200 years of African transformation: From colonial carve-up to continental rebirth

Spanning from the early 1800s to the present day, Africa has travelled the tumultuous journey from colonisation to independence, and now, to continental integration.

This transformation is more than cartographic—it’s a deep story of resilience, resistance, and resurgence.

At the dawn of the 19th century, Africa was largely controlled by indigenous kingdoms and empires like the Ashanti, Zulu, Sokoto Caliphate, and Buganda. However, this indigenous order was violently upended during the infamous Scramble for Africa in the late 1800s, formalised at the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885.

European powers—chiefly Britain, France, Belgium, Portugal, Germany, and Italy—divided the continent without African input, creating borders that persist today. By 1914, over 90% of Africa was under colonial rule.

The aftermath of World War II and the weakening of European empires gave birth to a wave of African nationalism. Between 1951 (Libya) and 1994 (South Africa’s first post-apartheid elections), nearly every African territory transitioned from colonial to self-rule.

Highlights include:

• Ghana’s independence in 1957, the first in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Algeria’s brutal liberation war against France (1954–1962).
• Angola and Mozambique’s transitions following the fall of Portugal’s dictatorship in 1974.

By the late 20th century, 54 recognised African states had emerged, reshaping the political map entirely.

Despite independence, most African nations inherited borders drawn by colonial powers, which often grouped together disparate ethnic groups or split single nations apart. These colonial boundaries are at the heart of many ongoing conflicts, such as:

• The Somali-Ethiopian Ogaden conflict
• Sudan’s civil wars leading to South Sudan’s independence in 2011
• Tensions in the Sahel and Lake Chad basin

However, in recent decades, Africa has embarked on a new form of transformation—not by redrawing borders, but by reclaiming political and economic agency.

Key developments include:

• The African Union (AU), launched in 2002, now unites 55 states under shared objectives of peace, development, and integration.
• The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), operational since 2021, is the largest free trade zone in the world by country count, aiming to increase intra-African trade by 52% by 2030 (World Bank).
• Movements to reclaim indigenous names and rewrite colonial-era narratives, e.g., Harare (formerly Salisbury), Kinshasa (formerly Léopoldville), and eSwatini (formerly Swaziland).