Africa is a geographically diverse continent with tropical rainforests in the central region, vast savannas in the east, west and south, and the Sahara desert in the north. Africans are concentrated in fertile areas like the savannas and forests, which produce enough food to support large populations. Africa also has rich mineral deposits like gold, copper and diamonds as well as cash crops such as coffee and cacao. However, the arbitrary borders drawn by European colonizers often divided ethnic groups, contributing to conflicts in newly independent African nations. Many African leaders seized power through military coups but failed to improve conditions, establishing authoritarian rule instead of democracy.

2. Important Info
 It is a geographically diverse continent:
 Tropical rainforests cover central Africa;
 East, West and Southern Africa are covered by vast
savannas;
 One of the world’s largest desert in the north, the Sahara.
 Africa’s people are concentrated in the most fertile areas such
as the savannas and forests.
 These regions produce enough food to support large
populations
 Africa also has rich deposits of minerals such as gold, copper
and diamonds.
 Cash crops such as coffee an cacao are also produced.
 Huge petroleum reserves.

3. Important Info
 The Europeans did not want to lose control of these
valuable resources.

4. Colonies Demand Independence
 More and more Africans demanded
freedom.
 Independence movements were led by
skilled speakers such as:
 Kwame Nkumah in the gold Coast
(Ghana)
 Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya
 Political pressure was sometimes enough
to win independence, such as most of the
French colonies in West Africa and the
British ones too.
 They turned violent however, in places
where they were many European
colonists., such as Kenya and Algeria.

5. Building New Nations
 Some African nations
enjoyed peace and
democracy. Others
were plunged into crisis
by civil war, military rule
or corrupt dictators.

6. Ethnic Divisions
 When Europeans drew
boundaries to separate each
other, they did it geographically
and had not considered the
different ethnic groups.
 New countries were made of
different people with different
customs and languages.
 They felt more loyalty towards
their people and not a faceless
government.
 Soon ethnic conflicts plagued the
continent.

7. Dictators Seize Power
 Dictators usually used their positions to
enrich themselves and a privileged few.
 If it was a bad government, and unrest
was felt in the streets, it was very
common for the military to seize power.
 Coup d’etat: is the forcible overthrow
of a government.
 Some military rulers were brutal
tyrants, other sought to improve
conditions.
 They always promised they would return
the government to civilian hands, but this
was rarely the case.

8. Moving Towards Democracy
 More and more Africans
demanded and end to
the “strong-man” rule
and move towards
greater democracy.
 Even after some years
of self-
determination, Western
powers were still
competing for influence
in the young African
nations.

9. African Map Today

10. Ask Yourself
 Identify:
 What geographic strengths
and weaknesses does Africa
have?
 Analyze:
 Why did many Africans lack
loyalty towards their new
governments?
 Summarize:
 Why did dictators gain their
power so easily and could they
loose it in the same way?

11. Bibliography
 Ellis, E. G., & Esler, A. (2009). World History. (P.
Hall, Ed.) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, US:
Pearson Education INC.
 Images taken from www.google.com