Can Africa Take Charge? Ending the Plundering of Raw Materials by the West

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For the last 500 years, the West has not only mapped out Africa as a cheap source of raw materials but also assumed the position as the place where industrial revolution can only happen. This strategy by the West can be traced back to 1502 with the advent of the transatlantic slave trade, and the European plantation system in the Americas where those slaves caught were used to farm large plantations. The strategy continued through European colonialism of Africa starting with the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, where the whole of Africa was divided into segments to be conquered by the West, and the major reason for the colonization was to create and maintain colonies for the sole purpose of extracting and shipping its raw materials to supply an industrializing Europe’s needs. This system continued even after the independence of African countries. Although they left, former colonial masters like France ensured that they could still easily access these raw materials with the aid of a colonial pact.