The Colonial Act Of Drawing Border Lines: Equates To Drawing Lies

The colonial act of drawing border lines equates to drawing lies. This essentially means that when the maps were drawn up by European explorers, they were taking the preexisting geography but changing up the layout. In the process, they created what they considered countries based on their border lines. The lines were a way for military forces and businessmen to manipulate the competitors from taking the valuable raw resources by driving them away from the parts with minerals and oil beds, for example. It was meant to take control of key countries where raw resources were available and create a monopoly. Although Africa’s wealth of raw materials made it different from most places, fifty-six countries in Africa began an independence movement
All of the numerous groups of people in these new states never worked together because of the lines and geography isolating them. The artificial border can contribute to a divided state being susceptible to exploitation by outsiders for the mineral wealth inside. This can be through constant fighting going on within the country. Burundi is an example of drawing lies and the far-reaching outcomes it has had on Africa. It was formerly part of German East Africa when it included modern-day Tanzania. The Belgians used the people to rule over a minority as they continued to control the diplomatic and economics of the state from 1945 until 1962. Nearly three hundred thousand people died in the violence that insured. The people within the system could not agree with anything because they were from different groups and caused the system to fall apart from the fighting. With that said, drawing lines has created political tension in the continent of Africa as a whole. Africa is rich with many raw materials and people will go to any length in order to have a monopoly of the trade even if it means political
In 2011, a project was announced by the government to build a hydroelectric dam that would power the nation. Water in Africa is an essential commodity that is crucial for development.At the time it is theorized that the damn could not only use the dam to generate power but not hold year's supply worth of water. Ethiopia wanted the water for their own use and used the damn to limit the amount going towards Egypt. This caused political tension as it became a war for the continents most valuable resource. To make matters worse there was the possibility of a flood if the dam broke causing problems to both nations. This entire debacle was impactful on the political outlook of Africa. As many states in Africa had significant difficulties making a profit in the trade business with their own people due to geographical factors. They were forced to look towards outside nations in order to do this. China was their biggest investor and helped solve the geographical situation. Oil at the time was just a growing asset that was becoming viable and Kenya was a country that was beginning to tap into it. China was the first to beginning investing and create a partnership that would grow towards other countries as well. For example, in Angola there was a solid abundance of minerals that were what China wanted. China wanted to create a political stability with each nation in order to make the flow of