Scramble for Africa 130 years on

The Berlin Conference of 1884-85 produced the General Act of the Berlin Conference which began the Scramble for Africa. Called for by Portugal, the conference was organised by Germany first chancellor, Otto van Bismarck (during Germany’s rapid rise as a power) and signified a time of increased European colonialism which decimated most of Africa’s self-governance.

The colonial powers superimposed their domains on the African Continent. By the time most of Africa regained its ‘independence’ after the late 1950s, it was extremely fragmented, almost beyond repair. Instead, while Africa celebrates freedoms and independence, there are more subtle ways that Europe still exerts its vast influence over the continent.