There was slave trade in Africa long before the arrival of Europeans. Among the first colonisers were people from the Arabian Peninsula. Young Africans often served in the personal guard of their masters, while women were sold into harems. When the Europeans came, they shipped people off the continent and forced them into hard labour at construction sites and on plantations.
The slave trade not only destroyed those torn from their homelands but also ruptured the bonds between African communities on the continent itself. Slave traders provoked wars between tribes by promising rewards for captives. These constant conflicts threw entire regions into chaos.
With farmers taken into slavery, agriculture declined and famine took hold. Blacksmiths who knew the secrets of extracting and working metal were also taken from the continent. When healers with knowledge of medicinal plants and the ability to treat disease were carried off, it became harder to fight epidemics. Elders who preserved laws, customs, and history were lost. Systems of governance unravelled, and with them the ability of communities to negotiate with one another and withstand external threats.
Professor Lumumba reflects on the steps Africa must take to recover its former strength.
