Colonization is the process where a country takes over another and uses them for their resources or location. There have been cases of colonization throughout history. After a certain amount of years, some countries such as the United States were able to break away from their colonizer and declare independence. While this is ideal, this doesn’t always occur. In many cases, the colonizer holds too much power over a country to the point where they cannot declare freedom. What also occurs is that the colonization period can have a long lasting negative effect. The continent of Africa was colonized by many European countries and the negative effects still hurt the people of these countries today.
A country that has been severely hurt by colonization is the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Formally known as Zaire, the Congo was first colonized in the 19th century by Belgium. Under the harsh and abusive ruling of King Leopold III the native people were raped, mutilated and murdered. The Congo was colonized because of the abundance in natural resources. The country has an abundance in diamonds, cobalt, copper, rubber and coffee. Even though the people were able to revolt and force Belgium officials out of the area in 1960, the effects of colonization are present today. Despite the country having an abundance of riches, they are considered one of the poorest countries in the world. Other countries have come in and built mines to continue to exploit the country while paying the citizens little to nothing. While the resources they harvest are parts of multi-billion dollar industries, the average annual salary is only $785 USD.
Another country that is still being hurt by the effects of colonization is Côte d’Ivoire or Ivory Coast. The country was first colonized in the 1800’s by France. The country gained its independence in 1960 but is still being exploited for its natural resources. Besides producing oil and coffee, their biggest exploit is chocolate. Many companies such as Nestle get their chocolate from the Ivory Coast but in a cruel fashion. The people who are harvesting cocoa beans are children. Most commonly referred to as “chocolate slaves” these children work long hours doing dangerous work with very little pay. Many of these children have been kidnapped to work on these harvesting plantations and are beaten if they try to escape.
Through the use of social media, more people around the world are learning about the long lasting effects of colonization on the African continent. Many countries are still experiencing turmoil and on social media we have seen the rise of political movements led by the youth. From #EndSARS in Nigeria, to the youth of Liberia bringing awareness, to the rape crisis the youth are using their voices to educate the world. Colonization has been a part of a dark history on the African continent and even though many countries aren’t colonized, the effects have truly destabilized the once prosperous African countries.