The Railway in Colonial East Africa

The railway has played significant roles in the process of colonization of Africa. It was an instrument of economic exploitation and control and it encapsulated the ideals of European expansion and domination. This chapter examines the iconography of the railways in the African environment developed by colonial travelers and their accounts, and the ways in which Africans appropriated the railway. Using the case of early colonial East Africa, with special focus on German colonial Tanganyika, I argue that in their travel accounts European travelers presented a dichotomist view which placed Africans and the African environment in a prehistoric time, whereas the railroad and its creators were the epitome of modernity and progress. Furthermore, the chapter shows how African travelers, laborers and merchants in German colonial Tanganyika appropriated the railway in a very modern style and integrated it into existing patterns of work, travel, and life strategies. ¹