Is Africa truly an independent continent?

[Rebirth01]

As a child in school,i was told Africa got Independence from the Europeans some long years ago and people celebrated. Each country celebrate her independence on the day the country was granted independence. But my question is if really the independent granted is real or not. Today, Africa run to the countries they gain independent from for aids and grants. Because if you are truly dependent you should be able to provide all your needs and not going to cry like a child. I don't know what you will mention and someone will boldly tell you it manufactured or produce in Africa.

[Ishicryptic]

African countries are independent and that is why they protect their sovereignty and have their own political leaders, every African countries have their own traditional currencies and constitutions, African problems are not whether they are independent or not. Our problems are as a result of incompetent leaders, and you can argue that it is so as a result of the strings that their former colonial masters are still pulling so that they will indirectly be benefiting from the resources from the African soils. If that is the narrative which a lot of people have it means that the underdevelopment of many African countries are as a result of bad leadership, if the right people are elected into political positions who will never compromise to dance to the tunes of cabals that controls their economies from underground their countries will be great.

Africa, have very intelligent people who have what it takes to build their countries economies and damn the consequences of those that wants to see it fail but these great minds cannot be given the chance to rule. What we keep seeing are recycled old politicians who are moneybags as a result of massive corruption, as long as the narrative remains what it their economies would continue to go from bad to worse. The first step is to make sure that African countries have free and fair elections, we have the right people who can lead and we vote for them but election rigging puts the wrong people into power.

[gracreavix]

There's nothing wrong in collecting aid. In fact independence is majorly being sovereign. The angle should have been we are not sovereign. Foreign countries still import things into their country. That's not mainly the issue. The issue is what is being imported, hope it is beneficial to the country. That's it. The only thing I think we are not independent from is economically. We still depend fully outside the shores of our continent and that is the main issue.

[Dunamisx]

But my question is whether the independence granted is real or not. Today,

The Independence was real, all of the affected countries were given independence respectively and it is such a pity that some are living in penury to this time, to the extent that the even prefer the time of colonization compared to this present era and the challenges they are facing, many only got to realize that what they needed wasn't independence, but corporation and ability to appreciate every opportunity they have and being led by foreign colonial Masters, now many are having more worst scenario than they ever imagine in the past.

[Spaceman1000$]

As a child in school,i was told Africa got Independence from the Europeans some long years ago and people celebrated. Each country celebrate her independence on the day the country was granted independence. But my question is if really the independent granted is real or not. Today, Africa run to the countries they gain independent from for aids and grants. Because if you are truly dependent you should be able to provide all your needs and not going to cry like a child. I don't know what you will mention and someone will boldly tell you it manufactured or produce in Africa.

Africa to a large extent are independent, but they've been unfortunate in having leaders that are not interested in developing the African continent. You can only enjoy through leadership when you have a free and fair democratically elected leaders, and Africa at the moment lacks that transparency in selecting leaders, in every election circle, they've always had impose leadership in various positions, so you see that people that are in charge of policy making and the execution of this policies are not true to their people because it is all about ulterior motive. So the only solution for Africa at the moment is to have electoral process that is transparent.

[Franklyn-wood]

But my question is whether the independence granted is real or not. Today,

The Independence was real, all of the affected countries were given independence respectively and it is such a pity that some are living in penury to this time, to the extent that the even prefer the time of colonization compared to this present era and the challenges they are facing, many only got to realize that what they needed wasn't independence, but corporation and ability to appreciate every opportunity they have and being led by foreign colonial Masters, now many are having more worst scenario than they ever imagine in the past.

Africans have independence on paper and not in the real life, but not totally independent from same people who gave them independence. As they  made it look like they are helping the African leaders to become better and free from oppression by some people or masters who take advantage and and use the resources they have to make themselves rich. It's hard to believe that the people in power as we see today are only setting on the sit as representative of the original people in power.

[GiftedMAN]

Politically, most African countries are independent but the problem is we're still mostly reliant to the Westerners, that's the difference. Almost all the African countries are sovereign and make their own laws but when it comes to running the economy of their country there's heavy dependence on foreign countries for loans, technology, investment and even basic goods that were supposed to be manufactured locally. Yes African countries have independence but very incomplete independence because we rarely stand on our own especially on the important sectors.

[HyperCodexV]

With the kind of leaders we have running things in Africa, we are far from independent. It's the same old story old men who are stuck in their ways, running the show for their own benefit. Real independence is not just about flags or celebrations alone. It is about being able to stand on your own, feed your people, build your infrastructure and make decisions without begging from the West. Until that happens we are just pretending. We still depend on foreign aid, foreign loans and foreign expertise for almost everything. That's not independence. That's just a different kind of control.

[Royal Cap]

The independence that African countries gained from colonial rule in the 1950s and 1960s was primarily political, meaning the freedom to have their own flag and geographical map.  Due to centuries of colonial structures, they did not have the industrial infrastructure to process Africa's valuable natural resources, as a result an unequal cycle was created, in which raw materials were exported at low prices and finished goods were imported at high prices. At the same time internal corruption after independence and the difficult conditions of international lending institutions made Africa dependent on foreign aid and grants. However in recent times, the situation has begun to change positively, the increase in internal trade through the African Continental Free Trade Area and the development of 'Made in Africa' technology in countries like Rwanda, Kenya and Nigeria are showing them new paths to self reliance.

[Oluwa-btc]

What Africans experience today is not independence, not sovereignty, it is simply the last stage of colonialism Kwame Nkrumah our African hero talked about.

Most Africans with all of the best lands for farming still import from the west, how are we independent when we do not grow our own foods?

How are we free when we still have borders amongst ourselves as Africans? How are we free when we can not trade with our own currency between ourselves?

How are we free when the education taught to our parents and children are not about our Africa hero's who helped us fight for the end of colonial rule and many more. How are we free when we allow the west teach us about ourselves?! We're far from that.

Today, I saw a news of SEC telling Nigeria to cut off trading with North Korea. An independent nation will want to take decisions for himself and not from others. The colonial rule ended but the west never left completely, as they plant In their puppets and as colonial caretakers through democracy. We're far from free!

[Agbamoni]

Independence means each country has the right to its own rule. A free will to choose your own government and leaders in other areas. But if your government keeps coming to cry like a baby to the European nations, it's not the European nations fault. For you to be free, you have to fend for yourselves. It will come at a cost if the European helps a government. Obviously, the Europeans are doing better than us because they took most of our wealth and had a modern civilization before most African countries.

[DYOR+BTC]

The independence of other continent may be sure but that of Africa is never sure. Almost all African countries where given a table independence with an agreement that there mother countries will still control all there affairs indirectly. 
Although African countries confuse themselves claiming they have gained independence without knowing its a complete fake and will continue to be until Africa raises to know who they are and where they are going.

[DanWalker]

But my question is whether the independence granted is real or not. Today,

The Independence was real, all of the affected countries were given independence respectively and it is such a pity that some are living in penury to this time, to the extent that the even prefer the time of colonization compared to this present era and the challenges they are facing, many only got to realize that what they needed wasn't independence, but corporation and ability to appreciate every opportunity they have and being led by foreign colonial Masters, now many are having more worst scenario than they ever imagine in the past.

Have you ever heard of imperialism and neocolonialism? Instead of using bombs, killing people, and occupying countries like they did in the past. Neocolonialism uses debt and international financial institution to influence or control weaker countries without having to put troops on their territory.

By offering loans with exorbitant interest rates under the guise of aid, making repayment nearly impossible. Then they use that debt as leverage to force access to the indebted nation's resources.

Colonialism and imperialism never really disappeared. They simply changed their form and became more sophisticated over time.

[Hewlet]

Because if you are truly dependent you should be able to provide all your needs and not going to cry like a child. I don't know what you will mention and someone will boldly tell you it manufactured or produce in Africa.

You can be independent and still run to your former colonial master for help or assistant and it will not mean that you've lost your independence. It becomes a problem when after you've gained the independence yiu struggle to lead yourself and make key decisions on your own. Unfortunately, that's the situation with the African context of gaining independence.

Is African countries an independent country? Absolutely yes but do they have leaders that are capable of making them at least relatively self sufficient? That's where they key problem lies. Of cause, no nation is an island and in one way or the other depend on one another for one or two things but the issue with the African situation is that they don't even believe that they are capable of taking care of Thier continent without the western help.

[uneng]

Every countries need each other to survive and thrive. It can be through materials or human resources. We are never fully independent. At same time, others also depend and rely on you, so there is a mutual interdependence here, and you shouldn't view this as weakness or as the act of crying like a baby.

Now, if you feel like your country is being abused and explored by foreigner potencies, you have to analyze why it's happening, who is allowing this to happen and why this reality isn't changing along the time.

[Su-asa]

There's nothing wrong in collecting aid. In fact independence is majorly being sovereign. The angle should have been we are not sovereign. Foreign countries still import things into their country. That's not mainly the issue. The issue is what is being imported, hope it is beneficial to the country. That's it. The only thing I think we are not independent from is economically. We still depend fully outside the shores of our continent and that is the main issue.

I agree with you because even us as a person we, still collect aid from others despite being independent. Talk about a whole continent or country, and talking about sovereignty, we're not. Actually, being independent or gaining independence is just a formality because, in some kinds of decisions, my country still asks permission from colonisers before they carry out any plans. But I would say that we're trying our best we can but economically we should put more effort in because I know we can do better than this. The reason why Africa still depends on the outside is that we don't believe in ourselves, but if we do, that alone can also make a big change for us, be it economically or otherwise.

[Accardo]

Colonialism and imperialism never really disappeared. They simply changed their form and became more sophisticated over time.

Colonialism depends on why a country was Colonised. Africa was Colonized to adopt the Western or Eastern civilisation, Africans are required to think like the Westerners or Easterners. It's a different kind of civilization compared to when Europe Colonized America, they're westerners too, abiding by the European cultures and political policies was not far from who they were. Africa is not a western continent, Africans finds it so hard to be like the Westerners or Easterners because that's not who they really are. Historians call it Crisis of Identity it's difficult to grow when you try so hard to be somebody else.

This is why the continent suffer so much from the hands of their colonists. Africa lost their cultures and traditions, they've lost counts of what works in their own ways. Traditional African laws was taken over by the European legal policies.

[Joy- maker]

As a child in school,i was told Africa got Independence from the Europeans some long years ago and people celebrated. Each country celebrate her independence on the day the country was granted independence. But my question is if really the independent granted is real or not. Today, Africa run to the countries they gain independent from for aids and grants. Because if you are truly dependent you should be able to provide all your needs and not going to cry like a child. I don't know what you will mention and someone will boldly tell you it manufactured or produce in Africa.

First of all, do you know the meaning of Independence? If you do, then you shouldn't have created this thread in the first place, when a country is independent it means that the country is not longer controlled by, influence by or rely on the country that colonize them and later grant independent.  And being independent doesn't mean a country shouldn't ask for aid or receive aid from another country or from their former colonial master.  You people should stop thinking of Africa as inferior, simply because some African countries receive foreign aid.

[Unknown Op]

I think that economic independence and political Independence are the two different things. Most of the countries in Africa are politically independent, but economically they are being dependent on other countries for their support, including financing, important different raw materials and products, technology and the development system. Despite these things, it does not mean that they are not capable of making anything on their own. Multiple countries in Africa, including Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa they are quite capable; they can produce their own things. They have their agriculture industries, well developed, technology sector and natural resources as well. Sporting raw materials, and they also import finished products from the other countries. Getting help from other countries is completely fine until and until they become completely dependent on them in that situation.

[Rebirth01]

Africa independence is not truly an independence. It was just flag and written documents that was given to the people. If not why will the colonial masters always have interest in Africa's politics. And also maybe sponsor some militia groups to destabilize the economy and the country . If truly Africa independence is not sham, then things shouldn't happen the way it's happening right now. Again, if Africa is truly standing as an independent continent as the case may be, then foreign influence should have been a thing of the past. Am quite sure the number of countries printing their own currency in Africa is not up to 10 ,i don't know if manufacturing companies in Africa is up 50. Everything  Africa country needs is imported or bought from those who colonized Africa.