Africa should nullify the cartographic perfidy of Berlin
Author: Prof. Adekeye Adebajo
Date: 18 November 2019
Publication: Business Day (South Africa)
Image supplied by: History of the World (textbook)
As the world commemorates 30 years of the fall of the Berlin Wall this month that ended the Cold War, the implications for Africa of this event, as well as an infamous conference in the German capital 135 years ago – captured in my 2010 book The Curse of Berlin: Africa After The Cold War – have largely gone unnoticed.
In November 1884, German Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, opened the Berlin Conference at which 14 largely European states set the rules for the partition of Africa. Bismarck was the Sorcerer who used his geo-strategic magic wand to cast a spell on Africa, employing the wizardry of the Industrial Revolution. The “Iron Chancellor” united Germany, and divided Africa. Within 25 years, almost all of the continent was under European colonial rule. The effects of this conference on Africa were devastating: imported political systems; fragmented and weak economies; artificial, insecure borders; and 16 land-locked countries.
As 17 African states gained their independence in 1960, Africa’s ancestors cast their own spell on Europe a year later with the construction of the Berlin Wall symbolising the division of Germany and Europe. The fall of the wall in 1989 lifted this curse of Africa’s ancestors on Europe. However, the earlier Bismarckian curse remained, as Africa continued to suffer the effects of unconsolidated states; poorly integrated, largely mono-crop economies; and fragile borders. Where Africa had feared external intervention during the Cold War, marginalization was now the greater concern, as aid and investment flowed to rebuild Central and Eastern Europe. The continent was abandoned to improvise its own fragile Pax Africana following devastating conflicts in Somalia, Liberia, Angola, and Rwanda, often fuelled by former Cold War proxies.
My own personal association with Berlin began during a year spent at the Friedrich Schiller University in the East German city of Jena two years before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Studying with students from South Africa, Yemen, Nicaragua, and Britain, the university town had its own cosmopolitan vibe. I enjoyed visits to the historic city of Weimar, and representing the university in high jump competitions in Leipzig and Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz).
My fondest memory was watching a superb performance by the indomitable Gisela May of German playwright, Bertolt Brecht’s anti-war play, Mother Courage and Her Children, in his baroque East Berlin theatre the Berliner Ensemble am Schiffbauerdamm. More recently, I visited Brecht’s home in Berlin which is now a museum replete with an exhibition room, photos, and biographies. Next to the house, Brecht and his actress wife, Helene Weigel, lay buried in the Dorotheenstädtischer cemetery, also bearing the remains of Friedrich Hegel.
Recent sojourns in Berlin saw visits to two museums on life in the former East Germany. While one museum presented a balanced picture of the former Communist republic, the other portrayed a largely negative image of a repressive police state where life was gray and uniform. Many East Germans feel that the Wiedervereinigung (reunification) in 1990 was more of a take-over by the West than a willing integration. This has resulted in the success of the far-right Alternative for Germany party which won 23% of seats in October state elections in Thuringia.
Despite the German government having transferred an estimated $2.2 trillion to the East since 1990, and in spite of former East German cities like Leipzig, Dresden, and Potsdam enjoying economic booms, unemployment in the East is 6.1% compared to 4.6% in the West, while wages in the East are 85% of Western ones. Only 7% of Germany’s 500 most valued companies are headquartered in the East.
So, moving from Europe back to Africa, what should we do to reverse the lingering Bismarckian curse? Africans must now organise a new Berlin Conference in Addis Ababa – the seat of African diplomacy – in order to reverse the scandalous act of cartographic perfidy inflicted on the continent by European statesmen in Berlin 135 years ago. This new conference on African soil should negotiate viable political federations, more practical colonial boundaries, and new trade blocs to promote effective regional integration and development, and prevent future conflicts. The continent’s ancestors must be invited to this grand diplomatic banquet, so that the Curse of Berlin over Africa can finally be lifted.
Professor Adekeye Adebajo is Director of the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg.
Ms Zoliswa Ntsoko (South Africa) is the Institute’s Administrative Assistant who assists with general administration and research. She is a seasoned professional with a background in Disaster Management. She holds an Advanced Diploma in Management from Milpark Business School, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Management from Regenesys Business School. She also holds certificates in Project Management, and in Disaster Management. Previously, she has worked as a Disaster Management Specialist at the City of Johannesburg – Disaster Management Centre.
Ms Cecilia Lwiindi Nedziwe-Moyo is the Research Coordinator at the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation. She previously served as a Regional Coordinator at the Centre for Peace Initiatives in Africa (CPIA) in Zimbabwe between 2007 and 2013. She completed her master’s degree in International Studies, Peace, and Conflict Resolution at the University of Queensland in Australia as a Rotary Peace Scholar. She has just completed her doctoral studies at Rhodes University. Her areas of interest include: gender, foreign policy, regional organisations and conflict resolution.
Ms Thembeka Somtseu is a seasoned professional with a background in the textile and construction sectors. She holds a National Diploma in Business Administration from the Durban University of Technology, and studied Development Communication and Media Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. She worked as a corporate communications specialist for more than ten years, serving in both local and multinational companies.