The Challenges African States Faced at Independence, Ph.D., History, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, M.A., History, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, B.A./B.S, History and Zoology, University of Florida. [24] They had the simultaneous goals of utilizing the raw labor and shaping the identity and character of the African. It was a pragmatic and parsimonious choice based partly on using existing functional institutions. The colonization of Africa by European powers was necessitated by several factors. Many European countries were jealous of Britain’s Empire, with Wilhelm II saying ‘Germany must have its place in the sun’ . Utica, for example, was founded c. 1100 BC. In the decentralized societies, the system of indirect rule worked less well, as they did not have single rulers. Pro-independence Africans recognised the value of European education in dealing with Europeans in Africa. Lugard simply and wisely adapted it to his ends. The main point of his argument is that the colonial state in Africa took the form of a bifurcated state, "two forms of power under a single hegemonic authority".

The continent's superstates (at least size-wise): Al-Maghrib, Al-Misr, Songhai, Ethiopia, Kongo and Katanga.

This was the approach used by the Igbo of southeastern Nigeria against the British. Eventually he was captured and, in 1898, exiled to Gabon, where he died in 1900. In the famous battle of Adwa in 1896, one hundred thousand Ethiopian troops confronted the Italians and inflicted a decisive defeat. A significant early proponent of colonising inland was King Leopold of Belgium, who oppressed the Congo as his own private domain until 1908. Some astute African leaders maneuvered and ruled as best they could, while others used the new colonial setting to become tyrants and oppressors, as they were responsible to British officials ultimately. By the early twentieth century, however, much of Africa, except Ethiopia and Liberia, had been colonized by European powers. Another economic explanation for the ‘scramble’ is that Africa had the potential to provide Europe with cheap raw materials that could be used in production, such as palm oil or cotton.

In Africa, those countries arguably included Liberia and Ethiopia. Thus the political and social umbilical cords that tied them to their people in the old system had been broken.

The history of external colonisation of Africa can be dated from ancient, medieval, or modern history, depending on how the term colonisation is defined. This brought the parties into conflict. The social factor was the third major element.