Whi did afica atrract european imperialosm

In the late nineteenth century, the most powerful European nations harboured a compulsive desire for conquest, domination and exploitation in the African continent, in pursuit of empire during ‘The Scramble for Africa’. Their struggle to get ‘a place in the sun’ involved the proliferation of conflicting European claims to African territory during the New Imperialism period, and was fuelled by a range of factors which varied with both the imperialist nation and the African colony. Among the primary factors for European imperialism in Africa were the grand economic prospects of opportunities for profitable investment, brilliant opportunities for trade with favourable market dynamics for the Metro pole and sources of cheap labour for industrial development. Raw materials were also readily in Africa in abundance. European Imperialism in Africa was also driven by rivalry among the superpowers. Conquest in the African continent also promised to confer prestige on the Imperialist nation, therefore European Imperialism promised to satisfy prevailing nationalist, liberal and jingoistic sentiments and interests of the period. Hence, it often emerged as a political priority, as it could diminish domestic discontent.

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