The legacy of Colonialization

The roots of most large contemporary African cities are traceable to the colonial era.

Within Africa, most households with access to "improved sanitation" are dependent upon a septic tank based system. A technique introduced to the continent by colonial powers. Risks associated with this technique increase as population density increases, such as their tendency to fail and pollute groundwater with increased usage. A proven method of sanitation is the usage of a central sewage system. These systems are uncommon in Africa, and those that do exist were developed by colonial governments (Njoh, 2013).

Two theories summarise the potential legacy of colonialism.

·          Colonialism aided the development of Africa.

·          (Dependency theory). Colonialism underdeveloped Africa, with local people not the primary beneficiaries of projects.

Currently, West and Central Africa as a region have the worst access to sanitation. Only 27% (105million) of people have access to improved sanitation facilities (as the table shows)

This area has the lowest sanitation access as colonial authorities decided against permanently settling in this region, and thus no extensive sanitation were developed, unlike other areas of Africa. The theory, suggests implementation of sewage systems were expensive, and the technology to provide sewage networks was European, therefore, systems would only be developed in areas in which Europeans would permanently settle.

Factors shown to affect available sanitation infrastructure;

·         Duration of colonisation. (As facilities take time to develop.)

·          Government share of real GDP per capita at time of independence.

Evidence shows the longer a city was under colonial rule; the more advanced its current sanitation systems. As most many large African cities can trace their existence to colonialism, it could be argued that many urban parts of Africa were left underdeveloped as a result of colonialization.

Thus many of the issues broadly discussed in this blog could be said to have been caused the rapid growth of urban areas that are underdeveloped due to the European colonizer’s short term selfish desires.