Abstract
The process of gaining independence in Africa was accompanied by the intensified colonial liberation movements, elite struggle for power, and the formation of new state borders. Having received formal sovereignty, African countries faced the challenge of building their own identity. However, most metropoles continued to actively intervene in the affairs of the former colonies under the pretext of assisting them in state-building, forming of the economic and military systems. Therefore, metropoles managed to subsequently control development process. A new type of colonialism was launched, characterized by a low level of predictability and foresight. This trends mainly fit with neo-patrimonialism, which focuses on the legitimacy search and artificial statehood creation. The emergence of a new African political elite in the postcolonial period, formed at the expense of the army and senior military officials, was accompanied by the search for an effective development path and attempts to assure a fragile balance between tradition and modernization. This served to aggravate economic, and then political dependence of African states on global economic institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. One of the key challenges of the postcolonial period in Africa is the blurring of borders and, as a consequence, the rise of ethno-religious problems. Attempts to resolve this kind of threats lead to the intervention of both intra-regional non-state actors and external powers.
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Notes
- 1.
“Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples”. https://www.un.org/ru/documents/decl_conv/declarations/colonial.shtml.
- 2.
Not synonymous with sovereignty.
- 3.
Lesotho and Madagascar are considered to be relatively monoethnic.
- 4.
Deng F. M. Ethnicity an African predicament. Brookings. June 1, 1997. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/ethnicity-an-african-predicament/ (accessed: 08.01.2020).
- 5.
The final act of the Berlin African conference. Berlin, February 14/26, 1885 http://istmat.info/node/27251 (accessed: 02.01.2020).
- 6.
In Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda, and Nigeria, the colonial authorities were able to achieve an approximate overlap of administrative divisions with the areas of settlement of previously living ethnic groups.
- 7.
With the exception of the Ethiopian Empire.
- 8.
The Revised Political Parties Registration Proclamation No. 573/2008. Federal Negarit Gazeta. No. 62. 24.09.2008. p. 4282–4312.
- 9.
Deng F. M. Ethnicity an African predicament. Brookings. June 1, 1997. URL: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/ethnicity-an-african-predicament/ (accessed: 08.01.2020).
- 10.
Ibid.
- 11.
Guinea and Mali boycotted the meeting.
- 12.
Resolutions adopted by the First Conference of Independent African Heads of State and Government Held in Addis-Ababa. Ethiopia, from 22 to 25 May 1963. OAU Secretariat. https://au.int/sites/default/files/decisions/32247-1963_cias_plen_2-3_cias_res_1-2_e.pdf (assessed: 10.01.2020).
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Kassaye Nigusie, W.M., Ivkina, N.V. (2021). Post-colonial Period in the History of Africa: Development Challenges. In: Vasiliev, A.M., Degterev, D.A., Shaw, T.M. (eds) Africa and the Formation of the New System of International Relations. Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77336-6_3
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