scholars from all over the world.
In the same empire, we also witnessed the rise of a great king and warrior known as Kankan Musa, who built beautiful cities like Gao and Timbuktu itself. Interestingly, much about the Mali’s achievements was known about from the fame of the traveler, Ibn Battuta (1304–1377 CE).
Also, there is the great Asante empire of Ghana, which flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries and was known for its skills in gold, bronze, wood carving, furniture, and brightly woven cloth, called Kante craftmanship.
Likewise the Benin Empire, which controlled trade routes up to Accra, developed a sophisticated culture, especially in bronze, iron, and ivory making, and astonished visitors with their skilful craftsmanship.
The Dahomey Empire was known for its military prowess. Moreso, the Kanem-Bornu Empire, under Mai-Idris Alooma, who expanded the Empire, cleared roads, designed better boats for Lake Chad, introduced standard units of measurement for grains, and moved farmers into new lands.
Eastern, central and southern Africa
East African kingdoms were in contact with China, India, and the Middle East before the arrival of Europeans. It was these trading links with Indians and Arabs that formed the Swahili language which has become a lingua franca in the region today.
In Central Africa, the Kongo kingdom was a flourishing civilization from the 14th to the 19th century. This kingdom devised a creative method of melting copper and gold, and traded other products such as raffia clothes and pottery. The society was organized and progressive.
In Southern Africa, the Mapungubwe kingdom was the predecessor of the great Zimbabwe kingdom, which flourished from the 13th to the 17th centuries. These kingdoms became very powerful and traded in gold, ostrich eggs, elephant tusks, copper and agricultural crops with neighbouring states. Their societies were centralized politically and had strong armies. The Zulu kingdom was powerful, and advanced in trade and military might under the leadership of the famous king Shaka.
“Independent” Africa
Before the advent of the Western and Arab trans-Atlantic and Sahara slave trades, and later colonialisms, the various African kingdoms were developing at their own pace. However, foreign incursion stagnated and dislocated their natural growth and development, and Africa is still grappling with the injustice of this contact with powerful external forces.
Looking at Nigeria, for example, the most populous black nation on earth, created by the British colonialists, it has never managed to develop the capacity to pull its people out of poverty. Extracontinental powers have vested interests in its affairs, knowing that Nigeria is the biggest market for their products in Africa – and for their ideologies. They never wanted the indigenous people to develop their own local capacity to advance in any sphere of endeavour.
Similar situations play in almost all “independent” African nations today. External powers aim to control African leaders remotely so that these leaders permit the unequal exchange of resources in the name of international trade. On the other hand, any leader who fails to dance to their tune may face the consequences, as we have seen in Mozambique, Zaire (now the DRC), Angola, Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Ethiopia, Niger, Sudan, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Congo, and Equatoria Guinea, among others – all since they became “independent”.
Africa is still underdeveloped today because African countries cannot develop their own natural resources for the benefit of their people. Instead, these resources find their way to Europe, Asia, and the Americas at low cost where they are turned into finished products and exported to Africa at exorbitant prices. This trade thus further stagnates Africa’s growth and development by importing inflation and destroying indigenous industries.
Sadly, official corruption is another factor that has characterized Western and Arab-backed governments in Africa, and this further impedes the development of their countries. Billions of dollars are looted by politicians and government officials, and are taken to foreign banks. Sadly, this denies Africa the capital needed for development. The extra-continental powers have reduced Africa to merely a producer of raw materials for their industries.
The solution
The best way for Africa to come out of the woods is by revolting against bad governance until good leaders emerge who will serve the economic interests of their peoples. Moreover, the United Nations should put pressure on the extra-continental powers to change their attitude towards the continent Africa. If they did so, Africa would see the growth and development it badly needs to snowball its people out of poverty.
By Zacham Bayei