How Africa Was Underdeveloped

Economically

 

 

by Claude Lockhart Clark

 

This presentation was first titled "SCRIBE: AFRICAN WORLD VIEW" and appeared at another web site, in the spring of 1999. It was written to show the importance economics has in understanding African History. You can take this same topic; "How Africa Was Underdeveloped" and discuss it from a political slant, cultural rape, or technology disadvantage and get entirely different results concerning Africa's plight in the 21st century.

 

All of these views are important and you miss something by not having them. If you presented all three articles on this same platform, I think the reader would come away totally confused.

 

I would hesitate to say that my view is the correct one. For some one else it may not work. All I know is the economic view works for me. Many topics concerning our past left me completely confused as a reader. So it meant that I would have to rewrite the pages that didn't suite me, so that I could then understand what I didn't understand before.

 

Many of us in humanities view money making as a shallow subject. I share the same view. It is not only shallow; its boring. However if I find by ignoring a subject that I continue to not realize my goals, then I am willing to change. Why reinvent the wheel?

 

Ever since we were hunters and food gathers our question of survival depended on economics. We didn't have to like economics. That is just the way it was. Some of us were better hunters than others. Some had talents that hunters didn't have and a few of us had talents that were highly sought after. If you made the best arrow and spear points and served your clients on time, you could probably look forward to a good livelihood. If you could make points and shafts to all hunting weapons, then your future was probably more secure than the craftsman that made only points.

 

Your family size was probably as large as the best of hunters and you probably didn't have to pack up and move as often as your clients, because your food and water were brought to you rather than you having to fetch it.

 

What was used for money in those day? Probably flint and arrow heads. That's not hard to figure out. Creating fire and having the best game tools to work with, were probably two most important things to have for hunters and craftsmen alike.

 

Plus flint and good arrow points were convenient to store, transport; came in standard sizes and were not easily available. We will explain the importance of standards, convenience, and availability later on in this text. If your arrow mint was miles away sometimes it was easier to trade with other hunters at a higher price of course.

 

I hope you get as much enjoyment out of reading this presentation as I enjoyed writing it. At he end is an e-mail address. Be sure to let me know what you think, didn't understand or suggestions for improving this article.

 

FREEDOM MORNING

20th CENTURY WRAP-UP IN AFRICA & DIASPORA

 

As we enter the 21st century, we need to first look at the last 100 years in retrospect, so that we can access our accomplishments and address our failures. Once we are aware of what works in our favor and what seems to be holding us back, we can begin to move forward.

 

SANKOFA PART I

 

20th CENTURY DAWN IN AFRICA

 

During the late 18th century Europeans increased their exploration and trade in Africa. From about 1880 to 1905, most of Africa was partitioned among six European Countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Britain, Italy, and Portugal.

 

The dawn of the 20th Century brought colonization to the continent of Africa. At the Berlin Conference in (1884-1885), Europe's colonial nations defined their spheres of influence and established rules for nearly total occupation of Africa.

 

The Europeans did not involve the African states in negotiating these agreements, and the implementation of these decisions was often met with stanch resistance and insurrection. Ethiopians under the leadership of Emperor Menelik II, were an exception to the rule; they successfully resisted European conquest, defeating the Italians in 1896.

 

This intrusion on African populous was made possible by the Atlantic Slave Trade, which took place over several centuries. In the process over one hundred million people went to their deaths as a result of war and the middle passage; enough people to rival the current populations of China and India had they survived to reproduce.

 

The trade routes in West and Central Africa were heavily guarded at the coast and Sahara margins, by the people who lived in those regions. They extracted tolls from foreigners and often wouldn't let them explore the region or deliver their goods in person. Chattel slavery changed all of that. We will not cover that topic here however.

 

ECONOMY

 

Europeans used military force and trade to gain a foothold on the Africa continent. Military force serves only as a short-term solution. Once the first is achieve one must come up with economic solutions quickly if they wish to maintain control over a people.

 

Our study will show how economic control of Africa served to defeat self-reliance of a people who once had been independent and productive. Control of African economy achieved dimensions slavery never met.

Europeans introduced spun glass beads as trade items. They were easy to transport over rugged terrain and Africans were already familiar with beads in the form of trade.

 

Before the coming of the French and British cowries were universal currency through out Central and West Africa. The Dutch took care of that problem several centuries earlier by bring ship loads of cowry shells from the Indian Ocean and dumping them in West and Central Africa. By doing so, thus they managed to devaluate the cowry and increase the value of European glass beads.

 

Africans viewed the European glass, much like their own glass and shell beads; but African People were not prepared for what came next; the coin. This exchange item had a fixed value and you couldn't bargain with it like you did with beads. Beads were both a commodity and an exchange item, but coins were used for exchange only. All coins of a given size and value looked exactly the same.

 

There were no imperfections in a coin. When coins came on the market glass beads were the next item to lose value. Africans then had to learn an entirely new commerce. They had to learn to use money for purchases rather than beads to trade and sell. It became more practical to carry coins in pocket rather than push a wheelbarrow full of shells and beads to market in order to make a purchase.

 

In West Africa, the nearest item Africans had resembling a coin was a horseshoe like brass bracelet. It presented a problem however. Even though the shape and design were standard, the small ones as well as the large ones were too big and bulky for easy transport. They were also used as ingots by brass casters. Coins were almost never used in this fashion. Last, manufacturing availability is most important. Ingots could be cast by anyone with knowledge of metallurgy. Plus you could cast as many bracelets as you wanted, because they were always being melted down and fashioned into more "practical things".

 

MONETARY SYSTEM

 

For coins to work, you must follow these three things; restrict their production, availability and guard against forgeries. Colonial coins were minted in Europe. The British put holes in the center of most of their coins so that their subjects would identify them with the beads. The experiment worked. Africans decorated themselves and their artwork with coins.

 

The silver coins with faces presented a different problem. They didn't have holes. So it became clear that these coins were not a commodity, fore if one put a hole in these coins it would be considered defacing the coin; thus the value of such coins would drop.

 

More serious steps would be needed to get Africans to use these coins however. By contrast Ethiopia minted its own coins; though Menelik II had some stamped in Paris, Ethiopians still had control of their wealth and economy.

 

Akan speaking people of Ghana came close to figuring out how the money game was being played. Their money was gold dust. They used weights to give accurate weight measurements of gold dust, but this principle was much like the one used for weighing salt, just south of the Sahara.

 

The idea was better but not close enough. Had the Akan people stored the gold and started using the weights as currency they may have gotten some where; however before the Akan had a chance to figure out the purpose of the coin and convert to it, British outlawed gold mining in 1913.

 

COLONIAL ECONOMY

 

Africans would supply Europeans with cash crops and natural resources to feed Europe’s industrial economy. Europe would then sell the manufactured goods and resources in much smaller quantities and at higher prices back to Africa and the rest of the world, thus were the major objectives of the colonialist.

 

In order to achieve this goal Europeans had to gain control of the African economy. They achieved this by gaining control of the food production first. The theory being, if you have a need and a desire to eat you are going to respond to demands quicker.

 

European Colonialist taxed village chiefs. If chiefs didn't pay taxes they went to jail. In order to pay taxes chiefs sent a constant labor supply to support European interest. The workers were paid only in coins; therefore the chief collected tax in the form of coins from his villagers, then paid the colonialist their share of the same tax in coins. With a shortage labor in towns and villages there were not enough people left to farm the land, so Africans needed money to buy food as well. Thus Africans became dependent on the coin.

 

In Africa the economic setup was fixed. If not managed properly, after independence, African countries would not be able to pay off colonial nor neocolonial depts. For example: The highest denomination in coins offered by the British in West Africa was two shillings. Much of the coinage was in pence and pennies. It took twelve pence to equal a shilling.

 

While Britain’s economy operated at the pound sterling, which amounted to about twenty shillings, African labors were paid in pennies and pence, while top management positions were paid in shillings: Thus we were always owing on something valued at the pound.

 

Three or four European nations would produce a single can of yams. One country would process imported metal used to produce tin cans. A second country would produce the can. A third prepared and seasoned the yams and a fourth country would package and label finished product. Only one of these Nations was a colonial power; the rest were European Nations who did not have access to colonies. Thus Africa was not colonized by just six nations, but in theory and practice; Africa’s economy was under siege by all of Europe.

 

TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRY

 

In any economy that wishes to be self-sufficient, in to day’s world, it is important that its citizens produce and maintain a productive tool infrastructure. One of the main ingredients of this infrastructure is metallurgy ["The science that deals with procedures used in extracting metals from their ores, purifying and alloying metals, and creating useful objects from metals."] This definition comes from The American Heritage Dictionary. Notice the use of the word "science". It seems to suggest that any one mastering the art of extracting, purifying, alloying and creation of useful objects in metal is involved in some sort of science.

 

Rev. Samuel Johnson, a Yoruba man living in Nigeria, at the turn of the 20th century describes his people’s fate in the iron businesses. "Iron smelting was carried on more largely in earlier than modern times. Certain districts are rich in iron ores, its iron production gave its name to the city of Ilo irin, ‘iron grinding’, also to Eleta a district of Ibadan ‘Eta’ being the term for iron ore.

 

Certain districts in Ekiti province are also famous for their iron ores from which good steel was made, such as Oke Mesi. Charcoal from hard wood and shells of palm nuts are the materials generally used for generating the great heat required for the furnace (called ‘Ileru’) which is kept going all the year round. Iron rods and bars of European commerce being cheaper are fast displacing home made products and here and there all over the country the furnaces are being closed and soon will doubts being to be expressed as to whether Youbas ever knew the art of smelting iron from ores!"

 

How were smelting furnaces being closed? Why were imported goods cheaper than the hand goods made at home? Rev. Johnson did not address these problems. These were economic issues.

 

ECONOMICS OF INDUSTRY

 

The next move, the colonialist made, would deliver a devastating blow to Colonial Africa’s tooling infrastructure, causing Africans to be totally depended on Europe for technology choices and development. First, metal smelters were taxed out of existence, causing blacksmiths and brass casters to look elsewhere for their raw materials. They looked to Europe.

 

This left the blacksmiths as easy pickings, because colonialists could control the availability of materials blacksmiths needed. To make sure that all possible threats of self-sufficiency were prevented, blacksmiths were taxed too. Casters did not create any problem, because they used their craft for art decorative purposes. Besides with smelters and smiths gone, brass casters would never have a chance to learn practical things to do with their craft.

 

Africa would enter the industrial age under developed, not being able to take care of its basic technological needs. Without smelters African countries would remain behind and would not be able to copy tools and technology sold to them on the European market. Algeria, a North African Country, became industrialized. Algeria smelts iron and steel for markets in Europe and Asia.

 

In South, Eastern Nigeria, the Nigerian Government has oil and oil refineries, or should we say, Shell Oil Company has oil and oil refineries in Nigeria. As we mentioned earlier, without smelters Africa would inter the 20th century without the necessary tools. To obtain and transport oil you need metal. To refine oil you need metal. Thus without metal rapped around oil in its early stages of development, it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to produce and transport oil fast enough to compete in today’s market place.

 

EDUCATION

 

Education provided by colonial powers was structured to facilitate better connectivity of cash crops and raw material between Africa’s interior to the coast. The labor force would consist of farmers, lumberjacks and miners.

 

A small civil service was trained to facilitate the paper work in coastal city ports and interior economic centers. This civil service would make sure a productive work force stayed on task and insure a constant flow of goods from the interior to the coast, bound for Europe. In order perform paper work and tasks, required by the colonialist, civil service workers were required to read and write.

 

Unlike many outsiders believed, African intelligentsia among the highly organized people, such as Akan groups and Yoruba understood the means of writing, spiritually. They just couldn't grasp the context of mass education for expediency, under which the Europeans used it. The priesthood and nobility used writing as "secret text". It was never intended for every ones use. In most places in West Africa no text was used at all since most things were still memorized. (to be continued)

RECOMMENDED READING

 

"Neo-Colonialism" The Last Stage Of Imperialism, by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, published 1965.

Dr. Nkrumah was the first president of Republic of Ghana.

 

"How Europe Under Developed Africa", by Walter Rodney, published in 1972.

 

Read "Iron Smelting" and "Smithery", pages 119 & 120, Chapter VIII "Manners and Customs", in "The History of The Yorubas" From The Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate, written by Rev. Samuel Johnson, published by his younger brother Dr. O. Johnson, in 1921.

 

Under POSTED MATERIALS: look for "CHANGING ROCK INTO METAL", by Tony Gleaton
View videos "Steel Making in Ethiopia", filmed in 1926 and "A smith’s Workshop".

 

The oil painting titled "FREEDOM MORNING," was done by the writer's father Claude Clark in 1944.

 

 

Beyond Words Village

Give us your thoughts and opinions!

 

 

Claude Lockhart Clark is famous for his woodcarvings, and in the context of family history and the urban community in which he lives, and compares his woodcarvings with their African antecedents. His carved stools, in particular, are created as memorials to his ancestors. These memorials combine elements of an African aesthetic legacy with Clark’s personal symbolism. The woodcarvings of Claude Lockhart Clark illustrate the concept of "tradition" as both continuity and change.

 

A book on Mr. Claude Lockhart Clark's work.

Honoring the Ancestors : The Woodcarvings of Claude Lockhart Clark

Written and illustrated by Julie Anderson

 

This article was originally written in the spring of 1999

This article was revised: August 17, 2000

note: Part two "Diaspora SanKofa" coming soon

 

This article was published courtesy of Claude Lockhart Clark.

Copyright © 1999 Claude Lockhart Clark. All rights reserved.

 

 

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