The Colonial Economy in East Africa – Sample Activity

Context

The Government of Uganda discovered large quantities of oil in the Bunyoro region and some parts of northern Uganda. The government intends to exploit the mineral that has been found. The indigenous people in this area do not have any idea on how to help the government achieve its mission of exploiting the mineral.

Support Material

Task

You are a Minister of Economic Planning and Development who has studied about the colonial economic policy. Prepare a proposal on how best the government can utilise these minerals at a minimal fee.

Chapter Summary

In this chapter, you have learnt that the colonial economy transformed East Africa from a subsistence to a commercial economy. It turned the pre-colonial economies that were dependent on the barter trade system to a more modern one based on the monetary system. It had a number of features designed by the white man to exploit the blacks. There was a shift from peasant smallholder agriculture to commercial plantation farms. It involved imposing taxes of all types and land grabbing, among other things. All these created tensions between Africans and Europeans that characterised life in the colonies.