things have sucked in africa for a very long time.
come, take a trip with us into a daaaaark hiiistory *🧛‍♀️ voice*

1400s
european contact with africa began with christian and trade missions. soon trade encompassed human trafficking and finally the relationship evolved into outright domination. the joke goes: when white people arrived they had the bible and africans the land. when they left africans had the bible and whites the land. ah! ah! ah!

1800- 1900s
within this period most of africa was formally colonized. in the colonial schema, the continent provided 3 things: cheap and forced labor; cheap natural resources, extracted by cheap and forced labor; and a market for european goods, e.g. guns and spirits.

1940s - 70
post wwII, europe lost its colonial grip on the continent. political and economic influence shifted to the u.s. which had become the dominant global power. this new era was marked by the creation of the IMF and the world bank. in the 60s, newly independent african nations, borrowed heavily to finance infrastructure and social development.

1970s
a recession saw the u.s. dramatically hike interest rates to curb domestic inflation. as a result, african debt exploded, commodity prices crashed and african countries needed a bailout. they turned to the IMF and world bank for loans.

1980s - Now
in the 80s austerity policies were introduced to africa in exchange for IMF loans. privatization and deregulation followed, deepening import dependence, currency volatility and unemployment. the continent never recovered and subsequent global shocks— the north atlantic financial crisis of 2008, the pandemic in 2020, and the inflation crisis of 2023— continue to drain the continent’s vitality.

THE END 🧛‍♀️: muahahahaha