The internal conflicts in Africa are mainly caused by the colonization model implanted in that continent.
Although it was the stage for the development of great and rich civilizations, Africa currently has the worst social indicators in the world. A large part of its population faces serious social problems, such as hunger, malnutrition and the proliferation of diseases, which cause a high mortality of the population in most African countries. Among the various reasons for this very critical situation, which is already beginning to show signs of improvement, the internal conflicts that caused the death of thousands of people and delayed the economic and social development of most African countries.
The origin of these conflicts is related to the colonization model implanted on the continent during the 19th century. With the industrial development of most of the great powers in Europe and the independence of their American colonies, European countries have accelerated the exploration of the African continent to guarantee the supply of raw materials in their industries.
The division of the African continent was defined by the Berlin Conference (1884-1885) and was based exclusively on the interests of the European powers, disregarding the cultural differences of the people who lived in African territory. With the weakening of the European powers after the Second World War, several African countries gained their independence. Despite becoming independent, most African states have developed without a national identity or basic conditions for survival.
As the colonization of the African continent was based on the exploitation of the continent’s natural resources and on the production of agricultural products on plantations, African states did not have a structure that favored economic and social development to guarantee their national sovereignty. In addition, most countries in Africa were not formed out of one nation or the natural coexistence of several nations, but rather by a set of ethnicities, with very different cultural characteristics, which were often forced by colonists to live together in the same space and continued to be part of the same territory after independence.
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Without the aid of the former powers, which previously suppressed any conflict in African territory with extreme violence, several internal conflicts arose in most African countries. The most violent conflicts took place in Rwanda, Mali, Senegal, Burundi, Liberia, Congo, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Algeria, Sudan and South Africa and were motivated by several reasons, namely:
- The cultural differences of the population:With the arbitrary definition of borders, in accordance with the interests of the colonizers, several ethnic groups were forced to live in the same country. After independence, these ethnic groups came into conflict to define which one would rule the country. An example of this was the internal conflict in Rwanda that was motivated by a dispute between the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority for power in the country, causing the genocide of more than 800 thousand people. The conflict ended only with the signing of a peace agreement in 1994.
- Territorial disputes:After independence, some countries entered into conflict to redefine their borders, which caused many deaths. An example of this was the territorial dispute between Somalia and Ethiopia to define who the Ogaden desert belonged to in the 1970s. The conflict ended in 1988 and caused an intense economic crisis in both countries, mainly in Somalia, which motivated the emergence of several political groups that disputed the power of the country or claimed its independence, as in the case of the Eritrea region, which belonged to Ethiopia.
- Underdevelopment:As most African countries do not have social and economic conditions that guarantee the survival of their population, revolts caused by popular dissatisfaction due to lack of food, work, housing, etc., are very common.
- Environmental causes:Several territorial conflicts were motivated by the control of natural resources, water scarcity, etc.
