Meaning of neo-colonialism

Meaning of neo-colonialism

Neo-colonialism in African countries, which is also referred to as new invasion, is the tendency by foreign countries or the former colonial masters to continue dictating their interests in the internal affairs of Developing Countries after the end of old colonialism.

Through neo-colonialism, Developed Countries provide directives on how to run the internal affairs of Developing Countries in political, economic, diplomatic, military, cultural, and social issues.

By doing so, the Developed Countries continue to exploit resources, markets, and cheap investment opportunities in Africa and in other Developing Countries as they did during old colonialism.

The major difference between old colonialism and neo-colonialism is that the former involved colonialists coming to settle in the colonies, while the latter does not require their physical presence. They exercise colonial domination from their respective countries through agencies.

Techniques of neo-colonialism in dominating independent African countries

Some foreign countries use various techniques to continue dominating and exploiting African resources. Those techniques include the following:

1. To install puppet leaders in independent African countries in order to further their domination.

   These puppet leaders act as a bridge to facilitate the Developed Countries in exploiting Africa's resources. For example, the late Mobutu Sese Seko, the former president of Zaire (the Democratic Republic of Congo), was alleged to be a puppet of the United States of America;

2. To establish new forms of relations with their former colonies.

   This occurs in the form of international cooperation. For example, Britain and her former colonies established the Commonwealth of Nations in November, 1931. Likewise, France established the cooperation of French-speaking countries to further relations with her former colonies;

3. To continue to dominate the key sectors of the economy and the major means of production in African countries.

   For example, although the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire) was declared a free country in 1960, Belgian colonialists continued to own 70 percent of the economy, especially mineral rights in the Katanga region. As a result, the country has been experiencing armed conflicts in such places with mineral wealth. In Zimbabwe, former settlers and foreign corporations continued to own arable land after the 1980 independence;

4. Developed Countries have trapped Africa into the free market economy and the trade liberalization system.

   The system encourages people to move freely around the world and carry out economic, social, political, cultural, and technological activities. Therefore, Africans import goods and technology produced from the Developed Countries. They are also encouraged to sell their raw materials to the Developed Countries. This system has put Africa in competition with the Developed Countries for production, investment, culture, trade and markets;

5. Developed Countries deploy foreign troops in Africa and claim to keep peace in the areas that are affected by armed conflicts.

   However, their major motive is not peacekeeping but protecting and exploiting African resources for the benefits of neo-colonial powers. In addition, neo-colonial powers have been establishing military bases in Africa. Currently, developed countries have established foreign military bases in countries such as Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, Niger, Cameroon, Mali, and Burkina Faso;

6. Neo-colonial powers give themselves rights to control the world market.

   They fix prices of the raw materials produced in Africa in their favour. Africa does not have control over the prices of her own goods in the world market;

Impacts of neo-colonialism on Africa

Neo-colonialism has affected Africa both positively and negatively. Some of the positive impacts are as follows:

1. The growth of multiparty democracy in the African continent: The pressure from some neo-colonial powers led to the establishment of multi-party democracy in Africa;
2. Neo-colonialism has simplified the availability of goods and services in Africa. This is due to the collaboration between the private and government sectors as well as the freedom of trade;
3. Establishment and development of civic organizations and Non- Governmental Organizations; and
4. Establishment and growth of both private and public media such as newspapers, radio stations, television and information communication networks.

Apart from the positive effects, neo-colonialism has negative effects. Some of these are as follows:

1. It accelerates the exploitation of African resources by neo-colonial masters.

   Through globalization and free market, neo-colonial masters have been exploiting African resources through investment, free trade, and privatization;

2. Neo-colonialism discourages industrialization in Africa.

   Its aim is to transform Africa into a market place for its manufactured goods. Most of the goods produced in Africa cannot compete with the goods produced in Developed Countries because of the differences in technology and investment capital. The uncontrolled importation of goods contributes to poor industrial development in Africa;

3. Neo-colonialism leads to dependent economies in Africa.

   Africa produces raw materials which are not utilised in the continent. In addition, it consumes manufactured goods that are produced outside the continent. Therefore, the African economy is dependent on other countries such as Japan, France, Germany, the United States of America, and China;

4. Neo-colonialism leads to the rapid growth of external debt.

   African countries are given loans with high-interest rates. Sometimes, they are given loans which they cannot pay. As a result, they spend a large percentage of their budget to pay their debts instead of investing on development projects. This has increased poverty among Africans;

5. Neo-colonialism contributes to loss of human resources in Africa.

   The policies which allow people to work anywhere in the world and access to dual citizenship have contributed to this problem. Highly skilled Africans are being retained to work in such developed countries instead of helping to develop their countries of origin. Medical doctors, scientists, and other professionals have been leaving the continent to work abroad;

Liberation struggles against neo-colonialism in Africa

African leaders began to struggle against neo-colonialism immediately after political independence in their respective countries.

As explained earlier, the old struggles helped to eradicate old colonialism while the current struggle is against neo-colonialism.

Soon after political independence, most African leaders realised that their countries could not be completely free if their economies remained dependent on Developed Countries. These leaders knew that economic dependence would affect their ability to make their own decisions in the interests of their countries. Prominent African leaders such as the late Julius Kambarage Nyerere (Tanzania), Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana), Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), Kenneth Kaunda (Zambia), Haile Selassie (Ethiopia), Sekou Toure (Guinea), Aboubakar Tafawa Balewa (Nigeria), and Muamar Gadhafi (Libya) led early struggles against neo-colonialism in Africa. The struggles involved individual countries, regional cooperation, and the whole continent. Some political, economic, and social struggles that African leaders led in the past and the ones that are ongoing include the following:

Economic liberation struggles

Economic liberation struggles against neo-colonialism are conducted to improve the economy and strengthen economic independence in various African countries. Economic struggles include the following:

1. Establishing alternative economic policies in various African countries.

   For example, in the fight against neo-colonialism, Tanzania adopted the policy of socialism and self-reliance, Zambia adopted the policy of humanism; and Kenya adopted the policy of African capitalism;

2. Building and improving communication infrastructures such as railways, roads, and ports within individual African countries as well as between countries.

   These initiatives simplify transportation of people, raw materials and manufactured goods between African countries. For example, the Tanzania and Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) was built between 1969 and 1974 to facilitate transportation between Tanzania and Zambia. This railway was built through assistance from the Chinese government;

3. Initiating and strengthening the fight against corruption and embezzlement.

   This struggle aimed at eliminating corruption, economic sabotage, and tax evasion in African countries;

4. Establishing and strengthening regional and economic cooperation in Africa.

   These include the East African Community (EAC), the Economic Cooperation of West African States (ECOWAS), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). These communities and others have contributed significantly to the economic liberation of African countries;

5. Establishing and strengthening the African Development Bank (AfDB).

   This bank helps to develop the economies of African countries by providing soft loans to African countries. Furthermore, the bank makes plans to improve the economic standards of people in the African continent. This includes strengthening industrial, agricultural, and trade activities. Examples of the countries that have benefited from these plans include Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and Senegal. This has helped African countries to reduce their dependence on neo-colonial powers for their socio-economic development; and

6. Establishing and promoting various manufacturing industries in Africa, including textile, agricultural implement, construction equipment, beverages, home appliances and food processing industries.

   For example, Tanzania started textile industries namely MWATEX in Mwanza, MUTEX in Musoma, Polyester in Morogoro, and Urafiki in Dar es Salaam.

Political liberation struggles

There have been political liberation struggles to strengthen leadership in African countries and to fight against neo-colonialism. The political liberation struggles include the following:

1. Establishing and strengthening the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).

   This organisation was established in 1963 in the process of fighting against neo-colonialism. The OAU united African interests and their strengths to overcome oppression from neo-colonial powers. After approximately three decades, this organisation was succeeded by the African Union (AU) almost with the same objectives but with the power to intervene in internal conflicts of African countries;

2. Changing political ideologies and building new Africa.

   In fighting against neo-colonialism, some African countries adopted the ideologies of African socialism, African democracy, and the one-party system. Examples of such countries included Tanzania, Zambia, Senegal, and Ghana;

3. Establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) during the cold war.

   Most African countries joined the movement to avoid supporting either the socialist side or the capitalist side as a way of fighting against neo-colonialism;

4. Adoption and promotion of the Pan-African Movement to strengthen the African cooperation against neo-colonialism.

   Promotion of national unity through the one-party system: Other measures to promote unity included fighting racism, ethnicity, religious antagonism, and regionalism.

Social liberation struggles

Several social measures have been taken by Africans to liberate themselves from neo-colonialism. Those measures are as follows:

In education

1. To change the colonial educational system and curriculum.

   This has helped to abolish the racial education structure in the African continent;

2. To expand education from primary, secondary, to university levels; and

3. To design and promote various educational policies which reflect the African context.

   For instance, Tanzania introduced the philosophy of Education for Self-Reliance, Universal Primary Education, the Adult Literacy Education campaign, Free Primary and Secondary Education and the establishment of the Institute of Adult Education.

In culture

1. Promoting the African cultural values in order to maintain peace, patriotism and unity among African societies;
2. Establishing and strengthening institutions which promote African languages, arts and sports;
3. Recognising the Kiswahili language as one of the official languages of the East African Community, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU); and
4. Introducing and upholding national official dresses in various African nations.

In health

1. To improve health infrastructure such as dispensaries, health centres, and hospitals in Africa: These initiatives went hand in hand with the establishment of medical and pharmaceutical colleges;
2. To initiate, coordinate and run health education campaigns for better provision of health services in order to fight communicable and noncommunicable diseases; and
3. To coordinate research and vaccination activities against various diseases.