How might the history of Africa had been different if there had been no Atlantic slave trade?

Answer 1

The reality of slavery and slave trade in Africa is that these were omnipresent all over Africa from long before the advent of the first Europeans to long after Europe and America had already ended it themselves.

Transatlantic slave trade (although shameful for the Europeans and Americans who participated and profited from it) was - in economical terms - 'just' an export branch of a much, much bigger domestic activity that generated a lot of income for a number of West African slave traders and local rulers. It can't be said that the slave export was a drain to their own countries, since they themselves imported the slaves from all over Africa for reselling to the transatlantic slave traders.

But the abolishing of slavery in Africa itself didchange Africa's history. The British had been extremely active fighting slave trade from Africa after outlawing it themselves in 1807. Around 1880, the unwillingness of local rulers in Africa to abolish it in their own lands led to a drive to forcibly have it abolished by taking over those countries. This led to the start of the colonization of Africa around 1880/1890. When the European countries involved started to realize how colonization also led to better control of sea routes, higher international prestige etcetera, the at first reluctant colonization efforts quickly developed into what is now known as 'the race for Africa' in the period 1880 to 1914.

Colonization led to an often vast change in social and political structures. Most sub-Sahara territories had no 'countries' as we know them today, only tribal lands belonging to a great number of independent tribes. Creating countries threw those tribes together whether they liked it or not and regardless of differences in customs or religion - or ancient animosity. Central government was manned by Europeans only on a few strategic posts (there were few takers for postings in countries that habitually saw Europeans suffer and often die from tropical diseases within a few months of arrival) and most post were manned by Africans from 'favored' tribes - like the Tutsi in Rwanda and the Kikuyu in Kenya - which led to resentment from the other tribes that lasts to even this day. It is very difficult to say how Africa's development and history would have been from the late 19th century onwards without the forced abolition of slavery and the 70 year-period of colonization. Probably the trillions of dollars in development aid given to Africa since the early sixties would have been considerably less, because feelings of guilt and responsibility would then not have played a role.