Mataifa ya kikoloni yanaendelea kushikilia msimamo kwamba yalileta manufaa popote yalipokwenda. Barani Afrika, wanahistoria walioathiriwa na mtazamo wa kikoloni huelekea kuelezea yale yanayoitwa mambo chanya ya ukoloni, kama vile maendeleo ya miundombinu na elimu. Ubaguzi wa rangi, unyonyaji, na mauaji ya halaiki yaliyofanywa na wakoloni yanaendelea kufunikwa kwa maneno matamu. Wakoloni wanaona kwamba Afrika pamoja na watu wengine waliotawaliwa hawakuweza kuishi bila msaada wa Wazungu.

The Colonial nations continue to hold the view that they brought benefits wherever they went. In Africa, historians affected by the colonial mentality tend to describe the so called positive aspects of colonialism such as the development of infrastructure and education. The racism, exploitation, and, genocide committed by the colonialists continues to be glossed over. Colonialists view that Africa as well as other colonised people were incapable of surviving without the help of the Europeans.

Rasilimali kubwa na madini tajiri ya Afrika yalivutia mataifa mengi ya Magharibi kuikoloni bara hili. Mataifa ya Ulaya yalishindana wao kwa wao kuhusu nyara hizo. Kwa hiyo hakuna shaka kwamba ukali wa ushindani kati ya Ulaya kuhusu ukoloni wa Afrika ulikuwa kwa ajili ya kuwanyonya watu kwa utumwa na kuiba utajiri wa asili wa bara hilo. Kueneza demokrasia na maadili ya Magharibi hakukuwepo kwa kiasi kidogo sana.

The immense resources and rich minerals in Africa attracted many Western nations to colonise the continent. European nations competed with each other over the spoils. Hence there should be no doubt that the severity of competition between Europe over the colonisation of Africa was in order to exploit the people for slavery and steal the continents natural wealth. The propagation of democracy and Western values hardly existed.

Mataifa ya Ulaya yalitawala moja kwa moja sehemu kubwa za Afrika kwa kutumia majeshi yao. Sehemu za Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania na Namibia za leo zilitawaliwa na Ujerumani. Italia iligawanya sehemu za Eritrea na Somalia. Hispania ilianzisha kituo cha kwanza Afrika Magharibi. Wareno walishikilia Angola, Msumbiji na maeneo mengine madogo. Ubelgiji ilitawala Kongo kwa ukatili, na Uingereza iliunda maeneo yake ya utawala (mandates) kote Afrika Mashariki na katika maeneo ya leo ya Sudan, Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi na Nigeria. Ufaransa ilijiweka madarakani katika nchi kadhaa za Afrika Magharibi, zikiwemo Senegal na Ivory Coast, pamoja na Chad, Madagascar na Comoro.

European nations directly colonised whole swathes of Africa using their armies. Parts of what are now Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Namibia were ruled by Germany. Italy carved up parts of Eritrea and Somalia. Spain established a foothold in Western Africa. The Portuguese held onto Angola, Mozambique, and other smaller territories. Belgium brutally ruled over the Congo and Britain created its mandates throughout East Africa and in what is today Sudan, Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Nigeria. France set itself up in a dozen West African nations, including Senegal and the Ivory Coast, as well as in Chad, Madagascar and the Comoros.

Kwa miongo mingi, Afrika iliwapa bidhaa masoko huru. Muhimu zaidi, Afrika pia iliwapatia Wazungu malighafi za bei nafuu au, katika visa vingi, bila malipo, kama pamba, mpira, chai na bati, na bila shaka kazi ya watu bure kupitia biashara ya watumwa. Yote haya yaliungwa mkono na juhudi zisizozuiliwa za wamisionari waliosaidia kutuliza uwepo wa wakoloni wa Kizungu miongoni mwa 'wenyeji.' Bara lilikumbwa na mizozo ya kijeshi iliyojaa umwagaji damu kutokana na ushindani kati ya mataifa ya Magharibi. Mapambano hayo yalisababisha baadhi ya mataifa kuwaunga mkono madikteta, kufanya mapinduzi ya kijeshi na kutoa mikopo kama malipo ya utiifu. Ushindani wa namna hii umesababisha madeni ya bara hili kuzidi dola bilioni 370, ambayo yanawakilisha asilimia 65 ya jumla ya pato la taifa la bara zima.

For decades, Africa provided them with open markets for goods. More importantly Africa also supplied the Europeans with cheap or in many cases free raw materials such as cotton, rubber, tea, and tin and of course free human labour through the slave trade. All of this was aided by unhindered missionary efforts to help pacify the presence of European colonisers among the ‘natives.’ The continent was afflicted with bloody military disputes because of the competition between the Western nations. The struggle resulted in various states supporting dictators, carrying out coup d’états and giving loans for loyalty. Such competition has resulted in the continents debts surpassing $370 billion, which represent 65% of the total national income of the entire continent.

Mapambano na ushindani kama huu umesababisha hata mabomu ya ardhini zaidi ya milioni 30 kutegwa barani Afrika, ambayo ni asilimia 25 ya mabomu yote ya ardhini yaliyotegwa duniani kote.

Such struggle and competition has even resulted in more than 30 million land mines being planted in Africa, which is 25% of all land mines planted in the entire world.

Katika kuikoloni Afrika, mamlaka kuu za Ulaya zilishiriki katika kinyang'anyiro kikubwa cha ardhi, zikichora mipaka iliyohakikisha madai yao hayanyakuliwi na mamlaka nyingine. Msisitizo huu wa kuchora mipaka kuzunguka maeneo ili kuyatenga na yale ya mamlaka nyingine za kikoloni ulisababisha kutenganishwa kwa makundi ya kisiasa yaliyokuwa yakiunganishwa na ardhi moja, au kulazimisha maadui wa jadi kuishi pamoja bila kizuizi chochote kati yao. Kabla ya kinyang'anyiro cha Afrika, Mto Kongo ulikuwa mpaka wa asili wa kijiografia, na kulikuwa na makundi yaliyoishi pande zote mbili za mto ambayo yalishiriki lugha na utamaduni mmoja. Mgawanyo wa ardhi kati ya Ubelgiji na wakoloni Wafaransa kando ya mto ulizitenganisha jamii hizi kutoka kwa nyingine. Wale waliokuwa wakiishi Sahara au Afrika ya Kusini mwa Sahara na kufanya biashara kote barani kwa karne nyingi, walijikuta wakivuka mipaka iliyokuwepo kwenye ramani za Ulaya pekee. Katika kuwasimamia wenyeji na kuhakikisha utawala wa kikoloni unaendelea, sera kadhaa zilitekelezwa. Katika maeneo yenye makazi makubwa ya Wazungu, kama Rhodesia (sasa Zimbabwe) na Afrika Kusini, mifumo ya uraia wa daraja la pili iliwekwa ili kuwapa Wazungu mamlaka ya kisiasa yaliyozidi idadi yao kwa mbali. Huko Kongo, wakazi wa asili walitendewa kinyama na kuwekwa katika hali karibu ya utumwa.

In colonising Africa the European imperial powers engaged in a major territorial scramble, creating borders ensuring their claim was not usurped by other powers. This insistence of drawing borders around territories to isolate them from those of other colonial powers had the effect of separating otherwise contiguous political groups, or forcing traditional enemies to live side by side with no buffer between them. Prior to the scramble for Africa the Congo River was the natural geographic boundary, there were groups living on both sides that shared a language and culture. The division of the land between Belgium and French occupiers along the river isolated these groups from each other. Those who lived in Saharan or Sub-Saharan Africa and traded across the continent for centuries found themselves crossing borders that existed only on European maps. In managing the natives and ensuring continued colonial supremacy a number of policies were carried out. Places that had substantial European settlements, such as Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa, systems of second-class citizenship were set up in order to give Europeans political power far in excess of their numbers. In the Congo the native population was submitted to inhumane treatment and a near slavery status.

Wazungu hata walibadilisha mizani ya nguvu ya eneo hilo kwa kuunda mgawanyiko wa kikabila mahali ambapo hapakuwahi kuwepo. Katika eneo ambalo sasa ni Rwanda na Burundi, makabila mawili, Wahutu na Watutsi, yalikuwa yameungana na kuwa utamaduni mmoja kufikia wakati wakoloni Wajerumani walipochukua udhibiti wa eneo hilo katika karne ya 19. Hawakuwa tena wametengana kwa msingi wa kabila, kwa sababu kuchanganyika, kuoana, na kuunganishwa kwa desturi za kitamaduni kwa karne nyingi kulikuwa kumeondoa kwa muda mrefu alama zote zinazoonekana za mgawanyiko wa kitamaduni.

Europeans even altered the local balance of power by creating ethnic divisions where there had never been any. In what is now Rwanda and Burundi, two ethnic groups the Hutus and Tutsis had merged into one culture by the time German colonists had taken control of the region in the 19th century. They were no longer divided by ethnicity since intermingling, intermarriage, and merging of cultural practices over the centuries had long since erased visible signs of a culture divide.

Hata hivyo, Ubelgiji ilianzisha sera ya kutenganisha watu kwa misingi ya rangi mara tu ilipochukua udhibiti wa eneo hilo, kwa sababu ubaguzi wa rangi ulikuwa sehemu ya kawaida ya utamaduni wa Ulaya wakati huo. Neno Hutu awali lilirejelea watu wa Kibantu waliozungumza lugha za Kibantu, waliokuwa wakilima, ambao walihamia Rwanda na Burundi za leo kutoka magharibi, na neno Tutsi lilirejelea watu wa kaskazini-mashariki waliofuga ng'ombe, ambao walihamia eneo hilo baadaye. Maneno hayo yalieleza tabaka la kiuchumi la mtu; watu waliomiliki takriban ng'ombe kumi au zaidi walichukuliwa kuwa Tutsi, na wale waliokuwa na wachache zaidi walichukuliwa kuwa Hutu, bila kujali historia ya asili yao. Waganda waliweka mfumo wa kibaguzi, ambapo sifa kama ngozi nyepesi, urefu wa kimo, na pua nyembamba zilionekana kuwa za Kihamu zaidi, na zilikuwa za watu walio karibu zaidi na Tutsi kwa asili; kisha watu hao walipewa madaraka miongoni mwa watu waliotawaliwa.

However, Belgium instituted a policy of racial segregation upon taking control of the region, as racially based segregation was a fixture of the European culture of the time. The term Hutu originally referred to the agricultural-based Bantu-speaking peoples that moved into present day Rwanda and Burundi from the West, and the term Tutsi referred to North-eastern cattle-based peoples that migrated into the region later. The terms described a person's economic class; individuals who owned roughly 10 or more cattle were considered Tutsi, and those with fewer were considered Hutu, regardless of ancestral history. The Belgians introduced a racist system, whereby features such as fairer skin, ample height, and narrow noses were seen as more ideally Hamitic, and belonged to those people closest to Tutsi in ancestry; they were then given power amongst the colonised peoples.

Ingawa baadhi ya wenyeji walifikia nyadhifa za juu, katika karibu kesi zote hili lilikuwa mkakati wa Wazungu wa kuchochea mifarakano kati ya makabila, badala ya kuajiri watu wenye ujuzi. Vincent Khapoya alieleza hili katika kitabu chake kilichotathmini madai ya Wazungu ya kuendeleza Afrika: ‘Utawala wa kikoloni wa Ubelgiji ulishuhudia uhamishaji mkubwa wa utajiri kutoka Zaire [Kongo ya Kibelgiji] kwenda Ubelgiji. Waafrika walipata elimu ndogo tu, ambayo ingewawezesha kusoma Biblia, kupokea maagizo kutoka kwa wamisionari kwa ufanisi, na kufanya kazi, kwa kiwango cha juu, kama makarani katika utawala wa kikoloni.

Although some of the natives made high office, in almost all cases this was a strategy by the Europeans to cause friction between tribes rather then recruit skilled individuals. Vincent Khapoya outlined this in his book which assessed European claims of developing Africa: ‘Belgian colonial rule saw massive transfers of wealth from Zaire [the Belgian Congo] to Belgium. Africans received only limited education, which would allow them to read the Bible, take orders efficiently from the missionaries, and function, at best, as clerks in the colonial bureaucracy.

Khapoya pia anaeleza uongo wa madai kwamba Ulaya ilichangia maendeleo ya Afrika: "mamlaka zote za kikoloni zilitilia mkazo mkubwa katika masuala ya kiuchumi ya hali hiyo. Hili lilijumuisha: kupata ardhi, kazi ya kulazimishwa, kuanzishwa kwa mazao ya biashara, hata kwa kupuuza mazao ya chakula, kusitisha mifumo ya biashara kati ya nchi za Afrika ya zama za kabla ya ukoloni, kuleta wafanyakazi kutoka India, n.k., na kuendelea kuifanya Afrika kuwa chanzo cha malighafi kwa viwanda vya Ulaya, hivyo bara ambalo halikupaswa kuendelezwa kiviwanda."

Khapoya also explains the myth of European contribution to Africa’s development: ‘all colonial powers exercised significant attention to the economics of the situation. This included: acquisition of land, enforced labour, introduction of cash crops, even to the neglect of food crops, halting interAfrican trading patterns of pre-colonial times, introduction of labourers from India, etc. and the continuation of Africa as a source of raw materials for European industry, therefore a continent not to be industrialised.

Afrika inaendelea leo kuteseka kutokana na sera za wakoloni wa Ulaya. Pale ambapo Uingereza ilikuwa nguvu kuu katika karne ya 19, imechukuliwa tu na Marekani katika karne ya 21.

Africa continues today to bleed from the policies of the European colonialists. Where Britain was the dominant force in the 19th century they have simply been replaced by the US in the 21st century.

Kuondoka kwa wakoloni barani Afrika tangu miaka ya 1960 kumebadilisha tu ukoloni kutoka udhibiti wa moja kwa moja kwenda kwenye udhibiti kupitia madikteta, silaha, mikopo na utawala wa kiuchumi. Si kuondoka kwa wakoloni ndiko kulikosababisha kutokuwa na utulivu barani Afrika; ni kuingilia kwa wakoloni kwa karibu miaka 200 ndiko kulikosababisha Afrika iendelee kuvuja damu kutokana na tamaa ya rasilimali za bara hili.

The departure of the colonialists from the continent since the 1960’s has merely seen colonialism change from direct control to control through dictators, arms, loans and economic hegemony. It is not the departure of the colonists that has caused instability in Africa; it is the interference of the colonialists for nearly 200 years that has caused Africa to continue bleeding due to the thirst for the continents resources.