There were a number of reasons that cause the Europeans to conquer and colonize in Africa. There was there need for more raw materials, many of the products that they needed could not be found in Europe so exploration was required to satisfy their economic needs. Europeans also had a desire to control the trade in certain parts of Africa, but the important question is what made all of this possible. There were tons of reasons why the Europeans started colonies in Africa, and it all started with Europes Industrial Revolution.
Europe had went through great leaps and technological advances one of the was the creation of the steam engine. Europe was able to craft a ship that could withstand the journey and would get the Europeans to their destinations quicker. With these ships some explorers had even hoped to trade directly with Africa. Even though they were able to travel to Africa one thing that they did not expect to run into were the diseases.
European explorers were no match for the mosquito borne viruses such as malaria and yellow fever. Even though the Europeans could make it to Africa a great number of them would not survive the trip. Many Africans had already become immune to the disease as children, so they could withstand diseases carried by mosquitos. The Europeans unfortunately could not and many died as a result of this. Luckily scientist were able to isolate quinine. This was an active ingredient in medicine that helped reduce the risk of malaria and yellow fever. It was not a guarantee that taking this medicine before the trip would prevent one from catching either of the disease, but it did greatly reduce the risk. Thus Europeans were able to have safe voyage to and from the great African continent. Now that they were able to travel their without becoming infected with diseases, they needed protection that they could carry with them. These technological advance did not stop, they