Are we really free from colonization?

No African country is truly free or independent; all of them are still being destabilised and manipulated so that their former European colonisers can still make profit.

During the period of colonisation, Africa had become impoverished tremendously. Many of the people of the former kingdoms and societies that had functioned perfectly without any form of currency were now forced to adjust to the new systems and therefore were forced to work degrading jobs for a salary that was, in most cases, barely enough to survive on.

However, despite the constant oppression and educational propaganda Africans had to deal with during the “century” of colonisation, their spirit and pride was never broken. Eventually, the riots in the colonies and the generally agitated population were too much to handle for the colonial administrators, so the colonial powers had to withdraw them. Especially during the 60’s and 70’s a multitude of African countries had “freed” themselves from colonisation.

But the European empires were smart, so they didn’t leave without keeping control over the entire economy and natural resources of the continent. France was specifically angry about losing their most profitable source of income for their country, when the people of Guinea decided in 1958 to “free” themselves and get out of the French colonial empire, the French colonial elite in Paris got so furious, that in a historic act of fury the French administration in Guinea destroyed everything in the country which represented what they called the benefits from French colonisation, including schools, nurseries, public administration buildings, cars, books, medicine, research institute’s instruments, tractors. Also, horses, cows, and pigs were killed in the farms and food in warehouses was poisoned or burned.

It was obvious that the reason for this immense act of violence and destruction was committed in order to send a warning to the remaining French colonies that if they decide to reject France it will have consequences. But the other French colonised countries weren’t intimidated by that for too long, and so in 1960 the Republic of Togo decided that it was not going to be part of the French empire anymore.

In this case, however, the first president of Togo, Sylvanus Olympio, played it smart. Aware of the violence and destruction his country would have to suffer for wanting to be independent, he agreed that the Togolese Republic would pay an annual debt to France for the so-called benefits Togo got from French colonisation.

It was the only way to keep the French from destroying the country before leaving; the only problem was that the amount demanded by France was so huge that the annual repayment of the so called “colonial debt” was close to 40% of the country’s budget in 1961.As a result, Togo was economically too unstable to survive as an independent country. So, President Olympio decided that they had to get out of the French colonial money, the CFA, in order to save their economy. On 13 January 1963, three days after Togo started printing its own currency, a squad of illiterate soldiers backed by France killed President Olympio, the first elected President of newly-independent Africa.