But it's been more than 50 years! How Africa's resource conflicts are still rooted in colonialism

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In the late 19^th and early 20^th century colonial powers fought with each other over land and resources in Africa. And since the end of colonialism countries in Africa have continued to struggle with conflicts and wars over land and natural resources.

Even though the African continent consists of 54 different countries with very different characteristics they share a common history of brutal colonialism and extraction of natural resources to benefit other countries and populations than the African ones. And this history might still play an important part in the conflicts today.

In this podcast we’ll draw some historical lines to get a better understanding of what these different resource conflicts have in common and why Africa more than 50 years after the official decolonization is still the poorest continent in the world but at the same time one of the richest in natural resources.

This podcast was made in connection with the conference Natural Resource Management and Conflict in Africa, organized by the Danish Institute for International Studies and the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana. The conference was supported by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the DANIDA Fellowship Centre.