Section 1: East Africa
(“cradle of humanity”)
Olduvai Gorge –
remains from 65
humans as far
back as 2 million
years
Aksum – 100 A.D.
present day Ethiopia
Berlin Conference (1884-1885): 14 European
nations gather to divide up Africa – only Liberia
and Ethiopia remained free. Why?
coffee
cotton
sugarcane
tea
cash
crops:
Changing roles of
women:
North African (Muslim)
households generally
centered around men
Recently though
changes in traditional
roles have occurred –
20% of Tunisia’s
parliament are women
“Arab Spring”
800 A.D. - Ghana becomes powerful empire on trade
routes supported by salt and gold trade
1235 A.D.- Mali conquers Ghana and becomes most
powerful empire for about 200 years
around 1400 A.D. Songhai empire takes over and is in
charge until 1591
Section 3: West Africa
many West African (and other traditional societies)
existed in a stateless society prior to
Colonialism
West Africa’s economy relies on exports,
primarily agricultural, mining, and oil
money is needed to improve the
infrastructure of many countries in the area
Section 4: Central Africa
Cameroon
Central African
Republic
Democratic Republic
of the Congo
Republic of Congo
Equatorial Guinea
Gabon
Sâo Tomé and Princípe
2,000 B.C. The Bantu tribes begin migrating from
Central Africa farther south
Today around 120 million Africans speak one of the
hundreds of Bantu languages
Colonialism and the slave trade
as many as 10 million African
slaves were brought over to
the Americas’
the Industrial Revolution
changed the relationship
of Europe and Africa –
need less slaves and more
raw materials
leads to Colonialism,
(Imperialism, Age of Empire, etc.)
Berlin Conference, etc.
Still causing political and
economic struggles today
Central African art,
education and culture
Fang sculpture influences
Picasso
Education is improving,
but still many issues such
as language barriers,
funding, etc.
Section 5: Southern Africa
early empires of Bantu
speaking peoples – built on the
gold trade – combined with
Colonialism are the basis for
modern Southern Africa
Nelson Mandela F.W. De Klerk
1600s – Boers arrive in southern Africa
1902 - establish country of South Africa
1948 - institute policy of apartheid
1989 – De Klerk elected president
1994 – Mandela becomes 1st black president in South Africa in first
free elections for all (dies summer 2013)
much of Southern Africa’s economy is
based on minerals and farming
Several factors are affecting the economy
such as an increase in the separation
between rich and poor
AIDS has killed many skilled and
unskilled workers the last few decades (25% of adults infected in some countries)
life expectancy in Botswana in 1999 was
39 years old – is back up to 61 but takes
time to recover
Section 1: Economic Development
many African countries today still have
little manufacturing of their own – they
still export more raw materials then
finished products
most of them are considered LDC’s and
need help from industrialized countries
improvements
being made:
improved
infrastructure
more diversity in
commodities
increasing
education for all
stopping “brain
drain”
Section 2: Health Care
AIDS (nearly $5 billion needed)
cholera
malaria
tuberculosis
Our problem? Who should pay?