MC_A Concise History of Africa

A Concise History of Africa

The first African country to gain independence was the former Gold Coast, renamed Ghana after the ancient historical empire. The first leader, from 1952, was Kwame Nkrumah, who was inspired by Gandhi and had a similar philosophy. For Nkrumah, Pan- Africanism was part of the deal: “We are going to see that we create our own African personality and identity. We again rededicate ourselves in the struggle to emancipate other countries in Africa; for our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the African continent.” But Nkrumah became far too authoritarian, as was subsequently to be the case with other leaders. In 1964 Nkrumah declared himself president for life and banned opposition parties. He was overthrown when the National

With the advent of independence in the late 1950s and early ‘60s, euphoria began to sweep through Africa as nation after nation attained self-determination. To most Africans this was the end of a long struggle for freedom, a dream that was soon to be shattered as government after government fell victim to coups d’état. The new military juntas accused the civilian governments of everything from corruption and incompetence to mismanagement of the national economy; but experience shows they are no better when it came to running governments, the continent having been driven into even further suffering and turmoil. They are likely to continue, as long as political and economic instability prevails.

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