ABSTRACT
The introductory chapter broadly outlines some features of Africa’s major encounters with the rest of the world. Starting from the ignominious era of Atlantic slave trade where millions of Africans were sold as slaves to serve slave masters in distant lands, to the equally devastating episode of colonialism, where European colonial masters forcefully took over the continent in what has become the worst form of organized continental exploitation, Africa’s engagements with the world has been traumatic for Africans. This mode of encounters defined by several centuries of crass exploitation and plunder of Africa’s resources, not only created material discomfort, but also shaped the culture, sociology and political economy of the succeeding states. Consequently, although formal colonialism ended in the 1960s across most of the continent, the average African state remains mired in the form of exploitation that defined Atlantic slave trade and colonialism. However, the difference in postcolonial exploitation is that the exploiters are fellow Africans who are sadly masquerading as political leaders.
