In terms of economic factors, there are few which have affected Africa’s overall performance greater than the slave trade and its long, convoluted history in relation to a global scale. The particular case of African development can be seen as directly responsible by the conditions which were set forth by the slave trade itself and the European powers that contributed to the types of trade. The slave trade itself and colonial rule can both be seen as determining factors of the economic expansion and the countries rule by the British establishment continue to represent characteristics of political instability and deteriorating living conditions.
The European countries profited from the African populations by removing resources and taking African citizens, further selling and trading slaves and other resources to America. (Nunn, 2007) The citizens of each country affected disliked the politics that were involved with the movement and the loss of their own communities. Furthermore, the subjugation to the European powers upset the political process in each country and resulted in a lower output from the members of each country. As a result, the lowered output from the citizens economically contributed to a crisis over the course of several decades.
Furthermore, malaria was a largely contributing factor that can be seen as a result of the underdevelopment capacity of Africa. (Nunn, 2007) The malaria situation and ecology surrounding it was a large factor in curbing the impact of the slave trade and the different vessels through which the slave trade was most active. The economic development in countries such as the United States and Holland both can be seen as being correlated entirely to the conditions that were forced upon each nation and the entirety of Africa. Many countries in the African continent are still comparatively underdeveloped when compared to the nations in European regions that were allowed to largely profit from the excursion that was the slave trade.
- Nunn, N. (2007). Historical legacies: A model linking Africa’s past to its current underdevelopment. Journal of Development Economics (83) 157-175.
