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Why does Namibia have a bizarre panhandle? Why do some Ghanaians talk of being from "Western Togoland"? Much of this has to do with African borders drawn up in Europe during late 19th century. Borders that to this day are still very much contested, and have had deadly consequences. We explore how treaties designed to prevent war in Europe have caused conflict in Africa.
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After the decisive Battle of Waterberg between German and Herero fighters, colonial officers in the colony of South West Africa, today's Namibia, directed a violent, uncompromising persecution of Herero and Nama people. Their policies would result in the 20th century's first genocide.
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Germany's control over Togoland drastically altered traditional power structures, favoring compliant chiefs and running roughshod over cultural norms. We explore how punitive expeditions and colonial subjugation has shaped Togo to this day.
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In East Africa and the Great Lakes region, German colonial conquest spurred courageous resistance from many local East African groups against well-armed and violent colonial forces.
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In the context of colonial-era injustice, the renaming of landmarks almost seems like a footnote. But in this podcast we discover how renaming mountains, towns, and even people was another form of oppression. We also meet some characters who have outlived the colonialists' names, and why renaming landmarks is a form of reclaiming heritage.
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Summer 1896: A Cameroonian man appeared in Treptower Park, Berlin as part of a human exhibition to increase enthusiasm for German colonialism. Little did anyone know this man — Martin Dibobe — would later become a pioneering human rights activist.
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Running a colonial empire required a reliable merchant fleet. Hamburg-based businessman Adolph Woermann and his shipping line soon exerted considerable influence over Germany's colonial policy. We explore how the Woermann Company became an unofficial instrument of German colonization.
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By 1885, Adolf Lüderitz had acquired vast territories in today's Namibia. But his contracts with local people were so dodgy that even German colonial officials doubted them.
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For our last episode of African Roots, we profile two giants: Mozambique's Eduardo Mondlane and South Africa's Nelson Mandela. We look at how the two men shaped their respective nations' trajectories in different eras, and how their fight against oppression inspired thousands of young people to take up the armed struggle.
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Cai finds out how the legendary warriors, the Dahomey Amazons, have recently gained recognition - to dazzling Hollywood effects. But not all women fought on the battlefield: Laila explores how in neighboring in Nigeria, Margaret Ekpo blazed a trail for female participation in local politics as independence took hold.
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Oral histories are key to shaping nationalities, legends and identities. Cai and Laila explore the role of West African griots in keeping alive the phenomenal stories of Sunjata Keita from Mali and Nigeria's Bayajida.
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The relentless march of time changes histories and, sometimes, tarnishes reputation. Cai and Laila meet two nation builders, Usman Dan Fodio, and Liberia's William Tubman, whose legacies are perceived very differently today than during their lifetimes.
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