Importance Of Imperialism In Cameroon

Cameroon Decolonization Essay Part one: A brief historical overview of imperialism. During the Scramble for Africa in the late 19th century, European powers divided Africa and their resources into political partitions at the Berlin Conference in 1884-85. One of the countries that had been colonized was Cameroon. The colonial powers that had imperialized Cameroon are France, United Kingdom and Germany. The territory was first colonized by the Germans in 1884 and after the end of WWI, Cameroon was mandated to the French and British governments. France took the larger sector, known as the East Cameroon, while Britain took over the West Cameroon. On January 1st 1960 the French sector became independent and was named Cameroon Republic,
Thus they established stronger ties with other countries, including the US, Great Britain and Canada. The relations between USSR and Cameroon only involved trading goods. Realizing the great importance and potential of the US, Ahidjo the president of Cameroon, moved quickly to call for the establishment of better and more valuable relations between the two countries. January 19, 1961, Ahidjo sent a letter, congratulating president Kennedy on his inauguration. Ahidjo subsequently had indicated to the French that he would seek close ties with both the US and France to prevent any future conflicts. By engaging with America, Ahidjo hoped to reduce French influence in
With knowledge of American life and politics, Cameroonians have constantly pleaded for the introduction of a democratic system, similar to the system in US, however Paul Biya denied changing the system of governance. Cameroon had immense business potential especially with the help of America. However, after the elections in 1992 in which, Biya won a US agency found serious fault with the electoral process, which questioned the validity of the outcome. Concluding that the elections in Cameroon were rigged, America retaliated by cutting economic aid. It also resulted in many business companies to leave Cameroon, including the Chase Manhattan Bank, and First National Bank of Boston. The negative popularity of Biya’s regime and frequent protest had an adverse impact on America’s investment in Cameroon. Despite their mutual political and economic ups and downs, American culture in Cameroon is very popular. In 2008 Biya managed to modify Cameroon’s constitution and is now supposedly president for