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Decolonisation or neocolonisation

After World War II, the African countries colonised by the European powers, mainly by France and Great Britain, underwent a process of decolonisation and set themselves up as independent States.

In many cases, the European authorities came to an agreement with the local elite. They therefore backed the creation of self-sufficient, military or hereditary monarchic governments headed by the local middle classes, trained in Europe and desirous of maintaining the status quo. Thus, the new local governments guarantee that African raw material continues to reach the West at a reasonable price. Europe, for its part, ensures the permanence and control of the local authority, often helping to perpetuate the restriction of freedom and the full exercising of human rights on the African continent.

We could therefore say that, although the ex-colonies are formally sovereign States, the fact of the matter is that these nations continue to wield strong political, economic and social influence all over Africa.