The first white people to land in Southern Africa were the Portuguese. In August 1487 Bartolomeo Diaz landed at Mossel Bay, near Cape Town, on his way to India. Ten years later Vasco da Gama landed at St. Helena Bay and sailed round the tip of Africa. Many other Europeans would follow and some would settle in present day South Africa and eventually make headways north into what is known as Zambia.
Yes, it would have been over 500 years of colonization in Southern Africa if the trend would have continued to present day. What would have Africa become of if we would have continued with this? Or to bring it home, what would have Zambia become like if we stayed colonized by the British? Can we really say we are better off with 50 years of independence as opposed to 500 years of colonization?
Many argue that colonization brought about slavery (although slavery existed among ourselves), economic and social inequality as well as political domination. Quite the contrary, colonization brought a lot of good to Africa. There is no doubt that Africa would have been a better continent had we remained a territory of the British, French or Portuguese Empires. Here is why?
Africa would be the largest economy in the world today. Going by the abundance of natural resources, Africa was the richest continent 500 years ago. Sadly, it is still the richest continent endowed with natural resources. It is estimated that in the year 1500, United States’ GDP was about $800 million while Africa’s GDP was an impressive 20 billion dollars. Today, the United States’ GDP is over $16 trillion while Africa’s GDP is only $2 trillion. What happened exactly? If our resources were managed by the Europeans, Africa would be a continent the rest of the world would hold in high esteem. The truth is Africans cannot plan, Africans are not economic managers and Africans lack the patience that comes with building wealth. Instead Africans leaders prefer to put in place policies that benefit them individually as opposed to policies that benefit the masses.
Africa’s goods and services would have unlimited access to the global market. Africa continues to lag behind in terms of exporting its goods and services to other markets like Eurozone and North America. On the contrary, the Europeans and Americans can access our market liberally. The Chinese today can boast of a total volume of over $200 billion of trade with the Africans beating the Europeans and Americans. Why aren’t we selling more or better to these markets today? The truth is because we are not one of them—we are Africans. If Africa was governed by our colonizers, there is no doubt that we would also have access to these markets freely. Our minerals, oil and other natural resources would have been better managed and given us a better return than what we are currently getting. Right now, most African exporters have to literary beg their way into these foreign markets.
African markets would have long integrated. The truth is Africans don’t like each other. African-Americans don’t like Africans and vice-versa. Tribes within African countries don’t like each other or pretend to like each other. They cannot work together. However, if we would have been governed by non-Africans we would have integrated politically and economically. We would have been talking about a United Africa-something that would have given us an economic advantage. If this idea came from a muzungu we would have jumped on it in the same way we do when they tell us how to run our economies. But because the proposal came from our own, we refused to embrace it.
Democracy would have matured. If we would have just let nature take its course we would have a matured democracy today. We are talking about having a continent with a solid constitution, strong legislature, freedom of speech/assembly and with rule of law. Most African countries have been independent for more than half a century and yet they are not democratic at all. Worse still, they are very poor. Haiti, a country of Africans, got its independent in 1804 and yet it is the poorest country on the planet. So, what’s the fuss about independence? If Haiti allowed the Americans or the French to take over their territory, it will likely have been the richest Black Country on earth. But it seems Africans are content with the political definition and not economical definition of the term “independence”.
African emigration would have been better managed. We are busy screaming about independence and yet most of us are dying to leave our independent countries. The lucky ones who have left Africa have no plans of returning at all to their independent countries. Had Africa remained colonized, most of us would have stayed in our own countries. There would have been no need to look for a job in Australia or Canada because our continent would have managed to take care of us. A lot of African intellectuals are denied academic freedom. They are suffocated intellectually and yet they are the same people who will be making long speeches on Independence Day about how great it is to be free.
Africa would have experienced dynamic leadership. Africa is the only continent with the longest serving dictators. It also has the oldest serving politicians on the planet. We speak of political independence and yet we have made no headways in changing our leadership. Zimbabwe’s president has been in power for 34 years almost matching that of the Angolan leader. Had we let the Europeans continue managing us, a youthful and energetic leadership would have been at the helm of African politics. We would have been talking about leaders with an average age of perhaps 40 years or so. Remember, Africa has also the youngest population in the world. In the last 50 years, Zambia would probably have had about 10 presidents the same way the United States have had 9 presidents during this period.
The truth is that Africa would have been a better place if it remained a territory of the Europeans. Look at some of the inhabitable places like Alaska or Yukon. They have been able to advance centuries ahead in technology, water development, infrastructure and even mining and yet they are some of the remotest places on earth. Why? Because they remain territories of the United States and Canada. If it were not for this, chances are that they would have been underdeveloped.
Africa’s biggest enemy is ourselves because we have failed to hold our leaders accountable. Africa, more than ever, needs economic independence. This can only be achieved if the African youths demand it and engage in peaceful demonstrations so that a revolution can begin to sweep across the continent. Africa needs to usher in a new breed of selfless leaders and lawmakers. Africa needs leaders who are going to fight for Africa and save it from economic mismanagement. This is the independence Africa yearns.
If Zambians, today, were given a choice between 500 years of colonization that came with clean water, decent housing, freedom of expression, good education, good healthcare, jobs, and decent living standards or 50 years of independence that came with cholera, no jobs, our politicians, our police, bad schools, terrible infrastructure and deplorable living standards very likely many would opt for the former. Again, what exactly are we independent from?
By Wesley Ngwenya
