The African Inheritance

Africa is a continent gripped by civil wars and widespread famine. The causes of many of the continent's problems are deep rooted and can be traced to Africa's colonial past, when European powers divided the spoils of the continent into separate sovereign states.
The African Inheritance examines the effect this "balkanization" of Africa has had, and is having, on the political and economic well-being of the continent.
From a brief history of pre-colonial Africa and its subsequent European partition and inevitable decolonization, the book discusses the consequences of such an inheritance: small and weak states, destructive secessionist movements, irredentism and African imperialism. Attempts to tackle these problems and assert independent development are inhibited by the colonial inheritance.

The African Inheritance discusses pre-colonial Africa, the increasing European interest in the continent, the European partition and the subsequent colonial rule and de-colonization. It examines the consequences of this inheritance: the large number of very small and weak states, the geographically marginal capital cities, contentious international boundaries, dependent land-locked states, destructive sucessionist movements, irredentism and African imperialism. Africa has attempted to tackle these problems through abortive political union states, economic groupings and a reorientation of infrastructural development away from a colonially-based system. Yet individual development is inhibited by the colonially imposed strait jacket of political geography.

In developing the theme of colonial inheritance of Africa, The African Inheritance is essential in gaining a better understanding of the confusing current problems of the continent. To look for immediate causes alone can be misleading and this book directs the reader to a broader and deeper understanding of the contemporary map of the continent.