SLAVE TRADE, COLONIALISM AND NEO-COLONIALISM: REVISITING CRITICAL ISSUES IN AFRICAN UNDERDEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The imposition of colonialism on Africa altered her history forever. African’s modes of thought, patterns of cultural development, and general ways of life were forever altered by the change in political structure brought about by slave trade and colonialism. The African economy was also significantly changed by the Atlantic slave trade through the process of imperialism and the economic policies that accompanied colonization. Years after slave trade and colonialism were abolished, Africans became free only in the paper as the European neo-colonial project keeps disrupting the developmental efforts made by Africans. It is against this backdrop that this paper tries to enquire into the basic African issues such as slave trade, colonialism and neo-colonial projects as they influence Africa’s growth and development. Using the critical assessment method, this paper explores the long time effect of these basic African issues with view to bringing out a positively lasting change which will further necessitate socio-economic, political, cultural and religious growth and development.