A Series on All the African Countries Never Colonized
It's only Ethiopia.
Ethiopia, unique in African history, avoided colonization and stands as a civilizational state. Only eight countries were never colonized: Ethiopia, Thailand, Turkey, Japan, Iran, China, Nepal, and Bhutan. This places Ethiopia alongside China and Iran, rooted in millennia-old kingdoms. In contrast, nations like Ghana or Nigeria are diverse amalgamations. Ethiopia's history predates newer nation-states like Burkina Faso, which is only 63 years old.
This is what the map of Africa looked like in 1880, right before the Berlin Conference of 1885 to divide Africa.
By 1880, colonies were limited. America had Liberia, British controlled Gambia, Cape, Gold Coast, Lagos; Dutch Boers governed Orange Free State and South African Republic (Transvaal); French held Senegal, Congo, Algeria; Portuguese oversaw Angola, Guinea; Ottoman Turks ruled Egypt, Tunisia, & Libya. Also, Egypt, which was an autonomous state of the Turks, controlled modern day Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, and parts of modern day Chad, Uganda, and Central African Republic. Some places like East African-Arab, Tippu Tip, controlled a massive slave state in modern day Eastern Congo.
The Berlin Conference resembled a proto-UN, where major powers set territorial borders, abolished slavery (replaced with brutal forced labor.. marginal progress..), suppressed African piracy for trade, kicked out the Ottoman Turks from Africa, and granted King Leopold control over the "Congo Free State", a territory the size of Western Europe, as personal property.
The Sokoto Caliphate fragmented into Northern Nigeria, German Kamerun, and French West Africa. Formerly warring empires—Toucouleur, Wassoulou, Kong—were integrated into colonies with French-defined borders: Ivory Coast, Guinea, and French Sudan (Modern day Mali).
Ethiopia was the sole nation that escaped colonialism and actually expanded its borders.
This article is just showing my 3 part series on Ethiopia.
Part 1: Discusses how ancient Ethiopia is and how it avoided colonialism.
The Kingdom of Ethiopia, initially in Damot (modern-day Tigray and Eritrea), was the successor of the powerful Aksum Empire, renowned even by the Persians. Aksum's decline followed the loss of Red Sea access. The resurgence of Ethiopia was driven by the Amhara tribe, who established an empire, expanded borders, and implemented feudalism.
During the medieval era, Europeans used Africans for proxy conflicts. Ethiopia received support from Portugal, while the Adal Sultanate in Somalia was backed by the Ottoman Turks. Through strategic leadership, Ethiopia managed to resist Somali, Egyptian, Sudanese, British, and Italian conquest and expanded its empire.
Part 2: Part 2 Discusses how Ethiopia went from Monarchy to Communism to Federal Democratic rule (Ethiopia’s democracy is still a work in progress, as in many nations)
Ethiopia, a monarchy that evaded colonialism, faced challenges in industrialization due to entrenched nobility blocking needed reforms. Feudalism persisted, hindering agricultural and industrial progress.
Agricultural struggles and land issues led to a communist revolution. There were a few African countries that tried Marxist Leninist communism besides Ethiopia: Angola, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, French Congo, Benin, and Somalia. Dysfunctions in the Communist Derg regime resulted in a coup, a loss of Eritrea and sea access.
Part 3 Discusses Ethiopia’s modern Economy:
Ethiopia stands out in Africa for its remarkable increase in agricultural yield and rapid economic growth. In just two decades, the country quintupled its per capita income, all achieved without abundant natural resources. This progress is attributed to improved farming practices and substantial capital investment through international borrowing.
It’s worth noting that just because Ethiopia was never colonized doesn’t make it the richest African country.
Many African countries are richer than Ethiopia despite being former colonies: Zambia, Guinea, Tanzania, Lesotho, Benin, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Angola, Nigeria, Mauritania, Kenya, and other African nations have higher incomes per capita than Ethiopia as of 2022. However, Ethiopia will probably eclipse most of nations in years to come based on Ethiopia’s fast growth.